At 0900 the reminder on my iPhone told me it was Thankful Thursday. Again? I really must find a way of slowing time down. So much to do and so little time in which to do it. How many times have I said that?
I spent quite a lot of time today thinking about what to post because I have so much for which to be thankful. Indeed the list is endless.
Today, however, I have decided to be thankful for sleep. Whilst I was staying at a friend's in Tauranga over the last weekend I slept the sleep of the just or the dead or whichever saying you use. I slept well. I slept without nightmares. I always have when I have stayed there. Many I know do not sleep well in a strange bed but I think that sometimes one can have an affinity with a house and I have one with that house.
All my life I have been blessed with the ability to sleep soundly and most of my life I never needed much sleep - 5 hours was my usual. As we get older convention has it that we need less sleep. I sleep longer than I used to do. I rarely go to bed before midnight but I am asleep within minutes and I often sleep for 6, and sometimes 7, unbroken hours. I very rarely wake in the night (the occasional natural comfort break excepted and then I'm usually fast asleep within a minute of replacing my head on the pillow). I'll skip talking about the nightmares.
So today I am thankful for the gift of sleep: long, deep, unbroken sleep. I wish it for you too.
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I find that I too sleep longer as I get older. I'd like to hear about your nightmares some time. When younger I had 'night terrors,' but thankfully they've gone away to terrorize others. I still have vivid dreams, always in color, and mostly filled with people I've never met!
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with my nightmares Jill. I categorise them as dreams, night ponies, night mares and night stallions. Fortunately the stallions are rare these days. I can hardly ever recall my night mares when I wake although it's not as simple as that and sometimes they go on for ages even after I've woken and then gone back to sleep again.
DeleteOur bodies are so mysterious...they all react so differently to various stimuli.
ReplyDeleteGood for you that you felt comfortable to have a good nights sleep in a strange bed. Your psyche was obviously at peace with the surroundings.
If we sleep less as we get older, does this mean I will now be waking at 2.30am instead of 4.30am/5.00am in the near future?
Loved your words "natural comfort break"....priceless!
Our bodies certainly are mysterious Virginia. Yes, my psyche was very much at home in the house which has a lovely aura.
DeleteI have a gift, the ability to sleep deeply and without waking. I am also never bothered by bad dreams. This is what I wish for YOU.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a person very much at home with yourself in every way Kay.
DeleteOh and thank you for your wish.
DeleteIf I had your kind of sleep I would be very thankful too!
ReplyDeleteYour answer obviously implies that you don't Red. I'm sorry to hear that.
DeleteI'm so glad I was blessed with the sleeping gene. Have been a long, sound sleeper all my life. May that never change! Hope your bad dreams stay away.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline (but unfortunately Morpheus wasn't listening last night). May your sleep regime never change!
DeleteZzzzzzz... I'm glad you slept well in Tauranga!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katherine....for everything.
DeleteI envy you the ability to fall asleep quickly. I'm in a vicious circle (since over a decade) of needing more sleep than I get naturally, and needing even more (neck)rest than I need sleep. It's been worse than it is now, though. Luckily (as you know) I find dreams rather interesting... Which reminds me, just the other night I had one with credits scrolling by at the end! White text on blue, but I never got to read what they said, because I woke up! And I can't recall the content of the "film" either...
ReplyDeleteI think, Monica, it may have something to do with the fact that I go to bed so late although I know that doesn't help everyone. Pain does make the body crave more rest - a natural reaction I assume to rest the part of the body causing the pain. I know that the problem for some people is that the body may crave but the mind may not obey either out of choice or inability. As you know I can rarely recall my dreams and even when I've written them down in the night the words are simply gobbledegook in the light of day.
DeleteWhen I can sleep without disturbance from outside (i.e. noisy neighbours), my body is usually satisfied with 7-8 hours, and less in the lighter part of the year. I remember how my need for a lot of sleep changed notably when I first started to run and became fitter than I used to be. That was in 2009; I was 41 then and a lot fitter than when I was 10 years younger.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying, Meike, that you need less sleep now you are fitter? I'm reasonably fit for my age because I do a lot of manual things but now that I go to a trainer at the gym and have a supervised regime my body is overall fitter than it was just getting lots of walking playing croquet and gardening etc but I need more sleep. Or perhaps I just think that I need more sleep.
DeleteYes, Graham, I do need less sleep since I am fitter. I still need maybe a bit more than the average adult; I can function on 5 hours if I don't do it too often, but I feel best when I have 7-8 hours. Before I started running, it was more around 9 hours.
DeleteThat's interesting Meike. I'm sure that there must be a medical explanation. I think I must just be getting older.
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