We take it for granted. We really do. In our subconscious, we acknowledge this as a biological need for survival. In our conscious state, it’s a normal part of your life that you experience every day…if you’re lucky. As children, we fought it. A child’s energy for too great for it. As we age, we crave it more and more—at least I do. As a teen and now young adult, I have such great appreciation for this wonder that I’m devoting this whole article to it.
Sleep. Ah, just the word is beautiful. It’s peaceful and it flows much like the concept itself. There’s nothing else like it. Sure, we have food and beverages to sustain us to keep going physically, but sleep recharges the body. You don’t even have to do anything. All you have to do is calm your body and lie on a flat—and preferably comfortable—surface and close your eyes. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. Why am I praising a normal bodily function? You’ll see.
Without sleep, the human body couldn’t function. At least, it couldn’t function well. I’ve seen the effects of little sleep can do on a person, myself included. It’s not pretty. Some people are frazzled, some are irritable, and for those like me, get punch drunk and wonder how I got here, and how long I’ve been there. The next day is even worse. You’re barely aware of anything going on. My eyes are heavy from my droopy eyelids to the point where dozing off in class occasionally happens, and I personally feel guilty about it. Lack of sleep can lead to a weaker immune system which would make it all the easier for you to get sick. Sometimes we forget to take care of ourselves, and our bodies eventually get revenge for it. On a similar note, sleep deprivation can cause your body to feel sore and can take longer for injuries to heal. With all the stress the body goes through, acne breakouts are a common sign as well. Take care of your body. Get sleep.
Sleep also improves our memory. We may not remember everything we’ve forgotten. That’s a given. However, sleep can help restore memories to your long-term memory. This is part of the reason why it’s better to look over study notes briefly before going to sleep rather than pulling an all-nighter to cram. When you cram the information isn’t sticking. This results in “going blank” on exams. You would have better chances going over a little before going to sleep. Scores tend to be better, and look at it this way: If you still fail, at least you got a good night’s sleep. You seriously can’t beat that.
This marvel also improves your appetite. When you’re tired, you’re more prone to be binge on junk food, and before long you wonder where those extra pounds came from. When’s it late at night, and you don’t feel like walking all the way to the kitchen, you’ll reach for anything edible in arms’ grasp. When you more alert to what you’re eating, you can make healthier choices that would benefit you more than the snacks. Then again, do what you will. I do enjoy pleasure snacking as well. We all have flaws.
As I said, as kids we, in general, fought them, but not me. In elementary school, nap time was favored right alongside recess. Even in elementary school, when we were put down for a nap, I was the first one to go to sleep and the last one to wake up. I remember one day specifically when I woke up from my nap and the classroom lights were on and all the other little kids were playing around me. So sweet of the teacher to not wake me. She understood the beauty of sleep. Combined with moving through middle school, and later high school, the workload becomes more strenuous. The schedules are longer and more hectic. Last minute necessities pop up and you don’t know what to do with yourself. What to do, what to do? After school, I would head straight for the kitchen for a snack. From there, I would munch on said snack and take a nap.
Now, the term “nap” is relative. Most people think of nap as half an hour to an hour. That’s not me. For me, a “doze-off” would be no longer than 2 hours. A brief nap is 2-4 hours; a full-size nap can vary from 5-7 hours. Sleep is anything longer than 8 hours. I call this system my “sleep spectrum”. Before I went off to college, I had a pretty steady sleep cycle. Now I’m in my second year of college and, if we’re going by my sleep spectrum, I currently haven’t “slept” in a long time. All the “sleep” I’ve been getting was not sleep, but brief naps and full-size naps. This is bad I know, but life is hard. It really is. There’s no avoiding all I have to do without failing at everything. As I write this, life is chaotic, but things will slow down after this week (hopefully). Roughly two and a half more weeks until we break for Thanksgiving. Then we return a week before final exams begin. Afterward, we break for a month long Christmas vacation. Most college students would be living like there’s no tomorrow, but I’ll be sleeping like I’ll never see it again, because, in truth, it may be a long time before I can just rest without having an agenda to attend to again.
Oh, sleep, you life-changing impression, we shall meet again. Once I travel back home for the holidays, we will reunite, and my sanity will return once more.
