Why?

Two nights ago, I woke up at 1:00 AM - not by choice - after two great hours of sleep. I was in one of those wired states. No pun intended, but I am in the wire business. Anyway, I picked up the April 2008 edition of the highly academic, Reader's Digest, that had found its way to the pile of books that shares the other half of my bed. Usually, I reserve this wonderful little magazine for another venue... Never mind, I'll spare you the details. (Reminder to self. Focus. Stay on track.) As I gazed groggily at the cover, I was startled to see in all capital letters:

SLEEP BETTER TONIGHT! OUR BEST TIPS PAGE 14O

(The color choice was a bit curious. Is there something patriotic about sleeping better? Actually, it seems that we as Americans keep pushing ourselves to sleep less.) I thought, "Wow, this is my lucky night." Eagerly, I turned to page 140 and dove into the article.

Under the category entitled, Work and Life, I read, "All this rumination and agitation ignites stress hormones that keep us in a state of perpetual arousal. That's why we should make a serious attempt to simplify our lives..." (143-144).

Simplify our lives.

Hmm.

Here's what my simplification looked like this week.

This is the week that I sent in a registration to take a class in a possible MBA program.

This is the same week that I sent out an application to a local community college to do adjunct teaching.

Why?