What would you give up sleep for?

I am tired, very very tired. Overall I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, both because of actual events that have gotten me to bed late and because of being anxious about various things (E. related and not.) that have come and gone. The stresses and lack of sleep have combined to make me disconnected, irritable, and picky. I don't like it, but it's hard to get out of.

Two nights ago, I was up crazy late waiting for the husband to come back from driving S. back to sleep-away camp after a brief visit home to see the doctor (she's fine). So I wanted to get some sleep the next night; I could feel it in my body. But, I had a meeting scheduled for my special needs mom support group. It's been awhile since I could go, and I really really wanted to go and be with these wonderful women who are so wonderful for me.

So I got myself out of the house, and talked and talked and listened and listened, and we all laughed a lot, which we love to do, both at ourselves and at the foibles in others that we see in ourselves. And within the first twenty minutes, I felt all of the tensions of the past few weeks dissipate. Despite feeling exhausted, I was more at peace and connected than I'd been in days.

This morning, instead of taking a nap, I went to a shiur (Bible lesson) that I've been meaning to go to forever. In the Jewish calender, we're in the middle of a pretty important week for self-reflection, since it commemorates a difficult time in our history. The topic of the talk? The dangers of complaining. Which I've been doing too much of.

I need sleep. I know I need sleep. But I also need to feed my soul. And I need to maintain my friendships, no matter how hard it is, and sometimes it is very very hard. But our Talmud tells us, "Oh chevrutah, oh mitutah," being without friends is like death. Which any teenager will tell you, but it applies to all of us.

Other reasons I've recently chosen to give up sleep include reading a good book just to have me time, eating dinner (at 10:30), and actually having a conversation with my husband after a long day. And sleep is very, very important to me. So....

What do you give up sleep for?