Ahhhhh.....summer...I loved summer vacation as a kid. Who didn't? Hanging out with friends. free from the bondage of school, able to just hang out, chill, and relax with friends. No responsibility to speak of. Lazily hanging out in my room listening to my albums ( for any one born after 1985, this is the way we used to get the tunes...) lounging around in a bathing suit all day long because I had no where to go. No real schedule - just go with the flow kind of days. Late nights spent talking with friends - remember back when we used the phone or talked face to face? And the best part....the most amazing and rewarding part....the thing that every teenager waits all year for.....the chance to sleep in!
Today is the first day of summer for all of us in my household. The kids are all done with school, my classes are done, and we have no where to be this morning. Would have been the perfect morning to sleep in....don'tcha think? But instead, here I am at 6 a.m. typing away at my computer desk, coffee in front of me, and my note books, to do lists, and a mind swirling with all the summer projects I need to get done. Don't get me wrong....It's not that I didn't want to sleep in. I just couldn't. It was not because I felt I had to get up and dive into my summer projects...I just physically couldn't sleep in. My body wouldn't let me. I was awake at sunrise.
Ironic - now that I am old enough to make the conscious decision to sleep as late as I DARN WELL PLEASE.... I can't.
Now, I'm sure there is probably some kind of biological reason for this. I have heard that as we age, we don't require as much sleep. The vanity part of me is not willing to accept this yet....so I have to find another reason for it. Perhaps it is because that deep down in my subconscious mind all the things that I neglected during the school year are coming around and paying me back for my dismissing of them. Maybe, just maybe, there is another reason.
Maybe the reason is that as we get older we get wiser - one hopes! But along with this wisdom comes the realization that our days are numbered. I'm not talking the doom and gloom- my life is over- start the bucket list kind of realization. Maybe it's more of an appreciation.
We realize that time is valuable and the more time we spend conscious and aware in the time we have, the more chances we have to discover the joy, beauty, and opportunity that are in moments that God has given us. We realize that everyday is a gift.
So, as I sit here, instead of lamenting the sleep I am not getting, I will rejoice in the awareness and opportunity that I am getting. Today is full of promise. It is my choice to accept it or reject it. I think I'll take it with open arms!
Everyday is a gift! Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteOf course you are right, I should begin by embracing this day, but right now I would rather be embracing my pillow just a little longer.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the "programmed wake-up". It is worse for me on Saturdays, which is usually the day I most want to sleep in (in the UK we would say "lie-in" which is not some kind of lack-of-truth fest!).
ReplyDeleteI also don't agree with that idea that if you grow older you need less sleep. It seems that I need more!
There is nothing more nice though than that weekend morning where you've less to do, comfy in bed (coffee is brewing) and you can just get up on your schedule, not someone elses...
Perfect blog for a Monday morning :-)
i completely agree! now i CAN sleep in (time wise) and my body just won't!! plus i lay their thinking of all the things i need to do. have fun enjoying summer vacation!
ReplyDeleteHey, great blog to start the week with. I, too, find it impossible, no matter how tired I am, to sleep past 5am - and I'm not sure when that happened. :o)
ReplyDeleteBut you are right... everyday IS a gift and it is a choice, isn't it? I forget that sometimes - so thanks for the beautifully written reminder.