Growing up comes with pains, whether it’s the physical ones of our youths – aching legs and the like – or the emotional scars that we accumulate with years of living.
One of the things that changes without our even noticing is sleep – we used to love going to sleep, right? It felt so good, but mostly, we were excited for one thing or another that was coming up the next day, and sleep was the best way to get there.
Now, sleep is something we can’t help, the thing that we live for in and of itself, and when did it change?
These 15 people are weighing in!
15. Bless.
I remember being so excited to be going to the water park the next morning that I ran up the stairs to bed, tripped on the way and sprained my ankle.
Little did I know that that was a metaphor for life.
14. Is that all?
After 25 years I finally found the solution to my insomnia. All I have to do is exercise at least an hour a day, meditate at least 2 hours a day, eat super healthy with no alcohol / caffeine / sugar and keep a super strict bedtime schedule because even going to bed 30 minutes later one day will fuck my sleep up for a couple of days.
I feel stupid for not seeing this super obvious solution in front of me this whole time and I guess my sister was right when she said it was my own fault that I can’t sleep.
13. No magic bullet.
This is me. I stay up late because if I sleep then work comes quicker. So I stay up late to enjoy more of my free non-work time and then I am tired af the next day.
People will say “then obviously you hate your job”. No, my job is actually pretty good, it’s working I don’t like. If I had my way, I wouldn’t need to work, but since I like not being homeless, I work. There is no magic job that will make me like working or look forward to working.
Best I can hope for is not hating my work and just being a little tired a few times a week.
12. Those things can be taxing.
First full time job.
ive been at 45 hours a week and I hate life now tbh
customers are also genuinely stupid and corona makes them dumber somehow
11. Where’s the middle ground?
As a kid I got excited about Christmas and my birthday and would have a hard time falling asleep due to excitement.
As an adult I have a hard time sleeping because I don’t want tomorrow to come.
10. What choice do we have?
I love these threads because it always makes me realise that I’m not alone and that helps validate my feelings. We’ll get through it together internet fam.
The phrase in the question “too tired to exist” hit home. Its not that you’re physically tired, it’s a weird level of mental/emotional exhaustion that I didnt know existed until it was an inescapable part of life.
9. Idk I though college was fun.
high school.
Ever since high school started, I went to bed hoping I don’t wake up the next day. I’m in college now
8. They do seem to coincide.
The same day that hangovers go from aa mild annoyance to ruining your whole week.
I would say 25/26 is the standard transition period. So everyone should learn which type of alcohol their body doesn’t like, before this age.
7. That’s just too early.
Sometime in high school for me.
I could never sleep in, because the bus left at 6:30
Also when i realized school is only about passing tests, and not the actual learning anymore.
6. That’s the dream.
You’re talking about restorative sleep? I’m envious.
It’s gotten to the point in my early 30s where I genuinely can’t remember ever feeling refreshed and raring to go, fully rested etc.
Always either a mild headache when I wake up, or my eyes ache all day randomly, or feeling a bit jetlagged all day, or physically drained. Never just great, never energized.
6 hours, wake up twice a night, 7 or 8 hours straight, doesn’t matter. I still feel unslept in some way.
5. A reason to get through.
High school, I’d say 11th grade specifically. I’d wake up every morning thinking “I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight”.
4. Whenever that happened.
When you started dealing with way too much shit without properly taking care of your physical/mental/emotional/spiritual wellbeing.
3. What a beat down.
I think it has happened twice for me. The first time I was 13 yrs old and the school counselor pulled from gym class to tell me my mom died in a car accident. After a few years, I felt better and started joying life again.
Then, I joined the service and I got told I was worthless by my supervisor daily and that I was a disappointment to my family. After that, I have struggled really hard to find the light in my life.
2. Wow, that’s early.
Around middle school when things stopped being new and interesting and life turned into a tedious grind.
1. Work isn’t…great.
Age 22 seems about right.
Basically the transfer from college to working full time… Life changes pretty quickly and just kinda fades away like a limp d%*k.
I’m pretty sure it changed for me when I had kids. Just saying.
When did sleep change for you? Confess in the comments!
