When I was a kid - and I'm sure most children are this way, seeing as so many of them fight bedtime like it was trying to take their cookie away - I did not like to go to sleep.
*I* didn't think I was tired and I was sure there were all kinds of cool "grown up" things going on that I would want to be part of.
(My mother likes to tell of me referring to our family as "Mom, Dad, me and the kids." I was not one of the children, see.)
Even as a teenager - when we are supposed to need and desire more sleep - I was not one to run off to bed, or stay there longer in the morning.
(True, I didn't have far to go for early morning seminary, but I was never late because I slept in.)
Senior year of high school the school hosted an all-night party, I lasted through the whole thing and then the next day too.
Sleep seemed an inefficient use of time.
During college, as an architecture student, I spent a lot of late (and also early) hours in the studio, working on models and drawings, and it was then that I first began to appreciate the break that sleep provides.
Since then I have come to love sleeping.
I try not to oversleep - there is still a lot of things to do in a day - but when the night comes and it is time to slip into a nice, comfy bed, rest my head on a soft pillow and check out for a few hours, I am thankful for the break. For the pause, for the healing time, for the rejuvenation period, for the chance to dream, to dump all the junk from the day, to close my eyes and rest.
(I know it's a really short time I have left in which to enjoy sleeping - babies aren't fans of sleep I hear - so I am thankful for the time to mention it while I still have it.)
This is me, and I've learned to appreciate it.
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2 comments:
I don't remember learning to love sleep. But I have been reminded many times over the years how as a child in a fit of tired-induced rage, I turned around on my parents (who were trying to get me to bed) and scream, "I'm NOT tired!!!" I changed my tune as a teenager. Wish I could say I never missed seminary from sleeping in... but my sister used to stand in the doorway and throw things at me to try and wake me up because she feared for her safety if she came any closer. :)
I'm NOT going to say "enjoy it because you aren't gonna get it ever again!" because I HATE that and it's not true. And they sleep through the night sooner than you realize, but there is nothing more refreshing than slipping back into bed after helping the baby and you KNOW they're asleep. It feels better than anything. So many things feel good, but since we're out of that phase I don't get to experience that feeling often, but it IS a magic feeling for that brief time... just sliiightly different than regular refreshing.
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