Week #359 – Get Some Sleep!
Greetings Tribe — and Happy Friday!
Here we are on the very last Friday in July — and how do you feel?
I don’t know about you…but I feel one word: TIRED!
Maybe it’s the East Coaster in me but after five years of living in Southern California I still can’t get used to the idea that tomorrow’s going to be another sunny day. So I still feel that pressure, like many of you, to “make something” of the summer.
But the thing is out here, summer doesn’t stop. It just keeps going…well into October. Because every day is a beautiful day. So there’s very few cloudy days, rainy days, inside days, or plain old “lazy” days.
It’s exhausting.
The long summer days (and short nights) lead us all to stay up later, get up earlier, and be way more active than the heat-index would want us to be!
Which has led me to wave the white flag…and declare: I’M GOING TO BED EARLY!
We (my siblings and I) grew up in a house with “Quiet Time.” That meant that after a certain time at night — you simply did not make noise. And if you did — well, my parents were the type that actually imposed consequences for actions! So…let’s just say, you didn’t want to go there!
As a kid, being able to stay up late to watch Honeymooners re-runs seemed like no big deal. In retrospect, I totally understand. My father had to get up very early to go to work — and my mother got up with him — so sleep was really important. It’s pretty important to me now, too — and I don’t even have kids!
As grown-ups, we Churches still love our quiet time! My brother Rob especially. He loved hours upon hours of solitude. It’s one thing he really taught me as an adult — the value of time alone.
And yet…here we are, at the height of summer and busier than ever, right?! Perhaps you feel it too — the pressure that builds as we turn the calendar to August and “Back-to-School” looms in the distance. So much to do…so little time…and the countdown clock to Labor Day is on! So our instinct is to pack it all in…to do more, to take advantage of the nice weather, to make hay while the sun shines!
And yet — our bodies are telling us just the opposite! To sit, to rest, to watch, to wait, and yes…to even go to bed early (maybe even when there’s still light outside)!. Can you feel it too? The outside pressure to squeeze every last drop out of our long summer days — and the internal pleading to stop and slow down?
It’s enough to make a girl (or boy) crazy!
Your assignment for this week: Don’t get crazy…GET SOME SLEEP! It is easy to get swept up into the busyness of summer. Even vacations — intended to take you away from it all — can take on a life of their own so big and harried, you come back feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation! Fight the urge to pack it all in…and take some time to get quiet. This may be as simple as turning off the TV and, yes, going to bed early. It may mean sleeping in or lounging in bed with a good book rather than rushing out to run errands. It may mean sitting on your porch or deck and watching the sprinkler sprinkle and the grass grow for a bit. It could mean staying on the beach until after sunset, rather than rushing out to eat dinner at the same time as the rest of the world. Or sitting on a bench and watching night fall and the moon rise over your hometown. It may even mean a few precious hours home alone to clean or tidy up — or blasting your favorite rock music when there’s no one else around to tell you to turn it down!
Keep Calm…and Get Some Sleep!
Spread Happyness — tell me, how much have you gotten lately? 😉
7/30/21 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com