Eat when you're hungry, and sleep when you're tired

"Eat when you're hungry, and sleep when you're tired. It's as simple as that."

My dad, like most dads, is full of wise words and pieces of advice from previous experiences. But this one might be my favorite. I know it's not Father's Day, and my dad's birthday was almost a month ago, but I decided to dedicate this post to him and take one of his classic lines into consideration. For once.

Considering my time in San Francisco this summer has been primarily spent with my family, I can't help but gain some quality bonding time with my dad. My friends and I have always laughed at some of the ridiculously over-exaggerated things that he says (i.e. this is absolutely out of control - with reference to a sunset) and the dramatic tone he often uses to describe things, but some things he says are actually quite noteworthy.

Like, "eat when you're hungry, and sleep when you're tired." I mean, it's such a simple sentence, but it really does have a lot of meaning. So many people force themselves to starve to look good in a bathing suit, or stay up late to study for a test. Or we eat excessively when we're not really hungry, and suck down heavy amounts of caffeine to fight off the z's. But why can't we just do what our body wants?

Why can't we just eat when we're hungry and sleep when we're tired?

I don't mean to sound health-obsessive or preach about sleeping (even though they call me POG for a reason...) but it's just a thought-provoking concept that we never seem to listen to. And it goes beyond eating and sleeping.

I don't know if it's just human nature, but we always seem to force ourselves to fight against the grain. Obviously, being lazy wouldn't get us anywhere, but it's just interesting to think about how people are constantly pushing themselves, both good and bad.

It's almost so simple, that it's hard. I mean think about it, we can't exactly take naps on our keyboards at work or only eat when we're actually hungry. (who knows the difference anyway? if there's food, there's food and we eat it) But maybe if we did, we'd probably be a lot more successful and alert.

So thanks dad, now when I fall asleep after a couple glasses of wine I don't have to feel bad about it, (not that I ever did) but let's just hope the "venue" is out of sharpies. And the next time your roomies go on a late night McDonald's run, for goodness sakes, if you're hungry just go.

You can thank my dad later.

(more wise words by John Tutora to come)