“Goodnight. Sleep tight.”
As we say these words to the young and dear ones, flashbacks of our younger days come to mind. If one remembers our childhood nights of bedtime stories and goodnight hugs; the nights today would have a feeling of uneasiness at times with night with “insomnia” or related like event, when the nights are spent in restlessness. Looking over the years, as we grow up sleepless nights became the trend. From blissful sleep of childhood, pulling an all-nighter with friends; then later on around the exams and finally in college to adult life; the trend of “staying up all night” transformed from being a trend to “the norm”. The thought that surfaces to mind is , “when was the last time we slept well?”
“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about these circumstances.” Andrew J. Bernstein
Analyzing the nights where we toss and turn the bed covers, not sleeping a wink would be reasons ranging from a newborn to sick child or pending work, spouse’s absence, health issues and the list is endless. While some of these reasons are not in our hands to control or fathom; others’ can be controlled by containing our thoughts and putting our trust into our Faith.
“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” Hans Selye
Life has given us whole causes for sleepless nights. Yet in the face of the hurdles, once we learn to lighten the burden with reason, immense Faith and Hope; the world tomorrow mayn’t be so bad. Whether we drive ourselves crazy with worry or not, what will happen will happen. Is it worth losing our sleep on these things ?
“Stress and worry, they solve nothing. What they do is block creativity. You are not even able to think about the solutions. Every problem has a solution.” Susan L. Taylor
“Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical ‘glass half empty or glass half full’ question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, ‘How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?’
Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds. She replied, ‘From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.’
As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, ‘Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.’”
“‘Sunrise Sunset’ is about trying to get to a place where life is simple and not letting the stress and happenings in the world get in the way of your happiness.” Benny Cassette
Sugar And Spice... Among Other Things 