How much sleep do we actually need? I remember this last summer when I got 30 hours of sleep in seven days. That is a little over four hours of sleep a night, and I was fine.
Recently I've started to realize how selfish I can be with my time. For example, This last Christmas break I took about 5 naps that lasted about 4ish hours. Meaning, In my 10 day Christmas break I spent 20 hours napping and if you include actual sleeping, I probably averaged 8ish hours a night. So in my 240 hours of Christmas break, I slept about 103ish hours. That is actually pretty close to HALF of my Christmas break if you add in the few days I got wayyy more than 8 hours of sleep and the random naps in cars etc.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, about half way through my winter break I started to feel really selfish with my time. I was feeling as if there were better things I could do with myself like, make a new friend, invite a bunch of friends to go sledding, spend time with Jesus, Talk to a friend I haven't seen in a while, take my sister out for coffee, or maybe even spend time playing a board game with my family. there are obviously many more things I could do with my time but I decided to sleep away my Christmas break.
Because I became aware of this I started to think about the amount of sleep we deserve. I believe that rest (solitude and silence, taking walks, talking with God) Is VERY important but is sleep? are we entitled to naps every Sunday? Are we so mentally weak we cant overcome a sleep deprived headache?
I'm not saying you should get four hours of sleep because you've been writing every person you know a letter of encouragement. I'm not saying to not sleep when you really do need it (sleep is not bad) especially when you're sick. I'm just saying you should try to be a little more intentional about the way you spend your time because that 100 plus hours I slept during Christmas break, I will never get back.
Anyway, Often I have thoughts that I feel I should share. If you agree or disagree I don't really care. Remember this is just a thought from a overly passionate 16 year old and I hope you enjoyed a small part of what keeps my brain distracted during Spanish class. That's all.
Hmmm. I needed this as I begin the week! Mal has said before that sleep can be an idol (which is weird cause it is healthy, right?) but I've never thought much of it because I don't actually I am more likely to short myself sleep than overdo it, but it is not because I am laboring for Christ's kingdom, it is because I am indulging myself in other ways. It seems there are a LOT of things we've decided we deserve (a perfectly clean home, a good nights sleep, a few hours of vegging in front of a screen). These things can be healthy and give us much needed rest, but they can also make us selfish with our time. Now I need to brainstorm how NOT to waste all these precious hours :)
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