Day 4 Hand Hug Challenge: Wake Up!

This morning, Baelor woke up to an alarm.

Like most of us, his first instinct was to turn it off and stay comfortable just a little longer. No urgency. No crisis. Just the familiar pull of sleep.

And it stopped me.

Because sometimes life does the same thing.

Not with a loud noise—but with a quiet nudge. A tight feeling in your chest. That thought you keep pushing aside. The sense that something isn’t quite right.

We often think waking up—especially spiritually or emotionally—is supposed to feel peaceful and affirming. Like clarity arrives wrapped in calm.

But sometimes, waking up feels disruptive.

Like an alarm you didn’t ask for.

The Snooze Button We All Use

When the alarm goes off, hitting snooze doesn’t mean you’re asleep again.You’re just… not fully awake.

That in-between place can feel safer.

It’s where we normalize things that shouldn’t be normal.Where we stay quiet to keep the peace. Where we tell ourselves, “It’s not that bad,” or “I’ll deal with it later.”

This is how unhealthy systems survive—not because everyone agrees, but because no one speaks up.

And often, it’s not what we’re doing that causes harm.It’s what we’re allowing.

The Body Knows Before the Mind Does

Even when we hit snooze, the body keeps score.

Anxiety. Exhaustion. That constant feeling of being “off.”

These aren’t weaknesses. They’re signals.

They’re the alarm getting louder—not to punish us, but to protect us.

Waking up usually happens slowly. And then all at once.

One day, you see it clearly: Not just what others are doing—but the role you’ve been playing by staying quiet, smoothing things over, or carrying what isn’t yours.

That moment changes things.

When You Wake Up, Things Shift

Here’s the part no one prepares you for:

When you stop hitting snooze, the system notices.

You may be called difficult. Divisive. Different than you used to be.

But often, that’s not because you’re changing for the worse.

It’s because you’re no longer asleep.

A Gentle Invitation: The Hand Hug

Today, I want to offer a simple Hand Hug.

✋ Trace your hand. Inside it, write one thing your body or heart has been trying to wake you up to. Something you’ve been avoiding, minimizing, or postponing.

No fixing. No judging. Just noticing.

Because waking up isn’t about blame. It’s about care.

And sometimes the most loving thing we can do—for ourselves and for the people we love—is to stop hitting snooze.

Are you ready to wake-up?