What a Difference a Good Night’s Sleep Makes

I have not been sleeping well because of the unusual heat we have been having here in Montana this summer. With triple-digit temperatures and no air conditioning at home, the house stays warm well into the night. Some nights it doesn’t cool off until around 2:00 a.m. Ugh.

Then we got lucky with a couple of days in the 70s. The evenings were cool, no fan was needed, and I slept.

I did not realize how much sleep I had been missing until Tuesday morning, when I woke up actually feeling rested. I had forgotten what that felt like.

What it made me realize was that my body was fatigued, perhaps even stressed.

I felt that fatigue Monday morning when I tried to flip a bale of hay and do some digging around my paver project. My thought was, “Dang, this is hard this morning. Why?”

You see, Monday’s temperatures were finally in the 70s, so naturally I thought, I need to get some things done outside.

Unfortunately, I got very little done. I had to take several breaks, and at one point I asked myself, “What are you doing?”

That was when I realized what my body really needed was to rest and reset before feeding the horses—something that needed to be done.

It is so easy to get caught up in what we want to accomplish, taking advantage of whatever free time or cool temperatures we have to push through and get things done.

I’ve been so busy doing—working my summer job, taking care of bookkeeping clients, coaching, building a business, caring for animals, and taking care of myself—that I forgot part of taking care of myself is stepping back and taking a breath.

Asking, “What does Pamm need right now?”

Sleep was—and still is—definitely one of those needs.

As I move through my days, I am going to try to step back more often, take a breath, and stop being in such a rush to get everything done.

There will always be another task, another project, or something that feels like it needs my attention.

But right now…

Step back.

Breathe.