Running on Empty

There are only 24 hours in a day.  Time stops for nobody and for nothing.  1,440 minutes in one day.  Now doesn’t that make it seem even shorter?

I can only afford to spend 2 to 3 of those 24 hours sleeping.  That means the amount of sleep I get per night is as long as an ENGL 201 class.  I’m not going to bore you with explaining my schedule and why I have so little time, but I can assure you I waste no time.

My purpose is not to employ an “I’m so much busier than all of you” mentality, but to reflect upon the ratio of hours in a day to the amount of tasks that need to be completed.  It simply is unfair.  But not everyone is the same, and we all spend our time doing things that we value, like pursuing our education, earning money, or catching up on hobbies.  Catching up on a hobby however, is a foreign concept to me.

I love the job that I have, but it doesn’t pay enough, so I picked up another on top of it.  The fact of the matter is that I value money over sleep.  Free time is something I disregard because it doesn’t exist in my life.  For me, to live this way is worth having extra cash, but most would prefer to maintain sanity.

How does it feel to live on two to three hours of sleep per night?  Imagine your eyelids being magnetic and consistently resisting the pull of a magnet sitting within the bags under your eyes.  Imagine walking around campus having no idea what is going on around you.  It’s not easy, but I would rather maintain financial security than have to stress about it and having more time.  My body and mind are exhausted, I’m aware my lifestyle is unhealthy, and I know I’m crazy.  But at least I know I’m a hard worker, and I don’t regret that.