I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
Many years ago, a friend of mine told me he didn’t like to sleep. Being a college student at the time, sleep was one of my goals, and I didn’t understand how he (my peer) could say such a thing. He reasoned that, in sleeping, he was afraid he might miss something. Point taken. In a way, I think this may be akin to our observation that an infant or toddler is “fighting sleep.” On the one hand, what’s to fight? On the other, they don’t want to surrender to unconsciousness. They want to live.
People are doing just that, surrendering to unconsciousness, all the time. In others words, they are not fully awake. Consequently, they miss a lot. Life has a tendency to become routine, and the monotony lulls us into neverland. We settle in where we are, find that our needs are met (if not fulfilled) and decide to live it out from that point. Safety has been achieved. Now, it’s time to guard our rest, cease rolling and gather moss while time, the world and everybody else marches on.
Life teaches us that we don’t achieve all we want. Try, try again, and you will still come up short many (maybe even most) times. The temptation becomes not to try. We then become like a wild animal that has learned the meaning of a fence. Best to vegetate and rest in the shade. Some will call this wisdom and maturity, but don’t you miss the wind on your hair? I believe that it is best to keep trying whatever the outcome. As long as I am still trying, I know that I am alive.
While sleeping, have you ever wondered if the dream was real? I have actually had dreams in which I asked myself if I were waking or sleeping. I believe this can happen to us in a larger sense if our lives become mundane. We’re not really asleep, and we’re not really awake. We are lost somewhere in between. No matter how we got there, we are there, and it’s a sure bet we’re not making much progress on any front. It’s a lot more fun to play the game than to watch from the bench.
God meant for us to rest, but we ought never get addicted to rest. Rather, we need the appropriate amount of down time so that we may continue to live. No rest will cause us to break under the strain of life, but too much inactivity will make us seize up. I don’t feel particularly well if I’m deprived of or have overindulged in sleep. Someone once told me that small engines using an oil and gas mixture are made to run. If they sit too long, they gum up. You and I do the same thing.
Don’t sleep your life away. You will miss so much that you would enjoy. And keep trying. Don’t become bitter when things don’t work out. I struggle with this sometimes, but I know it’s true. The experience of frustration is the common experience, and you will be able to help and lift others who are sinking if you stay evergreen. We weren’t meant to live the way we do. The whole creation was affected by the fall. It is God’s will that the whole creation also be affected by the cross.
Sterl
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