A Sleep Less 2022

I think that, at one point or another, everybody has made a New Year's Resolution revolving around sleep. If I had to guess with absolutely no evidence upon which to build my assumption, I would say that most of those resolutions would be along the lines of getting more sleep. Better sleep. More consistent sleep.

I, on the other hand, would like to get less sleep in the New Year.

It isn't surprising that 2021 has been a year of sleep. There are a lot of reasons that the year wasn't much better than 2020, and in some ways I dare say that it was worse.

Covid-19 has continued to take lives and cause health issues for those who survive it. Throughout 2021, however, it's felt more exhausting to deal with the pandemic than in 2020. It also took more lives in 2021 than in 2020. The problem is that we stopped supporting each other the way we did when the outbreak was new in 2020.

If you're an "essential" worker like me (should us restaurant workers even count?), you've seen the extra benefits that employers gave for working in a pandemic disappear. Despite still being exposed to possible sickness every shift, we are expected to suck it up at this point and deal with it for the same compensation that we got before working under the threat of possibly debilitating illness.

I could go on for quite awhile about how those decisions are being made by people who are comfortably in offices or working from home, away from the general population's higher risk of transmission for Covid-19. And about how they aren't the ones who have to deal with worsening customer attitudes throughout the pandemic and enforce any restrictions that the company puts in place.

If I don't stop now, I won't stop. So, moving on.

Work in 2021 grew exhausting to a level higher than ever before, while appreciation for workers continued to dwindle ever lower. It's not a surprise that all I wanted to do before and after my shift was sleep. I slept until the very last minute I could without being late, and when I got home I took a nap before finding the energy to do anything else. Add in the fact that I have a Purple mattress (and no affiliation with the company. I'm just a fan of the product) and a cuddly dog who curls up next to my legs, and getting out of bed becomes difficult even on the best of days.

Add in a depressive disorder, and my bed might actually be one of my best friends.

I don't want my life to be spent in bed. I don't want to lie around while the world goes on without me. I hate it. I feel as though I've missed out on so much simply because I couldn't bring myself to leave my bed.

I want 2022 to be different. The Covid-19 pandemic seems set on sticking around for another year, at least, but that doesn't mean that I have to sleep until it goes away.

There's so much I want to do, and I have to battle myself and my own mind in order to accomplish those goals. But I have to win those battles in 2022 to stop this feeling that I'm just waiting for life to happen rather than being out there making life happen.

Even just getting out of bed to have a cup of coffee and catch up on the news would be a welcome change in the New Year instead of reading the news on my phone while in bed.

2022 is the year that I will sleep less and live more.