I pride myself on being an elementary insomniac. I don't mean that I stay up for days and days on end, but I usually average five to six hours of sleep a night (7 hours is absolutely luxurious, 8 hours means I'm ill). A normal person gets 8. Somehow being able to function on less than what a normal person gets makes me above-average, this kind of superhuman. I think we're conditioned to think this is the way it should be. You hear of FDR and Churchill and Lyndon Johnson all sleeping only a few hours a night and then making world-altering decisions before sunrise. Great leadership must have to do with lack of sleep. Being someone, doing something, making your impact would mean that you must also be able to run on nothing.
Having experienced this myself in college and now in my career life. This is somewhat true. However, I'm willing to bet that just like myself, these men had shoulder pain, a true need for caffine, a naseous feeling and were generally raving pricks because all they wanted to do was fall asleep. I mean what else are you going to do at 4 a.m. when you can't sleep? That's right, pace your office or apt or God knows what else and think. I'd imagine too much thinking, thoughts churning, bumping and rolling inside a brain, unable to stop have a good deal to do with not being able to sleep.
In any case, I'm making no sense today because I can't think. After 2 nights of under, under-average sleep (I'm talking maybe 10 hrs in the past 2 days) I'm ready to call it quits. I can't think, can't focus and really don't have much witty to say. So, if you read this regularly, I'm sorry. If this is your first reading, come back tomorrow. Tonite I intend to clean my entire apt, go to the store and be in bed no later than 10 p.m. Maybe it's not about how much you can go without that makes you great, but knowing when to slow down and breathe.
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