Beaumont never worries about sleep
I don’t often give sleep its due.
I tend to ignore it or at least take it for granted.
A life-long early-riser, I struggle to sleep in, to keep sleep as a priority, regardless of how tired I am.
Sleep was on my mind this morning as I struggled to get out of bed and move into my day.
Fighting a cold puts me on the other side of tired. You know, that place where your bones feel weary and your head heavier than the rest of your body.
I don’t always give sleep its due.
Sleep was also on my mind as I was reading the over night shift reports this morning from the family emergency shelter where I work.
It’s hard to get a good night’s sleep in a homeless shelter.
There is constant movement, emergency lights in the hallways, unfamiliar surroundings, noises on the other side of your cubicle wall as children whimper and parents struggle to calm their anxious states of mind.
Sleep is not part of the homeless experience. At least, a good night’s sleep isn’t.
The challenge is, without sleep it’s hard to think clearly, to process and plan. to remain positive and hopeful.
When sleep is at a premium, sleep is always on our minds.
Like new parents, sleep is often absent when you need it the most.
Yesterday, my eldest daughter called all excited. She’d had a good night’s sleep! My grandson isn’t big on sleeping, yet. Since the fire that tore them from their home on October 4th, his sleep has been even more disjointed with the turning upside down of his world.
For my daughter, this has caused more angst at a time when there’s lots of it to go around.
Suddenly being evicted from their home. Staying with her husband’s family. Having to find a new place to live, dealing with movers and cleaners and insurance companies while also trying to advocate for the other tenants in the building who have not been well-treated and in many instances, are faced with the loss of everything as they didn’t have insurance. All of this has caused her sleepless nights.
A good night’s sleep is a gift.
I’ve been thinking about sleep recently. I’ve been teaching myself to give into it a little more and be a little less judgmental of myself in my need of its healing grace.
Sleep is restorative. Sleep is healing. Sleep is vital.
I hope you all had a good night’s sleep.
Dare Boldly 
i struggle with this as well, and know how much it makes a difference.
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I always find it fascinating that I struggle with something so simple! Sleep. 🙂 That’s for being with me in the struggle. ❤
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Sleep… one of very few choices I will compromise. Have always honored its restorative qualities.
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You are a wise man!
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Another great post!
Sleeplessness in hurry-up America is so prevalent right now it’s actually classed as epidemic.
Of course, again, being us, it’s been calculated in millions of effective man-hours lost to business and industry (the thinking that’s created the situation to begin with)…
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So much wisdom here Ana. I hadn’t thought of my struggles with sleep as paralleling what is happening in our society — great point! ❤
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Toward the end of her life, Margaret Mead estimated the average work day in hunter-gatherer societies in temperate climates to be two to six hours, and their average work week to be two to four days. Even before requesting a second sister/wife to “help with all the work,” the average woman had fifty percent of her time free to watch butterflies if she wished. By and large, people were boundingly healthy, owned their own home, raised their own children in it and, by today’s standards, led a pretty darn blissful life. The modern “conveniences” which have us running like rats on a wheel just don’t seem all that convenient to me. I’ve lived in the back country — carrying a little water is just not that big a deal. Saves the expense, time and completely useless effort of a trip to the “gym” too. Jeese.
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