More than 50 years ago, when I was a young mother of three small children, I worked a graveyard shift, and my husband worked a day shift.
We didn’t have money to hire anyone to watch the children, so this arrangement was perfect for us — financially anyway. Physically, however, it was extremely tiring.
Life-changing opportunity: Making a priority list
Even though I was exhausted by the time I got home from work, and all I wanted to do was sleep, the children were up and awake. So, I cared for them until their father got home, and then I was able to take a nap before I had to go back to work.
My sleep deficit became so bad that I actually promised myself that someday I would put sleep at the top of my to-do list, and that I wouldn’t let anyone or anything interfere with it.
I’m almost 80 now, and I’m free to schedule my time any way I want. So I go to bed around midnight and sleep until I wake up, which is usually around 9 a.m.
If I go to bed without having done a few tasks on my chore list, I’m more than willing to leave them until tomorrow. And, in case you’re wondering, the fact that they didn’t get done doesn’t cause me to lose any sleep.
Ruth
San Simon, Arizona
Read more inspiring do-over stories by CAPPER’s readers in Stories About Second Chances.
