起 puts 己 (self, also the sound) on the running radical 走: the self rising into motion. Getting up is, literally, the first run of the day.
起 lifts everything: 起床 (get out of bed — the day's first battle), 一起 (together — 'rising as one'), 对不起 ('sorry' — literally 'cannot face you', where 起 marks capability). 了不起 is 'amazing' and 看不起 is 'to look down on' — the up-down of respect. From your alarm clock to your apologies, 起 is Chinese's verb of upward motion.
The self 己 breaking into a run 走 — RISE and get UP.
对不起 'sorry' literally parses as 'unable to face (you)' — apology as geometry.