Where Whales Go To Die
Growing up my family always went to bed early- meaning we would have family prayer at 9, and everyone would be asleep by 10. I know. And then we would wake up the next morning at like some crazy hour, such as 5:30, or 6, to read the scriptures as a family. And then I would go to school all day, and marching band, and work, and then go home and do homework, and be asleep by 10. I know. It was quite the schedule.
Then.... I graduated from high school, and moved two states away to go to college. All of a sudden I was living with a bunch of college girls, and having to do a ton of homework, and trying to balance a social life, and all the new experiences of living on my own.... it was crazy. And bed time started getting later... and later... and then I added two jobs to the mix, and basically sleep became non-existent. If I was in bed before 2 am I would feel pretty good about my life. And if I got to sleep past 7am, then I was pretty golden. The whole time I was doing this crazy schedule of all nighters, whether school related, roommate related, or friend related, I could hear my dad telling me it would catch up to me someday. I didn't care. I was looking forward to those days. My last semester of college all I could think of was all the stuff I would get to do when I graduated and no longer had homework to do, and on the top of my list was sleep.
As most of you know, I graduated last July, and promptly moved home. I was there for a month, and my sleeping habits stayed constant to what they had been in college. Then... I moved to Utah.... and all of a sudden it was official. I was no longer a college student. And my body all of a sudden made that connection. I guess it realized we were not going to Rexburg, and that meant no more college, and that meant it could finally rest from the hurried 3 year education I had put myself through. And you know how usually things happen in increments, and sometimes you don't even realize there is a change because of how slowly it went? Well... I wish I could say the same about my body adjusting to post college life. But, alas, it was not the case. It just happened. One day I was partying it up until 1 am, and the next my eyes started fluttering shut at 9pm...
And don't think that just because I was now going to bed early that all of a sudden I turned into a morning person. Oh no. That would not do. My body was not about to give up sleeping in! Oh no. Not when all this new found freedom was available. Who knew how long it would last? So, not only was I falling asleep early, but I was sleeping in late. Who ever coined the term "The early bird gets the worm" was obviously a bird, because honestly, who wants to eat a worm? Not me. And so, why wake up early then?
This lasted for a while... and then I started dating this super awesome guy, and we would stay awake all night talking. And then my job started, and I was all of a sudden needed at 9 am everyday... and that's when my body kind of freaked. It knew I had graduated. I mean, it had seen my diploma with its own two eyes. There was no hiding that fact. But it was confused because I was still acting like I was in college, staying up all night and waking up early. Finally my body gave up trying to let me decide when I was going to sleep, and it would just shut down at 8 or 9 every night. My roommates started commenting on this. I mean, I am the youngest in the apartment.... I should be the most energetic, right? But, no. I no longer was the girl who could function on 3 or 4 hours of sleep. All that sleep I had missed out on in college? Oh yes, my body was catching up on that, and much like everything else in my life, it was not taking its time. It wanted all those sleepless nights paid back asap. Any free time I have now is spent sleeping for the most part. It is pathetic. 8 pm rolls around and my body just drops. It's done for the day, and it will be awake at 7 the next day, but not before.
This has gotten really hard on me. I mean, come on, I'm 22, I have great friends... I should be able to stay up all night still. I'm not 45, and married, with 6 kids. Come on. I'm still a child at heart! But maybe my body just knows something I don't. Maybe it realizes that, yes, this is the time to party it up in my life, but this is also when I need to be getting all the sleep that I can, because if I thought I never slept through college, wait until I have kids. I won't be sleeping for the next 50 years. So I guess this is me saying thank you to my body for being smarter than me. Where would I be without it?
Then.... I graduated from high school, and moved two states away to go to college. All of a sudden I was living with a bunch of college girls, and having to do a ton of homework, and trying to balance a social life, and all the new experiences of living on my own.... it was crazy. And bed time started getting later... and later... and then I added two jobs to the mix, and basically sleep became non-existent. If I was in bed before 2 am I would feel pretty good about my life. And if I got to sleep past 7am, then I was pretty golden. The whole time I was doing this crazy schedule of all nighters, whether school related, roommate related, or friend related, I could hear my dad telling me it would catch up to me someday. I didn't care. I was looking forward to those days. My last semester of college all I could think of was all the stuff I would get to do when I graduated and no longer had homework to do, and on the top of my list was sleep.
As most of you know, I graduated last July, and promptly moved home. I was there for a month, and my sleeping habits stayed constant to what they had been in college. Then... I moved to Utah.... and all of a sudden it was official. I was no longer a college student. And my body all of a sudden made that connection. I guess it realized we were not going to Rexburg, and that meant no more college, and that meant it could finally rest from the hurried 3 year education I had put myself through. And you know how usually things happen in increments, and sometimes you don't even realize there is a change because of how slowly it went? Well... I wish I could say the same about my body adjusting to post college life. But, alas, it was not the case. It just happened. One day I was partying it up until 1 am, and the next my eyes started fluttering shut at 9pm...
And don't think that just because I was now going to bed early that all of a sudden I turned into a morning person. Oh no. That would not do. My body was not about to give up sleeping in! Oh no. Not when all this new found freedom was available. Who knew how long it would last? So, not only was I falling asleep early, but I was sleeping in late. Who ever coined the term "The early bird gets the worm" was obviously a bird, because honestly, who wants to eat a worm? Not me. And so, why wake up early then?
This lasted for a while... and then I started dating this super awesome guy, and we would stay awake all night talking. And then my job started, and I was all of a sudden needed at 9 am everyday... and that's when my body kind of freaked. It knew I had graduated. I mean, it had seen my diploma with its own two eyes. There was no hiding that fact. But it was confused because I was still acting like I was in college, staying up all night and waking up early. Finally my body gave up trying to let me decide when I was going to sleep, and it would just shut down at 8 or 9 every night. My roommates started commenting on this. I mean, I am the youngest in the apartment.... I should be the most energetic, right? But, no. I no longer was the girl who could function on 3 or 4 hours of sleep. All that sleep I had missed out on in college? Oh yes, my body was catching up on that, and much like everything else in my life, it was not taking its time. It wanted all those sleepless nights paid back asap. Any free time I have now is spent sleeping for the most part. It is pathetic. 8 pm rolls around and my body just drops. It's done for the day, and it will be awake at 7 the next day, but not before.
This has gotten really hard on me. I mean, come on, I'm 22, I have great friends... I should be able to stay up all night still. I'm not 45, and married, with 6 kids. Come on. I'm still a child at heart! But maybe my body just knows something I don't. Maybe it realizes that, yes, this is the time to party it up in my life, but this is also when I need to be getting all the sleep that I can, because if I thought I never slept through college, wait until I have kids. I won't be sleeping for the next 50 years. So I guess this is me saying thank you to my body for being smarter than me. Where would I be without it?
I didn't know you were dating someone!!! He's one lucky guy :)
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