The Anticipation of Today

Sometimes I lay in bed at night and think. Ok, I lay in bed and think every night. Sometimes, though, I can't sleep because I think so much. Most of the time this is the case, it's because I'm excited about some upcoming event. These events can be anything: seeing a certain person, traveling somewhere, a holiday, a sporting event, turning in a big assignment, a forecasted storm, a trip to the temple, wondering what event will make the next day significant, etc. I used to hate that I had trouble falling asleep at night. Then I realized the reason.

I'm very grateful that I have things in my life that I look forward to often enough to make sleeping seem burdensome. Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping. There are few feelings in the world better than going to bed and not setting an alarm, pure bliss. At the same time, I'm so blessed to have people and events in my life that I love more than sleep. People occupy the majority of my thoughts. Even the events are usually centered around people.

With the Christmas season upon us, I've been thinking about people more. I've been trying to figure out how I can make someone's life better. I think that's what the Christmas season is about, at least to me. That's what Christ would do if he were here, and that's whose birth I'm celebrating. With Christ it was always about people, and I want to be like Him. That's what I've been thinking about lately when I should be sleeping.