School vs Sleep vs Life

For the average person, 8 hours of sleep is recommended. For teenagers, 10 hours are expected. To get this much sleep and to wake up at 6 to be able to get ready for school at 7:45 every teenager would have to go to sleep at 8 PM every night. But, the average teenager is still expected to do homework, extracurricular activities, and have a social life.

I'm tired.

I'm so, so tired.

I've got bags under my eyes most of the time, and am always longing for my bed.

I flop on the couch as soon as I get home from my three hour practice, try to give my mind and body a break for a couple hours, then do homework until I slug to bed later than I "should have".

I spend too much time on my phone and watching TV partially because I'm bad at time management and partially much I need to give myself a mental/emotional break.

I want to write a book and cultivate my art skills and have friends, but I'd have to give up either grades or sleep for that.

So much is expected of me, and I'm 17, with only 24 hours in a day and I'm expected to sleep for a good chunk of that time. Who invented this system?

I want to learn, but so much stuff is being fire hosed at me I'm being dulled so that I don't care about quality work anymore. Now it's get stuff, finish stuff, get more stuff, finish stuff, get more stuff... But don't forget the dances I want to go to, the books I want to read, the movies I want to see, the friends I want to visit, the places I want to go. Having a life has suddenly been labeled 'unimportant' and filed away from the sunlight. My brain is being pounded with numbers and facts and so much stuff I'm exhausted and I can't keep doing anymore stuff.

I'm sorry I'm not a machine that will keep going and going and going. I'm sorry that when I fall apart you just can't replace a part then I'll keep going again.

I need more time to sleep.

I need more time to live.

I need more time.

I've got enough time.

I 

just

need

less.


Please, give me less.