On the topic of sleep, first off let me make something perfectly clear: I love it, especially when I’m feeling really tired and relaxed, at which time it’s one of the most satisfying things a person can do.

But I can get by, especially in the short term of a week or so, with barely any sleep, and that’s something I sort of pride myself on. Just this week I found myself telling a friend, “Sleep is a crutch, a refuge of the weak.”

I was joking of course. And I realize that some people simply do require more sleep than others, both for health and day-to-day functionality, just like some require more food than others; while I love to eat, especially things like pizza, burgers and fries, I am a very “easy keeper,” to borrow a livestock term; an easy keeper is a cow, horse, etc. that maintains weight with less hay and grain than the typical animal; in my case, I tend to weigh about the same regardless of what or how much I eat.

Anyway, back to the subject of sleep. During the week, on a good night I’ll get around six hours. That’s not because I always stay up extra late or get up super early, though both happen with some regularity, but rather it’s because I’m usually awake for at least an hour in the night. My whole life, I’ve had to get up at least once, often more than that, to go to the bathroom, and whereas I used to always fall quickly back to sleep, that seldom happens anymore.

But knowing that the sleep I’m losing isn’t really going to hurt me, I just lie there figuring I’ll likely drift off eventually, and if I don’t, well, that’s not necessarily a big deal either.

Like everyone else, though, I certainly do feel tired at mid-day sometimes, but I pride myself on being able to deal with that too, and dealing with it primarily takes three forms:

– As dumb or corny as this might sound, I remind myself what my high school baseball coach, Larry Hermo, taught me about mental toughness, and resolve just to suck it up and use my mind to defeat the fatigue.

– I also remind myself that when I’m really tired, every problem or challenge seems more daunting than it really is, so I just make myself weather the storm and know that after a bit of sleep, things will look a lot more manageable.

– And finally, I remind myself to be especially careful when I’m feeling run-down. For example, I try extra hard to think before responding to someone, rather than just reacting, lest I end up saying something I’ll really end up regretting.