After reading about sleep and the harm that sleep loss does to one's body, I'm feeling more justified than ever about my insistence on 8 hours a night, in spite of disparaging comments from friends re "waste of time".

Seems that lack of sleep stresses the body, releasing the stress hormones that, repeated day after day, year after year, ravage the body's immune and circulatory systems.

Another interesting tidbit that I didn't know (but suspected) is that it is normal to wake up during the night for a while, then go back to sleep. It is a form of night watchfulness, from times when we humans were the hunted, easy prey, lacking fangs and claws, or subject to raids from other tribes and clans.

A nap in the middle of the day is also normal, and pretty much observed worldwide, except for "modern" workers and managers, who have taken on the puritan belief that sleep is sloth, and we should work through the day and into the night, sleeping only when we can't stay awake any longer. He who sleeps the least is the most virtuous, the most admired, and virtue is rewarded by material success.

Therefore, you can judge a person's quality by the amount of material success. What logic! It underlies so much of what is wrong with the world, I think. We should be judging success by the quality of life and relationships and service to humanity, not by the quantity of consumer goods stuffed in our closets, the number of real estate deeds we hold, the flashy yachts and jewelry on display.

I am indeed successful, for I am content with what I have and rejoice that I have more than enough for my own needs, that I can share with others, both time and money. Hold me accountable for that, not judge my worth as a person by my "stuff".

And sleep, glorious refreshing sleep, is the greatest gift of all; money can't buy a single minute of it.