SLEEP
“To be a success a man needs just two suits—a suit of evening clothes and a suit of pajamas.” The man who said this probably did not have to provide for making a living. His main object was evidently to have a good time, but you will notice that he recognized the value of sleep, even for a man who need not work.
Eight hours of conscientious work on the part of the shoe salesman means a steady wearing away of his energy, both mental and physical. He then needs relaxation so as to check the strain; he needs a change of surroundings—different thoughts to occupy his mind and different people to meet. This should come in his hours of recreation; but after that he needs his full measure of sleep. Most people should have regularly eight hours of sleep in order that they may be fully refreshed for the duties of the day to follow. Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, has been getting along with four hours’ sleep and twenty hours of work for the past twenty years at least. But he is the great exception that proves the rule.
Don’t try to beat Father Time at his own game. In other words, don’t try to crowd one day’s work and two days’ pleasure into twenty-four hours. You cannot drain out two measures of strength and expect to have enough left over to carry you through the following day.
Throw your cares and worries to the winds when you retire. Forget business, forget pleasure, forget yourself, and just sleep. There will be time enough to consider cares tomorrow when you are refreshed, and they won’t seem half so troublesome then.