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What Polyphasic Sleep Taught Me About Passion

Valuing your time. Growing with those who wish to grow with you.

🍿 2 min. read

Like many travelers I can at times suffer from jet lag, but this time I've turned the problem into an opportunity to begin a polyphasic sleep schedule. There's no better time to start such a sleep schedule transition than when your schedule is already thrown out of wack.

There's no better time than the present. ~That's what "They" say.

Within just days of adopting polyphasic sleep I had learned a great deal. Beyond the obvious benefits of learning to manage my time better and regaining a sense of control in my life I discovered other things as well. Specifically, I discovered surprising things about the people I surround myself with in response to telling them about the new schedule. Additionally, I developed an increasing awareness of my own mortality.

Surrounding Yourself With Passionate People

Initially the news of my adopting polyphasic sleep was met with distain and shock. Strong negative reactions such as "that sounds horrible" or "I'd just be bored more often" hit my psyche hard. This was a life change I truly believed in and I was not being met with support from those I considered close. I was in disbelief in how uninterested others were in what I believed to be an life altering topic.

However, others perked their ears in interest and asked great questions like "how does that work?", "is it healthy?", or "has it been going well?". These were meaningful conversations precipitated by people desiring to live interesting lives.

Discussing polyphasic sleep as a life style choice with individuals has revealed a surprising level of insight into how others view the world. Having these conversations can identify people as apathetic or as passionate.

Making the Most Of Your Time

I desire to live a passionate life. To me that means expressing love while creating and learning at all times.

I view the world through the lens of existential realism. I'm quite aware of the limited time we live, how I'm living it and who I surround myself with. Polyphasic sleep promises more awake hours and consequently more life to live. My formative years should be spent growing my knowledge, relationships and passions.

More hours are meaningless without intent. Overscheduling isn't healthy either, but without passion and intent it's easy to ask "why bother?". This is true regardless of polyphasic sleep or not.

Summary

Polyphasic sleep has given me the gift of more life. I choose to use it to grow with those willing to grow alongside me in a world of passionate people and passionate actions.

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