My Bed is Calling to Me!

I've been sitting here for a couple minutes now, with my eyes only half open, trying to come up with a topic to write about. And then it occurs to me... SLEEP! Sleep is a great topic. At least it seems like it right now. It's possible that I'm being very delusional in my current state. I have been up for a couple hours, but it's hard to tell if I've become any more alert than when I first woke up.

Anyway... Sleep. What an interesting thing to think about. As you grow up it kind of transforms. When you're a baby you do it uncontrollably, and a lot! When you're a toddler you don't want to go to bed, but you end up crashing without really realizing it.

Throughout childhood there are those pesky bed times. You want to stay up and know what the adults are doing and hang out with them. They must be doing something really cool, so they have to put you to bed. If you knew what they were doing they'd have to let you join, and then there would be less fun for them, right? Seemed logical enough at the time.

Then in High School you seem to get a little bit less sleep. Still enough, but less than before. You don't really want to go to bed because there are so many other things you can do, but then it's lights out and you don't want to roll out of bed in the morning.

And then comes college. Sleep becomes a whole different beast once you get to college. And it has it's two extremes. It's either a hindrance or a reward. There are those nights that all you want to do is stay up all night and hang out with your friends. They are so awesome and you're having such a great time. Or there's the boy/girl that you like there too and you don't want to leave for fear that they'll forget about you. You need to catch their eye so you have to stay up.

After a while, sleep becomes a reward. You got all your homework and studying done, you ate (what a glorious thing!), and hung out with friends for a sufficient amount of time. And now... SLEEP! You crawl into your bed and tell it everything will be okay now that you are there,and then lay your head down for an 8 hour snuggle party with your pillow. And it feels soooooo good!

I currently seem to be at a stage in between those two. I love my sleep, and I love hanging out with my friends. But it can be hard to balance the time. All I can say is thank God for weekends when I can sleep in and not feel guilty! And when those pockets of time appear, a good nap is quite wonderful! They are very good bragging material as well.

Sleep:

• is necessary
• is wonderful
  
• is a nuisance
  
• takes up too much time
  
• can be done in groups (siesta fiesta!)
  
• can be rather inconvenient
• gives me the strength to go on
• is a God given time of amazing deep rest

It must be done. There is really no avoiding it. I guess all we can do is try to find the best balance we can and go with it. Unless any of you have some genius idea?

Until next time, with plenty of sleep in between,

~Connie Jo