14. Take Care of #1

“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.” – Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer & orator (1833-1899)

On Sunday, I shared with you all my Five Daily Practices That Lead to Happiness.  Number one on my list is “Sleep: Get 8 hours every night.”

Have I been doing this, you ask???? Noooope. Have I been happy about it? Noooope.

And yet, I am continuing to choose to prioritize other things over sleeping. Why? It seems silly to have to miss out on awake-things that I’d like to be doing in order to have some quality time with my pillow.

But in reality, when I don’t get enough rest, I am not really enjoying my life while awake anyway, not as much as I would if I was well-rested.

Also, “Take Care of Yourself First” is number one of my Personal Process Guidelines (see the side-bar of the blog page). And getting plenty of sleep is definitely in-line with proper self-care. (Wow! Is that me or my father speaking? LOL!)

Number One... On two separate lists... Clearly, I am trying to teach myself a lesson… Will I ever learn it? 

Maybe. Maybe not.

At least, I’m aware that my lack-of-sleep-choice leads to unhappiness for me. That awareness helps me to... 

A. Not stress-out about why I feel cranky

B. Not blame others for my own choice not to prioritize sleeping

If I don’t sleep enough, then I can’t really be fully present in my relationships or fully engaged in my work… and that’s just sad.

So, go to bed earlier, Wilcox!!!!

Ugh! I know. I know. I will.

Tonight… I will be in bed at 10:30pm… NO EXCUSES! (And no Facebook.)

;-)

ZZZZZZzzzzz,

Virginia

"Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed." - George Burns