Sleep

Sleep is something that we all need, yet in this era of life, we assume that we can do without it as we are strong, empowered and can multi-task like anything and that is rubbish.

Sleep is one of the most important things that we can achieve in life. To regularly achieve seven hours is the goal as less than that is simply not enough. You end up feeling drained and always ready for bed, when that's not what I signed up for.

As much as I would love to do without, that's not really possible as we are built to require rest and much like a leopard, we cannot change our spots.

We need rest to keep going, otherwise, our days become void at best, where what we achieve is less than what we should which is frustrating.

I have spent the last few years with broken sleep due to the hours my wife keeps. Walking up at 6:30 after going to bed after midnight is not the best thing for long-term stability. It's not going to push our relationship forward and if anything, it'll hold us back and that needs to change.

We are both 34 and have a limited number of hours in the day. We cannot do everything and yet we still need to do something. We cannot sleepwalk through the rest of our lives, obsessed with the latest television show. We need to live our lives and the only way to do that is to ensure that we receive enough rest in the day, meaning that we need more sleep.

At the present point in time, as soon as my heart hurts the pillow, I am out like a light, I have no energy for anything else, which is a problem when it comes to intimacy, as if you are always tired, how do you find the energy for anything beyond the basic?

It's tough, it truly is and why we need to take a step back as a couple to think. Will these late nights benefit us later on in life or do we need to go to bed earlier?

For me it is obvious, to go to bed earlier and provide room for the relationship. Offer the chance for things to grow rather than be left as a birthday treat, as that is not how marriages last.

Marriages last through action and attention, not through half-awake eyes that are merely thinking about the next day/ living for the weekend. We need a change and we need it soon.

I want to be the type of husband and father that my father never was. Someone who will be here for his family to support them through thick and thin, rather than someone who takes the easy way out.

I want to take control of my life, rather than blaming everyone for my problems, I want to take responsibility and push forward to create a life with remembering as that is what time on this planet is all about.

There is of course room for television but when it takes over from making real memories then you need to start to question things and sometimes it takes taking a step back to take a leap forward and none of us are perfect.

I know that I take things to heart at times and think too much but it is fine in a selfish way, it has more to do with the consideration that I want to be better than I am. I think this is why I tend to say yes to everything....

Sometimes I should just say no as it stresses me out and there should be time in there for me. There should always be time in life to place yourself first as if you don't love yourself then who will?

Sometimes we have to just keep going...you know those days when we feel super productive and others when we would prefer to sit under a box of figs and drown our sorrows but we don't. We continue to push forward in order to get to the next day as tomorrow will be a new day, a better day and once we arrive at that spot we should rejoice as life is tough.

We all have to navigate the ups and downs, take a step back and ponder what has taken place in order to move forward and do better, or as Churchill once said, success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.

Life is a struggle from birth to death but through listening to that voice in the back of your head you can understand what you need to do and if something is broken, then fix it. Don't want around for it to get worse.

A good defence is often provided by a great offence and this is great as it teaches us to go after what we want and not wait around for someone else to solve it for us.

If there is anything that I am going to take from this year it is to not let things pile up and get on top of, it is to take positive strides forward in order to maximize happiness, as that really is all this life is about, happiness and sharing the time you have with the ones you love more.