WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE

Last night I dreamed I  was awake.  It was just dumb luck that I didn’t go outside for a long walk in my pajamas.  Of course when I woke up, I had to be awake all over again. Researchers tell us that dreaming is healthy and normal for sleep,“It helps your brain process emotions and 
re-visits memories.”

However, bad dreams can also wake you up and interrupt your sleep.  This is often caused by “high stress and anxiety.” Also as people age, you might get up once or twice a night to visit the bathroom. This activity is  normal—unless you run many times trying to win the Kentucky Derby.  Two cups of cappuccino  after dinner might not be such a good idea.

However, let me not get side-tracked from investigating sleep. It’s something we all do, but some people are better at it than others.  Lynn Johnson said, “Insomnia gives you the misery of staying up all night without the fun.” 

Here’s some advice from the experts:  If you can’t fall asleep after about 20 minutes, get up and do something quiet and dim, but nothing dim-witted.

 Read a physical book,  but whatever you do don’t read it on your tablet or smart phone. The blue lights will  be brighter than you are, and trick the brain to think it’s morning and bye bye melatonin. If your brain thinks it is morning you can get an overactive brain that wonders problems such as:  If  a driverless flying car lands on my roof where’s the liability? And then, it’s time to get up.

If you suffer from insomnia maybe some comforting advice from Anthony Burgess might help,
“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Snore and you sleep alone!”

Of course, you can always try some relaxation  exercises such as heavy breathing or thinking of a random word and visualizing objects that start with each letter in your word. You might start with the word—-Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious…

Good Night and Good Luck   (Edward R. Murrow)