Rest:
1. the refreshing quiet or repose of sleep: a good night's rest.Definition one of rest is literal sleep. Not just any kind of sleep, but apparently refreshing sleep. In researching the dictionary's first definition of REST: "sleep", I found a website that said the number one symptom of sleep deprivation is tiredness. I have no words.
Sleep. I am the kind of person that doesn't like to sleep because I might be missing out on something. To be honest, if I think about sleeping I already feel so bored that I begin to feel sad about the next time I will have to do it. When Graham tell's me at 9:30 that he's ready for bed, I feel like I just found out I have to wait two years for my next birthday.
A while ago, me and basically all my friends, acquaintances and neighbors read a great book called The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. It was a craze kind of like The Hunger Games, only for perfectionists. In it she discusses the importance of both rest and sleep. (I truly recommend this book to anyone and everyone). She says, "It seems that living and loving with our whole hearts requires us to respect our bodies need for renewal." and later, "If we want to live the wholehearted life, we have to become intentional about cultivating sleep and play, and about letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self worth."
Boom. (Also, I'm pretty sure that line about sleep and play might be why the first day I jumped on the trampoline for three hours).
I'll admit. Sense having kids, my view of sleep has definitely been altered, particularly my view of it when I'm woken up in the middle of the night. At that time absolutely nothing is cooler or more awesome than sleep. Not even a Disney World cruise with all my favorite friends. That's why I feel it's okay to kick Graham a few times in hopes that he'll get up. There's a lot at stake.
A part of my issue with sleep is not actually the unconsciousness itself, it's the period before where I have to lay perfectly still and try to stop thinking that bothers me. Through the years I've figured out a couple things to make the awkward moments with myself shorter:
1. No caffeine after 11:00 am. I have no idea why. This girl loves caffeine in all forms. If there were some sort of cool energy injection you could buy at the gas station, I would probably try it. Unfortunately for me my body hangs on to the stuff till one or two in the morning when I'm cursing my latte and worrying whether I really gave that lady soy when I worked at Colter Coffee two months ago. Ridiculous. One friend told me it is because I'm getting old. I'm 26. I do not want to talk about it.
2. Being exhausted. Having three little kiddos, I realized the best time and way for me to clear my head and spend time with God is to get up before everyone and head to the gym. Consequently, I become the one asking Graham to go to bed at 9:30...Probably not 9:30, maybe 10:30.
Aside from statistics that say sleep deprivation is related to all sorts of unpleasant things I want to focus on a few different words from this definition: refreshing, repose, a-"good"-night. I've heard a lot recently about guarding your night's rest and watching what you do right before you go to sleep. I thought this might be just a "spiritual" thing, but the National Sleep Association agrees. In response to the "myth" that watching TV and working on your laptop in bed will help you wind down, it says:
(http://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-facts-information/myths-and-facts)
I want to point out right now that they did not mention Pintrest or Facebook. Although I guess they aren't sex.
Seriously though, I know that feeling where I'm keeping my internal lights on for worthless reasons, like eating a giant bag of nacho cheese Dorritos with my eyes. You know? The moment where there are literally no more new things on pintrest, and I'm reading status updates that are more boring than sleep itself. It's time to be done.
In light of my desire to learn to truly rest (because I do want to be said "wholehearted" person, and I do not want to carry around a "tension") I have begun to be more careful about my nighttime routine. In the evening I sometimes spend slightly too much time "networking" and pinning, but I try to feed myself something beautiful before I fall to sleep. Something like a verse, a really good book, a song, or a conversation with Graham. Sense I've begun doing this, and sense I started on this journey a couple months ago something special has started to happen that hasn't happened in a long time. It's a unique sign to me that I'm truly experiencing, "a repose; a refreshing, good night sleep". I wake up in the morning with music in my head. It's usually a worship song, sometimes it's Dynamite by Taio Cruz. Always I consider it a message from God.
