I had a very unusual thing happen to me last Monday. It only happens once every few years and I honestly didn’t expect it, but it was so strange and magical that I felt I had to share it with you all.
And no, the unusual thing wasn’t that a girl talked to me.
I got a good night’s sleep.
Yes, for me, this is weird, unusual, and downright bizarre. Normally, the first thing I do when the alarm sounds is swear, followed quickly by hitting the snooze button, with an option for more swearing. More likely than not, I will have a headache and I will wait until the last possible minute to get out of bed. I’m basically surly and pissed off for about an hour, but eventually I have some caffeine and can start to function.
This Monday was different though. When the alarm went off, I actually woke up. I was perfectly awake and actually felt good. My head didn’t hurt and I had this strange, almost overwhelming desire to jump out of bed and do something. And I did! I ate breakfast and my cereal tasted good! I even made a yummy noise.
I even paused when I went to my car to admire the grey, overcast sky. It was so lovely, like a giant, wet, gray blanket. I was so moved that I wrote a haiku.
Grey blanket of clouds
Melting with the gentle sun
Wow, this is so weird
Once I got to work, I marveled at the amazing colors and textures all around me. My neighbor has a fish tank and I’m sure I spent 20 minutes just watching the fish. He probably thought I was stoned.
Needless to say, I got an amazing amount of work done, came home, thoroughly enjoyed my dinner, exercised, got a bunch of writing done, and then turned in, happily contemplating a renewed me in the morning.
And, just to show that the gods hate me, I didn’t sleep, woke up cranky, and had my usual day.
I did not write any haikus.
So tell me, is this how people normally live? Is your world always bright? Is your soul filled with the laughter of children and the joyful bark of puppies? I’m just curious.
And tired. Very, very tired.
Cheers,
-Jason
9 comments:
I wish; I never get enough sleep. Although I do get to hear the laughter of children fairly often, it's unrelated to the amount of sleep I've had.
Mornings suck. I am not functional until I've had enough caffeine to give a sloth a heart attack, and even then I'm grouchy, grumpy and surly.
Cloudy skies are wonderful, as long as it doesn't rain. That's the perfect weather as far as I'm concerned. No sweat from the blasting sun, and no sweat from rain clothes that don't breathe too well.
As for sleeping, I'm still a child. I stay up longer than I really should, and don't go to bed until I'm too bored or tired to keep reading webcomics. By not getting enough sleep, I make certain that any sleep I get will be quite good. And I stopped using an alarm clock, because apparently they have a tendency to interrupt your sleep cycles, which is what causes you to feel tired when you wake up.
And perhaps it helps that I don't use alcohol, nicotine or caffeine in any significant doses.
The real question is to examine what happened on Saturday and Sunday to change the way you slept.... though you've probably reviewed that out loud at random to complete strangers in awkward spaces such as elevators... or maybe that's just me... Cheers!
I have days like this occasionally. Last one was on a day I had a martial arts class, and I almost challenged my sensei to a fight.
So glad I didn't. That would've ended my good day right there.
erwitee
I hear you, Toil3T.
I agree with you about cloudy days, Gillsing. It's one of the reasons I moved to Seattle. The only way I can at least get a modicum of sleep is by adhering to a strict schedule, but even that doesn't work.
That's the weird thing, NateBBQ, there was really nothing unusual about Sunday. I did my usual routine, but just slept well. And I try not to take elevators - too many gremlins.
The trick to fighting your sensei is not to challenge him, but just blindside him when he's not looking.
One of my buddies in my kung-fu class once asked me jokingly if I was good enough yet to take my sifu. I replied "Well, if you'd asked me that a year ago, I would have said that I would just run him over with my truck and then head straight for the Mexican border. Now, I'm confident enough in my abilities that I would pause to look back after running him over, just to see if he was getting up before I ran for Mexico."
Sounds like you have chronic apnea - the reason you have a headache when you wake up is likely because you're deprived of oxygen and experiencing sleep disruption while asleep.
Best thing to do is go see a sleep specialist - they'll run tests over a night and determine what kind of sleeping disorder you may have.
It's not about getting old.
Huh, that never occured to me, Hypocite. I'll go talk to my doctor about getting tested. Thanks!
I'd agree with Hypocrite's diagnosis, although I am not a doctor.
I have a bit of this myself, although not as bad as you apparently do. I find breathe-right nasal strips to be helpful. However, even I am considering seeking additional medical advice. (I did talk to my doctor previously, but it was right when I was starting to use the strips, and her initial answer was, "continue using the breathe right nasal strips, and see how it goes.")
I'll have to try those then. Thanks, Ed!
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