Therefore, it is imperative for a person to be strong as a lion. Immediately upon
awakening (and reciting the Modeh Ani prayer) you should rise with alacrity for the
service of the Creator, Blessed and Elevated is He, before you are over-whelmed by
your evil impulse with various excuses not to rise, and be outsmarted and seduced in
the winter [with this argument]: "How can you rise now so early in the morning when
the weather is so cold?" Or, in the summer it will argue: "How can you rise from your
bed while you are still not satisfied with enough sleep?" or other similar claims. The
evil impulse knows very well the art of entrapping a person with all kinds of snares to
prevent him from rising. Therefore every sensitive person who fears and trembles
before the word of Hashem must triumph over the evil impulse and not listen to it,
even if it is extremely difficult because of physical considerations or laziness. Your aim
must be to fulfill the will of the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He. You
should realize that if you were called by any individual to participate in a business
transaction in which there is profit, or to collect a debt, or if someone called with a
plan to save your wealth from disaster, for example, if a fire occurred in the city or something similar occurred, you certainly would be quick to awaken immediately
because of your concern for your wealth and you would not act sluggishly. Similarly, if
you would need to go to the service of the king you would rise with alacrity and not be
sluggish lest you be denigrated. [Or you would rise with alacrity] in order to find favor
in the eyes of the king. How much more so should this apply for the service of the
King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He, that you should be concerned to rise
quickly and with alacrity. Once you accustom yourself to this practice four or five times
you will no longer find it difficult, [as our Sages have said:] "He who makes an effort to
purify himself is [Divinely] assisted in his efforts."
(Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 1:4)
Barachos PDFs for Siman 1
Modeh Ani: http://www.lapidjudaism.com/uploads/8/1/0/5/8105580/modeh_ani.pdf
Tikkun Chatzos: http://www.lapidjudaism.com/uploads/8/1/0/5/8105580/tikkun_chatzot.pdf
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