On my “disconnected” walk, which is my time with my dog, I reflected on a situation that occurred during the week, where there was just a grumpy feeling before “coffee” kicked in. And I wondered about the origin “waking up on the wrong side of the bed” as this morning certainly felt like it.
The origins are interesting — from ancient Roman superstitions to medieval beliefs, where the left side was associated with bad luck and the right side with good fortune (although there is no documented evidence linking these beliefs directly to the expression). Over time, the expression has evolved to describe someone who begins the day in a “bad” mood.
I recalled a visit to my physio years ago, sitting in the office, on edge. I was asked, “have you had your morning coffee yet”? I thought to myself, “how did they know?” and I replied I had not as I did not have time before my appointment. I walked away feeling like they were a psychic at the time – a time before I was self-aware. Looking back on it, they knew “I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed” and was tactfully enquiring on how my morning had been, to co-relate the edge I was on.
How many of us reflect on our waking state and feel like we “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
As I continued my walk, I reflected on what I had written about “living under a rock” and the habits formed. In my experience, as humans, we don't feel the same every day — there is variability based on several factors outside of our control. The way I felt on waking yesterday morning, is never the same this morning, and may not be the next morning, even if I did all the same things. This makes us human – and every one of us different to the next.
So, when we do have that feeling of “woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” what do we do next? It is very personal to each human – and in my experience, it is finding that daily reset option, to enable me to manage the day ahead that especially involves others. Perhaps if I lived alone on an island, and my waking up on the wrong side of the bed was not going to affect anyone else but me, it would not matter whether there was a reset.
As I got home and I was tidying up the kitchen before I started work, I continued reflecting – as a human we may have no two days the same. How does this translate to what we do in our day- our productivity at work, our interactions with other humans that day, and more. It then got me thinking about the future that is coming, the world that we hear will be more ‘robotic’ than today – to increase efficiency. If as humans we have emotions, and this “waking up on the wrong side of the bed” that affects how we work, then robots should be able to do the same thing, the same way, every single day. Because they are not waking up on the wrong side of the bed. And in this future, what would it mean for someone that “wakes up on the wrong side of the bed”?
The next thing that happened, I was ready for work — my reset complete, my reflections complete, and my readiness for the day ahead in a get-set-go state.
Started: 24-Oct-2026
Finished: 24-Oct-2026
Published: First time here (edited before publishing)
