Have you ever noticed that how much sleep you get, or fail to get, affects your mood? I have been noticing that a lot, lately, because I keep having 24 hour shifts at work.
The funny part is that I never really noticed it until I had it pointed out to me. How is it that we can go through experiences but we never really notice them? I have begun to pay more attention to things like that, and how they affect me, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and you would be surprised how much a small thing can change your entire day.
Too much sugar, too little sleep, whether you are a nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine addict can all affect every aspect of your life. Now, I am not saying that these things are all bad for you, but as a person, you have to know your own limitations. For example, I have this bad habit of drinking way too much alcohol way too quickly, especially when I am suffering from stress. What I have noticed, over the years, is that this is simply a defense mechanism that I use to allow me to relax and talk about things when my inhibitions are lowered. I am not going to stop drinking, because I enjoy it, I am simply aware of this particular aspect of my alcohol consumption and I will keep an eye on it.
This can be said for any aspect of anyone’s life. You see, moderation is the key. Drinking, eating, smoking in moderation makes life enjoyable. These can all explode into the defining factor of somebody’s life if they don’t pay attention to why they do these things.
People talk about obesity being a major problem in the US, but what they don’t realize is that all of our instant gratification toys keep us inside and sedentary. Unfortunately, we don’t eat well and we don’t exercise enough. The irony is that we get upset when people pick on our obese children, or when our child isn’t the star player on the team. Here’s the question for those parents: “How much of that is the coach’s fault and how much is the parents?†The parents set the lifestyle, the eating habits, even the expectations, but it’s never their fault that there are other players on their kid’s team that are better than their kid. Their “precious baby†is the best there is. Yeah, right.
