Before I'm 31

Stay up for 72 straight hours.

The human mind is an amazing place. Just as quickly as you can become engrossed in your own mind, you can also become disoriented.

After failing to get to bed before midnight tonight I'm left with a conundrum I've faced countless times over the past 4 years; should I lay in bed with the lights off attempting to fall asleep so I can wake up at 5 am to study for my test at 8, or should I just stay up till 2 and sleep till 7 am?

Yes, I know, neither option is ideal. Sorry Mom, but every now and then these kinds of nights come around. I've tried my best to avoid them over the years, but a lack of preparation for a test combined with my anxiousness for the impending morning makes it impossible to relax, even at the point of exhaustion.

While laying in bed mentally drained but physically apprehensive, I began to wonder; how long could I stay up?

I love sleep, don't get me wrong. If you ask my roommates they'll tell you I'm the first in bed almost every single night. I do tend to get up early, but by 11 pm I'm defiantly excited to climb into bed and call it a night.

So as I laid in bed my mind began to wander.

I began to think of what could possibly be on my test in the morning. I then began to think of material for the stand-up routine (a previous goal). I then started to think about how long my computer had been on, and I was unable to recall the last time I had completely shut it down. This was about the point I caught myself and realized my thoughts were becoming a bit erratic. My mind was leading me to strange and obscure places that I'd rarely encountered, and I quickly noticed I was just wasting precious time. So instead of meandering through whatever course my mind decided to take me on next, I figured time would better be spent staring at Powerpoint slides until I bored myself to sleep.

And I ended up here.

I've never stayed up 2 nights in a row. I can't even recall the last time I've stayed up 40 hours. But I'm intrigued by the idea of 72 straight hours of no sleep. I don't know if it's physically possible (for me), but I'm certainly willing to try. And as I said to start this post, the human mind is a dense and fascinating place. Under the influence of a severe lack of sleep I can only imagine the journey my mind would take me on.

Just thinking about this has tired me out.

Hope you are all sleeping and read this at a decent hour, ideally when it is light outside and you don't have a test in 7 hours.

Thanks for reading, and sleep well whenever you do get your rest.