Michael

I don’t know about you, but I always fight taking a nap when my body is clearly giving me the signs to the contrary. I had to wake up quite early this morning to drive to Boston. Around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m., I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

My normal tendency is to resist going to sleep until it is a “proper” time to go to bed. But what happens is that I get that famous second wind and then cannot go to sleep until late. This means I’m tired when I have to wake up for work the next day. Then the cycle starts all over again.

I always have a million excuses why I shouldn’t take a short nap. I have too many to-dos. I won’t be able to go to sleep at a decent hour. I want to try and cram more things into my day. I need to clean. I should cook a proper meal. I have some work that needs to be completed. I want to watch a movie. I need to make some phone calls. And on and on.

Tonight, for the first time, I just listened to my body and took a nap for around 90 minutes. Wow, did I feel great when I woke up! Did I get a good nights sleep in spite of the nap? Yes.

What a simple lesson that I put off learning for years. Listen to your body. It generally knows best. The mind can get in the way sometimes.

Michael