In the course of writing my blog on a steady basis, I have never written much about sleep except around this time last year, signifying its importance. Now I have a grasp on the importance of sleep. I have accepted it within myself and that it is necessary for me to have it.

This indeed has been a journey since writing about it in 2022. Doing this had to have me come to terms of why sleep is necessary and not so much to be used as a way to be punished as a way to shield me from being what I think is a “true” adult. Within time, I have accepted that there has to be a certain window that I must medicate and fall asleep in order to function in society. This is a reality in life as every human is not like the Energizer bunny and cannot function continuously without sleep, even with fragments alone. It is setting those boundaries and knowing that you must do what is needed to secure enough sleep for you to be well.

It can be setting up your routine in a way that you are sure to have adequate time to start your day should you have to head out of the house. This can come in forms of having things set to timers or being scheduled out to occur or saving things for later in the time when you have some down time to catch up on them. I am a person who is so hyper focused on the clock and as such it can be hard to settle in for the night and focus on the importance of sleep. However, I have accepted the fact that if I want to function and be up at a decent hour, I need to know my limits and set them towards the end of the day by transitioning into bed.

We live in such a technology driven world that at times they are constantly within an arm’s reach. This is where I had to draw the line and say no to the electronics at night because they are such a distraction to wanting to fall and stay asleep that as such the sleep pattern becomes so fragmented. Yes, for some of the ease of others and with proper safeguards, it becomes necessary for devices to have some sort of limited capability to keep one engaged, however there has to be a sort of mutual understanding in their way that they understand that sleep helps everyone including those in their vicinity. 

It is not to be seen as a win, as that is what I initially saw it as, like I was the one that had to be the sore loser in the fight. But, it took me to accept the fact that while it may not affect me just that day, but days down the road. Others know when I am not myself and it puts them on edge because they know that I am a very hostile person and the smallest of things can send me into a tailspin along with a host of other emotions. I know that others want me to be my best and not someone who is like a ticking time bomb that the most fragile thing can set me off. It took me a long time to acknowledge and accept the fact that while it may not cause something to happen the next day, it could cause it to happen days down the road. I have seen it happen and although things happened, I do not want to be the antagonizer of it becoming a culprit of things happening once again.

It has taken me a long time to accept that I need to sleep and that I take a medicine to aid me in winding my brain down so I can sleep in ease and that it does not put me out, it is to help me and that I had to understand my parameters in finding that delicate balance and move on to bigger and better things.