Sleeping Is My Superpower.

I am embarrassed to admit that I once believed sleep was an inconvenience. Being the daughter of a single mom, I felt there was no way she slept with all the things she had to do. I realized that I had grown up believing that sleep was a luxury I could not afford. I would work until I was nodding out, trying to accomplish going to school, working a full-time job, running the church's music ministry, singing in a choir outside of the church, and writing dramatic monologues I performed at events. I did a lot, and I justified it by saying, "No worries, I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Last October, something happened to me that rocked my entire world- I got COVID. However, being the overachiever that I am, I didn't just stay in my house and deal with the symptoms. I had COVID pneumonia. I remember coming home and going straight to sleep three nights in a row, and I was upset because I felt I was being lazy and wasting time in bed. When I started having issues breathing, I was forced to go to the hospital because I was trying to get all my work done. I also was planning to go to a retreat, so you can imagine how heartbroken I was to be spending my time away at Good Samaritan Hospital.

One night as I was watching TV, I looked around and saw something that changed my perspective- I was in the hospital ALONE. None of the people I was killing myself to work for came to see me in the hospital. Only a few of my friends called. All the preachers I had driven to serve weren't praying for me. I was stuck in the hospital bed, and I had to heal myself by myself. I thought about how that sleep when you are dead saying was passed down from a lineage of slaves. Those who broke their back because they were someone else's property. Hundreds of years later I realized that no one was forcing me or making me do all I was doing. I was the one whipping myself and because I didn't take care of myself, I had to deal with the consequences of putting them before my health.

After I was released from the hospital, I decided that I needed to do everything to keep myself as my best self, so that when I gave, I wouldn't be making my body pay. I started to change some of my dietary choices, or at least the frequency I let myself indulge. I began to respect my time, not being willing to waste my life second on things that don't really concern me. However, the best part is I set my bedtime function on my iPhone to give myself time to wind down and rest. Since I made rest a priority I have improved in my production and feel great while producing. It seems that when I stopped obligating myself to do things for everyone else, I could do stuff that I wanted to do and needed to do.

If you were like me and believe that sleep hinders you from being the superwoman you can be, I'd say that you are looking at this all wrong. First of all, NO ONE BELIEVES IN SUPERHEROES! You were not made to live your life minutes, saving everyone from consequences. If you don't always respond to their emergencies, you will force those people to be accountable for their decisions. Second, you need to be at your best for you! No one else is losing sleep for your benefit, and trust me, you can deal with it in the morning. Lastly, when you prioritize your sleep, you'll find that you will be sharp, focused, energized, and in a better mood to accomplish all that you must. Working yourself to death means you die, but rest means you get to live to enjoy your next. So take advantage of sleeping while everyone else isn't and make sleep your only superpower.