What I know is: I'm coming more alive than ever before and the music is back on.
This Mornings Song:
My Everything by Jesus Culture
A while ago, me and basically all my friends, acquaintances and neighbors read a great book called The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. It was a craze kind of like The Hunger Games, only for perfectionists. In it she discusses the importance of both rest and sleep. (I truly recommend this book to anyone and everyone). She says, "It seems that living and loving with our whole hearts requires us to respect our bodies need for renewal." and later, "If we want to live the wholehearted life, we have to become intentional about cultivating sleep and play, and about letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self worth."
Boom. (Also, I'm pretty sure that line about sleep and play might be why the first day I jumped on the trampoline for three hours).
I'll admit. Sense having kids, my view of sleep has definitely been altered, particularly my view of it when I'm woken up in the middle of the night. At that time absolutely nothing is cooler or more awesome than sleep. Not even a Disney World cruise with all my favorite friends. That's why I feel it's okay to kick Graham a few times in hopes that he'll get up. There's a lot at stake.
A part of my issue with sleep is not actually the unconsciousness itself, it's the period before where I have to lay perfectly still and try to stop thinking that bothers me. Through the years I've figured out a couple things to make the awkward moments with myself shorter:
1. No caffeine after 11:00 am. I have no idea why. This girl loves caffeine in all forms. If there were some sort of cool energy injection you could buy at the gas station, I would probably try it. Unfortunately for me my body hangs on to the stuff till one or two in the morning when I'm cursing my latte and worrying whether I really gave that lady soy when I worked at Colter Coffee two months ago. Ridiculous. One friend told me it is because I'm getting old. I'm 26. I do not want to talk about it.
2. Being exhausted. Having three little kiddos, I realized the best time and way for me to clear my head and spend time with God is to get up before everyone and head to the gym. Consequently, I become the one asking Graham to go to bed at 9:30...Probably not 9:30, maybe 10:30.
Aside from statistics that say sleep deprivation is related to all sorts of unpleasant things I want to focus on a few different words from this definition: refreshing, repose, a-"good"-night. I've heard a lot recently about guarding your night's rest and watching what you do right before you go to sleep. I thought this might be just a "spiritual" thing, but the National Sleep Association agrees. In response to the "myth" that watching TV and working on your laptop in bed will help you wind down, it says:
Fact: Doing work, watching TV and using the computer, both close to bedtime and especially in the bedroom, hinders quality sleep. Violent shows, news reports and stories before bedtime can be agitating. The sleep environment should be used only for sleep and sex.
(http://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-facts-information/myths-and-facts)
I want to point out right now that they did not mention Pintrest or Facebook. Although I guess they aren't sex.
Seriously though, I know that feeling where I'm keeping my internal lights on for worthless reasons, like eating a giant bag of nacho cheese Dorritos with my eyes. You know? The moment where there are literally no more new things on pintrest, and I'm reading status updates that are more boring than sleep itself. It's time to be done.
In light of my desire to learn to truly rest (because I do want to be said "wholehearted" person, and I do not want to carry around a "tension") I have begun to be more careful about my nighttime routine. In the evening I sometimes spend slightly too much time "networking" and pinning, but I try to feed myself something beautiful before I fall to sleep. Something like a verse, a really good book, a song, or a conversation with Graham. Sense I've begun doing this, and sense I started on this journey a couple months ago something special has started to happen that hasn't happened in a long time. It's a unique sign to me that I'm truly experiencing, "a repose; a refreshing, good night sleep". I wake up in the morning with music in my head. It's usually a worship song, sometimes it's Dynamite by Taio Cruz. Always I consider it a message from God.
What I know is: I'm coming more alive than ever before and the music is back on.
This Mornings Song:
My Everything by Jesus Culture
I LOOOOOVE this!!!! I am so challenged by it. I can completely relate to this struggle and am now inspired to be more intentional about guarding my sleep. I also want to read that book...do you have a copy I can borrow?
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