Towards the end of this past summer, I started to feel down. I was sluggish and had no motivation to do anything with my days or even my life. I just wanted to sleep and be rid of any responsibility that may be falling into my lap.
While there were many factors to my slump, the biggest thing I found was my sleep habits. I’m a millennial (oh here we go…) and I really like to stay up late. The summer allowed me the freedom
to stay up until three or four in the morning, and the next day I slept until well into the afternoon. I couldn’t see anything wrong with that.
My body soon decided that the current schedule wasn’t working, and, for the first time in a long time, I decided to make a change.
I set my alarm for eight, got up, and went about my day. I felt ten times better already.
So, I set my alarm for seven-thirty, got up, and went about my day. This was a part of life I hadn’t seen in a while… the actual morning.
So then 
I set my alarm for seven, got up, and went about my day. Not only did it feel great to be going to bed at a certain time and waking up at a certain time, but I was getting things accomplished in one day that I hadn’t been able to accomplish in a week.
That sounds like it’s as good as it gets, right? Wrong.
My current schedule is better than it has been in years:
I set my alarm for six, get up, and go about my day. I start the day with thirty minutes or an hour of writing, just to get me started on the right foot.
The key to it all?
Rest.
We take it for granted, but there’s a reason it’s there. God gives us sleep as a time to let our bodies decompress from the hard days work. In heaven we might be able to go and go and go without ever stopping for a break. But on earth, things aren’t perfect, and we’re not perfect. We need sleep and relaxation.
So, since we’re all entering the busy season, I challenge you to this: take some time today to rest. It may not be sleep. It could be doing something you love to do like reading, writing, or just watching TV. Decompress and enjoy one of God’s many blessings to humans. Rest.
