Yesterday, the Power Ran Out.

At around 8 PM, I was already feeling sleepy. It’s not like I didn’t have enough sleep for the past few days, but maybe it’s just because I didn’t have anything else to do, and it was time to move on to the next day. Maybe that’s why our grandparents sleep early.

But I’m not a grandparent just yet. Even with no electricity, I can still do so many things! My Kindle had enough power to last a week. I have an audiobook version of Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson on the ready (great series btw). I have enough mobile data to watch a few YouTube videos. I could go through the textbook and lessons from a few courses I’m taking. I was even thinking of picking up my lockpick set again to practice (it’s a fun hobby).

But I just couldn’t shake the sleepy sensation off. My eyes were closing more and more as I continued to think if I should sleep or not.

But then, the power came back. A new wave of options came rushing through – writing, gaming, chatting with friends, and many more.

The problem was, I WAS STILL SLEEPY. It’s like I did an eenie-meenie-miney-mo, and my finger landed on an option I didn’t like (which means I had to extend the song until I landed on something that I initially didn’t know I wanted all along.) 

So, I finally decided to go to bed.

At nine in the evening.

For those of you who don’t know me, I never sleep early. Life’s too short to be sleeping all the time. Because my “don’t sleep” side was stopping me from doing something the rest of my being wants, I needed an excuse to trick myself into thinking that this is something that will work out to my benefit.

Something like…

(1) It’s a downpayment on your “sleep debt.  I don’t believe this concept, but I was still thinking about it.

(2) This is going to make you feel better. I was coughing here and there during the time. (Tch! As if that’s going to work on “other” me.)

(3) It’s a reset switch.

That last one kinda made sense. 

I can think of this as an opportunity to keep myself in check. I can recalibrate my mind by “restarting my computer.” Maybe, I can hit the 6 AM fantasy that I’ve always dreamed of! (I’ve only been drifting between 6:30 AM and 7 AM.) Perhaps, I could finally start working at 8 AM, a massive leap from the usual 9 AM (or sometimes 9:30 AM). Or, I could start running regularly in the morning! (I only run in the afternoons of Monday and Friday.)

So, with my petty mind bamboozled with “impressive logic,” off to bed I go!

The next day, I woke up at 5 AM, exactly the timeslot my alarm clock was set. “Awesome!” I thought. “New life, here we go!!!”

But no. I didn’t have it in me to get up. I slept again. I woke up three hours later.

lol so much for that bro

Jokes aside, I was even thinking of writing this article and conclude that we have to take advantage of the “reset” switches in our lives to become a better version of ourselves. 

New house? Improve your cleaning habits. 

New job? Maybe practice going to work earlier (I think this still applies in a WFH world.) 

New relationship? Maybe live a better life!

In my case, things just went back to normal. It could have been better, but it could also be worse.

We can’t rely only on external events to bring the change we’ve always wanted. Only “thinking” or “hoping” for change will happen won’t get us an outcome.

Actions will.