I’ve talked a lot about balance here. I’ve talked about prioritizing, and knowing your limits, and I’ve taken days off from posting when I just couldn’t get a post up in time. Just last week, I had a deadline for a program that I’m applying to (which I finished in time – yay!), and I knew there weren’t enough hours in a day to get everything done that I wanted to. I had to make a choice – sleeping, or getting a post up – and I chose sleep. So I thought that today, I’d give a little more background on why I focus on this topic so much, both on the blog and in real life.

I’ve talked about how I like doing things, and getting involved. And I’ve also talked about liking to take time off over the weekend and relax. But I haven’t really ever talked about how important sleep is for me. It’s not just that I like sleep (which I do), and not just that I’m a happier, nicer person when I get enough sleep (which is also definitely true – for both me and everyone else). I need sleep because when I’m tired, every single thing in my life is harder for me. My body physically needs sleep for me to function just at my baseline. When I don’t get enough sleep, moving is harder for me. My body feels heavier, and it’s harder for me to raise my arm up to put my hair behind my ear, or put my makeup on, or pick up my cup of coffee.

That’s why knowing my limits is something that I’m constantly struggling with. When I find out about something that interests me, I don’t like saying no – I don’t like thinking that there are things I can’t do because I’m in a wheelchair. I was raised to be really independent, and I’m a very stubborn person – when you combine those two traits, it’s a dangerous combination! So while everyone may not be able to relate to the physical difficulty I have when I’m tired, I think that everyone can relate to this struggle. I think it’s why self-care has started being so popular – because people feel guilty when they prioritize their physical needs over their wants, when doing this means they have to say no to someone or something. But I have an actual physical symptom that tells me when I’m not prioritizing correctly. So hopefully, you can learn from my lessons, and it can make it a little bit easier for you to feel okay about choosing to take care of yourself.