My New Years resolution for 2022? Get more sleep! I, just like so many others, would always tell myself that I was going to lose weight every January 1st. Of course, that never stuck. I would end up eating junk food and not working out. My New Years resolution would always come undone. I’d give up before I even really got started. But this year is different. This year, I’m realizing how important it is to take care of myself and that starts with getting a good night’s sleep. Currently, my sleep habits are not so great. I’m up late, scrolling on my phone. I toss and turn a lot. I don’t feel refreshed when I wake up in the morning. It’s hard for me to get started on anything. So, I decided that this needed to change. I was going to get in bed earlier and stay off my phone. No screen time. No tv. Lights out. I’d wear my coziest pajamas and wrap up in my warmest blanket and go to sleep. This is a New Years resolution I could stick to. More rest. Better rest. And naps too. I decided to nap more. If I find an extra 20 or 30 minutes in my day, I would nap. Making sure I am always well rested is now a top priority for me. No more barely getting through each day. No more exhaustion. I’m going to sleep when I’m tired and rest when I need to take a break. I’m going to take my sleep more seriously. And maybe with a well rested body and mind, I’d have more energy to do the other things I’d like to do. Like working out. Maybe the reason I’d never been successful when it comes to past resolutions is because I was just too tired and beat up. Maybe if I rest more, I actually could get more done when I’m awake. If I stick to this resolution, I could take on so much more. So that’s what I’ll do. Hold myself accountable in 2022. In bed by 9, in dreamland before 10. Wrapped up in my blanket with the warm glow of fairy lights and some soft music playing in the background. The thought makes me want to go to sleep right now. And maybe I will. Snuggled up in my bed, surrounded by fluffy pillows and warm blankets. Feeling nice and relaxed. A sleep resolution for 2022. That’s something I can get behind. No more groggy mornings or going through the motions during the day, just waiting for it all to be over so I can finally get in bed. I’ll get all the rest I need so that I can be full of energy and actually be able to take on each day. And I’ll look forward to bedtime. Not just because I’m exhausted, but because my routine will be better and easier to stick to. I won’t sit up on my phone. I won’t watch tv. I won’t look for 5 billion pointless things to do when I should be getting ready for sleep instead. I’ll listen to my body and I’ll rest. I’ll close my eyes and try not to overthink or worry about a million different things at once. I will just sleep. And my body will thank me. Sleep at night when I’m tired and nap during the day if I’m able. I’m looking forward to this. A good night’s sleep and a brand new day to get things done. I believe that this will be a New Years resolution that I can stick to.
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Stars.
I made my bed beneath the stars. It was starting to get dark out and the nighttime was my favorite because it was always so peaceful. I did my best thinking then and I looked forward to trying to count all of the stars and making a wish on one or two. I sat down on my blanket and I stretched. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a barn owl silently gliding over the field. He must have been hunting for food. Slow and graceful. A nocturnal predator. I laid down in the grass and I continued to watch the owl fly. Wondering what that must be like, I closed my eyes. Spreading my imaginary wings, I could feel the wind beneath them as I began to soar. Hunting for food like the owl. He reminded me that I was hungry. I sat up and reached for the apple I had in my bag. Juicy and red, it was gone in seconds. And so was the owl. I guess he had also found his snack. I laid back down and I stared at the night sky. It was finally dark and every single star was out. Thousands of tiny sparkling lights. Beautiful to look at, impossible to count. I wondered how far they really were. And I thought about the owl. How close could he fly to any one of those stars if he tried? I thought about heaven. What type of view do the angels have of the night sky? Do they appreciate the starts like I do? What about the owl? Does he know how lucky he is to be able to fly? The moonlight on his wings, he can go anywhere. Almost like an angel with their wings, flying through the heavens. Losing count of all the stars because they’re going too fast to count them. To be an angel or an owl or anything else with wings. How far could I fly? How close could I get to heaven and all of the stars? I close my eyes and I smile. The wind gently blowing across my face and my body and it almost feels like I’m floating. Slowly, I drift off to sleep. And then I begin to dream. I have wings. I’m flying and I’m close enough to touch the stars. I grab a couple and I put them in my pockets. I’m glowing. Sparkling and flying. I float up to heaven. I open my eyes. The barn owl is back, watching me dream. I say hello to him. I wonder if he wonders about what it’s like to be me. A human on the ground who doesn’t have to hunt for food if I don’t want to. A human without wings. How unlucky. I wonder if the angels, like the owls, consider me unlucky because I cannot fly? Only on an airplane. And there isn’t anything magic about that. But oh well. I’m happy to dream. I can eat apples and lay in the grass and think about heaven. I can lookout for shooting stars and make wishes. I can dream of life as an owl, gliding through the night. I can pretend to be an angel, watching the owl fly through the heavens. It’s peaceful here and I’m happy, just laying beneath the stars, losing count of how many there are. Watching owls fly and thinking of angels. I wonder what they dream of? The boring life of a human being? Maybe. I close my eyes again. I made my bed beneath the stars and it was time to dream again.
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