I’ve had eight hours of sleep on average over the past week, Fitbit tells me, but that includes 5:48 one night and 9:30 another. Apart from that long sleep, I’ve managed less than 8 hours every night. I spend eight hours in bed, but I’m awake or restless for an hour or more every night, and wake tired every morning.
I’ve been sleeping in sometimes, too. On the weekends, I don’t wake naturally until the sun comes up around 7:30. Occasionally I sleep through my 6:00 a.m. alarm on a weekday.
So I’m breaking the consistent sleep schedule rule. Also the exercise every day rule. And the no refined carbs rule. Is that enough to explain my poor sleep quality? I will endeavor to have a perfect week and see whether that solves the problem.
I learned from A Long Obedience that the word “prosperity” in the Psalms can be translated “leisure,” or perhaps more naturally “relaxation.” It is about being calm and confident — relaxed — because we know God is looking out for us.
Not being relaxed in the assurance of having no problems, but in the assurance that God is looking after us even if we have problems.
Worries about sleep quality obviously are not very serious problems. They’re not even really new problems. I see that I made similar complaints last January, and indeed that I have complained about sleep many times over the years in this blog.
I used to blame poor sleep on my children, my husband, and my dogs. Because they woke me up. Now, with nobody to blame but myself, I worry about it more. But maybe I’m just not that great at sleeping.
Or maybe, even though I have been prospering this year as planned, I’m not crediting God with that prosperity. Maybe I need to focus more on faith and gratitude to get the rest and relaxation that makes up true prosperity.