Today I wanted to raise the topic of sleep. Because my attitude towards it has changed significantly. Sleep has become a valuable strategic resource. Like money in civilian life, or like weapons in military life.
The fact is that more than once during this training I have reached the point where you simply have no strength left.
I mean, it’s not just “oh, I’m not in the mood” or “I’m not feeling it today” or anything like that. It’s when no one asks about your mood anymore, you just have to do certain exercises and tasks. And you have no strength left.
It’s like going to buy bread, but without any money. The main source of strength is sleep. Not even food. In such conditions, going to bed on time is no longer just a useful habit. It becomes a strategically important action. If you don’t do it, you simply won’t have the strength tomorrow.
It’s like when you go on a long hike in hot weather, you always take water with you. Because you understand that you can’t do without it.
Previously, in civilian life, sleep was a matter of choice — if you wanted to sleep, you slept. If you didn’t get enough sleep, it was a bit annoying, but not a problem. You just drank more coffee and that was it.
In military life, you cannot afford such carelessness. Perhaps if you are a naturally resilient person, you can go without sleep for a long time and do a lot of physically demanding activities. But that’s probably not me.
Almost every day, you lose a lot of energy, often reaching your limit. And you need to get that energy back from somewhere.
If there were five apples in the kitchen and you took four, the apples won’t magically reappear the next day. The next day, there will be only one apple left. You simply won’t be able to take 4 apples again. That means you have to buy more every day and replenish your supply.
Now I understand better why the soldiers who ended up at the base where I was at the beginning said, “Sleep while you can.” Sleep is critically important for restoring both physical and mental strength.
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