Getting enough sleep allows you to be more present in a relationship. Being present in a relationship allows us to not only think clearly and remember more of what is being said, but it also enhances the connection between two individuals. Connection is extremely important for a relationship to be long-lasting.
When tired, you can tend to have more of a temper and less patience. Think about the last time you had a conversation with a friend or your coworker or spouse. If you were discussing something important, did you get agitated quicker than usual? Would the conversation have progressed further if there was more patience on either side? We tend to get impatient when our bodies and our minds have not had enough rest.
When you are tired you may not be as alert and you may miss important details of your day. For example, when you were called and notified of some changes to the dinner event with your boss, you could end up being embarrassed because you missed the detail that you needed to pick up not only a bottle of wine, but another food item as well. You missed the details of the conversation that a doctor is having with you regarding an ailment. You might forget that your daughter told you that her play was changed from Thursday night to Tuesday night. Could some of these changes influence you long term? It's possible. Getting enough sleep can help prevent these things from happening. Of course, a maturing mind can be another challenge but that's a topic for another day.
In order to be certain you have the best chance of getting enough sleep, try changing your nighttime routine by putting your phone and charger in another room, adding a white noise machine to your bedroom area to drown out sounds of the environment; take the TV out of your bedroom and designate that room as a technology-free zone; do some simple meditation before you retire for the evening. If one change does not appear to be helping, try another.
The Center for Disease Control website has a tremendous amount of information on the topic of sleep, and how much to get and additional tips for getting the right amount. The purpose of my newsletter this month is to just bring awareness that sleep is so very important to our relationships and to not take it for granted that we can manage without enough of it. Our bodies and our minds are doing a great deal of work as we lie there in peace. Our relationships will suffer if we are lacking the proper amount of sleep on a regular basis.
Better sleep can equal better relationships. Are your relationships worth the research? I hope so.
