I’ll Just “Sleep When I’m Dead,” Right?

Isn’t it interesting that something as simple and basic as sleep each night can so drastically affect our lives?  If we fail to get the infamous 8 hours, which often seems like an impossible feat as college students, we don’t feel or function like ourselves.  Or maybe, our bodies are just so used to being exhausted that we become oblivious to it.  We think we’re fine. 

I convinced myself I was fine.  And from the outside, I suppose I looked like I had it all together.  Even though I wasn’t completely in shambles, I certainly wasn’t leading a perfect life either.  I’m one of those constantly busy, tries-to-do-everything types of people.  And while I got through my first two years of college all right, things and more things kept piling on top of me.  I was barely getting by and definitely struggling with some issues of priority in my life, with sleep at the bottom of the list. Through this time, I had to trust that “God would make a way”, which quickly became my semester mantra. 

But I look back and wonder, how would life have been if I was fully “there,” fully restored, fully living?  I used to believe “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” was a perfectly good excuse, but now I realize the importance of taking rest seriously.  If I’m tired all the time, how can I really be living the life God wants for me?  How can I truly be a compassionate, enthusiastic, attentive person able to give and receive love?  Pausing life for just a moment and believing wholeheartedly that God will take care of everything is certainly hard.  But I’m getting there. 

So rather than weariness this semester, my hope is a theme of rejuvenation.