Sleep. It’s something I’ve fought for most of my life. Doug and I were out for dinner with friends who were visiting Colorado from California, it was less than a year after we moved here. And they said, "Has Heather really changed since you moved?"
"Yes," he answered. "She sleeps now."
Part of our reason for relocating was so I would slow down, not work as much, and sleep. I didn’t keep my promise to do so. In fact, the friends who were visiting brought art to show in our gallery.
In March of 2007, I undertook yet another new business, right before the country’s fall into the worst economic climate since the great depression. Brilliant. That business morphed into something that required even more work, when we added a wine bar to the art gallery. Again, genius.
Seven years later, I am that much older, plus some, given the stress that business brought. But I am also wiser. While I still own three businesses, and write, and take on more work than I should, and volunteer more than I should, I do (I swear) sleep. And I play too, a lot. Some may say too much. But those who do, don’t know how long I went without playing. I’m catching up, because the majority of my play is with my family, and they went too long without me wanting to play.
I was exhausted last night, and so I slept. Nine beautiful uninterrupted hours of sleep. I love my husband, very much, but . . . enough said. I woke this morning ready to take on the world, as I do most days. But today, it’s with the energy required to do it.
I have meetings today, something I usually dread. I’d much rather be working than meeting, but they are necessary to what I do. One of those meetings involves research for the book I’m writing currently, so that will feel more like fun than work.
I recognize lack of sleep when my children don’t enough, and I’m working harder at recognizing what it looks like when I don’t get enough. And what it looks like when I do.
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