Embrace the grind, but take time to unwind

No, we don't need more sleep.

It's our souls that are tired, not our bodies.

We need nature. We need magic.

We need adventure.

We need freedom.

We need truth.

We need stillness.

We don't need more sleep.

We need to wake up and live.

This poem, which was presented as a meme on my Facebook feed this afternoon, was just what I needed. It made me stop in my tracks and think. Better yet, it was just the inspiration I needed to write this column.

I see and read a lot of conflicting advice these days, it seems.

"Embrace the grind," my colleagues in business often say. "Make hay while the sun shines" is another good line I borrowed from the farmers and ranchers in my life.

"Work smarter, not harder," others advise. "Quit glorifying busy and stop wearing your busyness like a badge of honor."

"How do you do it all?" some ask. "And when do you sleep?"

The truth – albeit painful – is that I actually prefer being busy to being bored. I'm not particularly proud or boastful about it, but it's a reality about myself that I have come to accept.

There are different kinds of people – introverts and extroverts, intellects and empaths as some personality tests define their personalities.

I know that when I have time alone in my house or at the office, when no one else is there to influence me one way or another, I often still continue to look for the next thing that needs to be done.

A die-hard list maker, I recently moved my To-Do list into the Cloud. Now I can "delete" tasks as they are finished rather than cross them off, and I can type in new tasks as they come up. The best part is that I never run out of paper!

On my most productive days, I delete several tasks from my list.

On other days, I'll stop to have an extra-long chat with someone, take a break from my computer to binge Netflix, or turn in to bed a little earlier than normal.

If it's only 8 p.m., so be it. And if I don't get out of bed until 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning, it's because I needed that rest.

It's my daughter's 17th birthday today, and she lamented last night that we have almost never celebrated her birthday on the actual day. She blamed it on summer baseball and softball, because, of course, her brother has a home game today.

I replied half-jokingly, "Well, you're the one who decided to come into the world three weeks early!"

Truth is, I didn't expect her to arrive until July 20. Summer baseball season would have been about over by then, I noted. Instead, I got a June baby, which happens to be a very busy month for birthdays in my family and a big month for summer celebrations in our area.

Since there's nothing we could do about the game (except show up), we decided to postpone her birthday celebration until Friday. We found a small window when all five of us are "technically" available and made plans to spend that time together.

We did something similar on Father's Day. Although our schedules were not in sync, we were able to squeeze in a few hours to enjoy a home-cooked meal as a family that night. Then we rented a movie from Amazon Prime at 9 p.m., and I made my own version of movie theatre munchie trays for each of the kids with our meal prep containers. I even popped real popcorn in a kettle, and topped it off with melted sweet cream butter.

I went to bed later than usual that night, but I felt more refreshed than I had in awhile even with less sleep.

So, after reflecting on that poem, I say do it all. Life is about all of those things – nature, magic, adventure, freedom, truth, stillness – AND sleep.

I say do what makes your heart happy and your soul shine. And if someone chooses a different path from yours, wish the same for them.