If I were to tell you when to go to sleep ideally, I would tell you to go to sleep while you can still keep your eyes open. Never mind what the world tells you, I say to avail yourself of rest as you feel you need it. This does not make you a slug-a-bed.
And, if I were to tell you when to awake ideally, I would say when the sun rises, for that is your signal to rise and shine. Life in the world, as it is, is not famous for having My children gain the sleep they need.
Rest is not an extra. It is not a frivolous thing. Sleep is an essential element of life. As absurd as it may seem to you who drink coffee to stay awake, rest is not a distraction from your life. Sleep belongs in life. Rest and moving both have their place in life.
Think of going to bed in this way: That I tuck you in. I pull the covers up to your chin. And I watch over you as you sleep. You are well-secured in My love.
Be happy to go to sleep and happy to awake. Leap into bed, eager for sweet dreams. Jump out of bed, eager for what the day holds for you.
Life does have a claim on you, beloveds. Be for life in the world. Welcome it. Love it. Don’t argue with it. And when the day is over, be like a general who has finished his campaign. Go into the night and enjoy your retreat from the energy of the day. Enjoy your night. You can think of sleep as the cows’ returning to the barn. The day is done.
Be happy for whatever time of day or night it is.
You have a calling. You are called to the bright sun of the day and the stars and moon of the night.
There are cycles in relative life. You might as well follow them. The cycles call to you like butterflies in the field. It is not so much that you chase the cycles, yet you do follow them. These are cycles of nature in the world, and you are a child of nature. You breathe its air. You breathe its air in, and you breathe its air out. This is a cycle you follow without thought. In one sense, that something is natural for you, you don’t think about it. You don’t have to consciously think about it, or you may. Natural may be automatic, or it may be semi-automatic.
It seems that in the world, your breathing, for instance, can also be programmed. You can be calm and breathe calmly. You can be surprised or shocked and gasp. And here We come back to the thought that how you perceive affects even that which is natural.
And so your body relaxes or tenses, your body twists and turns, your eyes open or close, your hands clasp or unclasp, you enter sleep or you resist it, you wake up or you resist waking up. Life in the world where all such matters exist doesn’t always make it easy for you to let nature and its natural events to be welcome. You have an agenda or a mind set that may not fit in with the sunrise and the sunset.
It is for you to relent because innocent nature is a great force, and it is relentless. You do not have mastery over it. Soon or late you will succumb to nature. It isn’t that nature wants to beat you. It is you who beats nature over the head.
I am telling you to get all the rest you need. Be rested when you get up in the morning and be wide-awake during the day. Early to bed and early to rise. Respect the cycles of life that occur in the world.