Thursday, March 27, 2008

Go Ahead and Take a Nap (Just for the Ladies)

Feminine fatigue is on the rise today and I don't know a woman today who isn't sleep-deprived and threadbare. In fact, we're not just sleep-deprived, we're sleep-abused. It is not just physical fatigue but most women are victims of emotional fatigue. No amount of sleep seems to relieve us of our tiredness. We just continue on with all of the emotional and physical demands. There is a solution but most women would rather admit to maxing out the credit card in one day to their spouse than to succumb to their desire for a afternoon nap. Adult napping has such a weak connotation and our strong female character would never let us waste time laying around, afterall don't most think we just sit on the couch eating bon-bons while watching afternoon soaps.

I remember once I had a friend who would call me lazy if I mentioned that I took a nap in the afternoon. I felt that I had to live up to her expectations. Later I realized that it took a large amount of courage just to admit to myself I needed a nap and it really didn't matter what others thought. It was my friend's loss and she herself was wearing herself to exhaustion.

William C. Dement, M.D., a pioneer in sleep medicine, explains in The Promise of Sleep. "Naps can make you smarter, faster and safer than you would be without them. They should be widely recognized as a powerful tool in battling fatigue, and the person who chooses to nap should be regarded as heroic." So ladies ... take a nap cause it won't make you weaker just courageous.