The Power of Sleep

Ever since I was a little girl, sleep has been very important to me. Just ask my mom and dad. I would wake up at 6 a.m., refuse to take any nap, and be a complete busy body the whole entire day until my parents forced me to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. I think this early bedtime was partially for my parents to have a mental and physical break from my crazy nature. It also was due to my dependence on sleep to function correctly and not be cranky. When I finally got into high school my bedtime got pushed to later due to sports, extracurriculars, and homework. I would try to get as much sleep as I could but honestly, it became not as important. It became a game of how late I could stay up and still function the next day. This did not serve me well as I became more irritable and did not perform the best I could in various aspects of my life.

When I got to college, I started to put sleep at the top of my priority list. This was mainly due to working Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 5:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. I also got in the habit of taking at least an hour nap every day which I really did not need but, first-year college student habit right?? Coming to Rome, sleep quickly dropped the priority list and I honestly forgot about it. I found very quickly that I was only getting 6 or 7 hours of sleep every night. This slowly started to take a toll on my performance levels in school, my general happiness, and the most on my mental health. Last week I got the worst grades that I have ever gotten back, I was really depressed and anxious, and I really did not know what to do. I took a general intake of my life and realized that, while I cannot control everything that is happening to me, I can start to control how much I am sleeping.

The first night that I went to bed early, I really struggled to pull myself away from my friends and homework. I feared that I would miss out on time with my friends and that my homework would suffer. But I did not miss out on anything and instead woke up the next morning feeling happier, more refreshed, and ready to face the day. I felt calmer knowing that I did not have for anything or anyone. I am not a night person, to begin with, so accepting that was liberating. At the beginning of shifting my sleeping schedule, I would wake up an hour or two before my alarm. Instead of falling back to sleep, I would get up, get ready, and start reading for fun. I have found real joy in getting back into reading for pleasure and the calmness of being up before anyone else. I slowly started to sleep in a little bit more but kept the habit of reading at breakfast. This has been a wonderful way to start my day and get my brain working while expanding my knowledge and imaginative juices.

In short: sleep is important. Mental health is important. And sleep really does have a huge effect on my mental health. I am now getting at least 9 hours of sleep every night which gives my brain time to rest, reset, and process everything that is happening in my life. I am proud to have figured out what I can control to help my mental health and how influential it has been in my life.

“Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies together” -Thomas Dekker