Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Power Of Sleep


It's 8:04 in the A.M. and I'm bright-eyed and yes ... AWAKE!

Now, for many of you this may be the 'norm' ... your Mode of Operation, if I may. And if that's the case, well then read no further. Nothing I'm going to say will rock your face off. But if you ARE like me, and you consistently find yourself watching those 'So-Bad-You-Can't-Quite-Change-The-Channel' late-night movies rather than sleeping . . . then this is for you.

Sleep is boring. Sleep gets in the way of everything else life has to offer . . . right? Well, that's typically how I view my day. Sleep sounds nice, but always loses the 'What-Should-I-Do-Now' battle. Here's a typical day for me...

7:00 - Alarm goes off ... I hit the snooze button
7:35 - I finally reason myself out of bed and very quickly get ready for work. I do not eat breakfast.
8:00 - I'm now in the office, groggy, having woken up a mere 25 minutes prior.
9:00 - I finally begin to join the economy of sentient beings. I work my day
2:00 - I eat for the first time ... usually fast food. :(
3:00 - I've hit a major wall. I'm hating life as I walk to the convenience store to buy an AMP energy drink. I'm desperate for a boost.
7:00 - My work day ends and I'm headed home. I'm starving, so I eat too fast and too much.
8:00 - I am a vegetable. And with glazed eyes I begin thinking ... 'Geeze, I could fall asleep right NOW.' ( I of course DON'T since only drooling infants go to bed at 8:00, and I am NOT an infant ) I tell myself I will go to bed around 10:30 and continue watching ALF.
10:00 - My body finally begins to function again and I, for the first time in my day feel VIVRANT. I am considering all the things I can do with my remaining free time.
12:00 - I look at the clock and inwardly say a few curse words, knowing that I will once again not get enough sleep, and that tomorrow is going to be a rough day.

Well, I think it's plain to see that this is not a healthy way to go through life. But this is endlessley common in America, where we like to work ourselves to the utter bone. Well, I've had enough. I am realizing that SLEEP, although boring at times, is the ZEST of life. It's the thing that makes everything else work properly. After just 2 nights of decent sleep, I feel like I am functioning properly for the first in a long time. In the PSALMS, David consistently talks about being STILL in our relationship to God. I know that more than likely refers to mental stillness and our listening to God, but the bottom line is this . . . I need to STILL my life in more ways than one. I'm going to continue to work hard, but I need to sleep harder. I need to wake up earlier and start my day fresher. I need a more simple schedule and more consistent eating habits. I need...

Did you know there is a National Foundation for Sleep? Check out this link to learn more...
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/doze/