Wake up...wake up

This blog isn't going to be all that deep. Its title may give it more weight that it realistically deserves. This blog is just about one of the most important skills my mother ever taught me. I feel like my parents taught me so many important things as a child. Things I have carried with me and things that have helped me to get where I am today. How to tie my shoes, how to brush my teeth and maybe most importantly how to say "please" and "thank you" and be a gracious winner and loser.

Who knew the one special skill would float to the forefront in today's blog. I know I have spoken of my  night terrors so many times over the course of this past year. As a child, I had so many nightmares. So many scary dreams. Many of them would repeat from year-to-year. The one I continue to remember most vividly, is the one that would occur on my b-day each and every year. Like clockwork. I would go to bed that evening, knowing that I would have the scary dream again. I would tell friends about it and I would basically anticipate the dream.

Mind over matter.....

I have been having some very bizarre and vivid dreams lately. I think dreams really are fascinating. To that, I think sleep is really quite fascinating, as well. It is amazing to me that the human body is able to pretty much shut down each evening, find time to rest, relax and recharge for the next day. It is amazing to me that sleep happens, really crazy when you stop and think about it, and even more amazing what our brains and unconscious are able to do during these 7-8 hours each evening.

Even more amazing, perhaps, is how a lack of sleep affects me, personally. When I haven't gotten at least a good 4-5 hours on any given night I feel a real inability to function. I find it hard to think, my anxiety is more prone to get triggered and I find it hard to make sound decisions, I find it hard to have a intelligent conversation and I often find it difficult to make "decent" food choices. It is like the more tired I am, the less I am able to function at a high level, all around.

Sound the alarm.....

I have always had a deep appreciation for sleep, even when I feared it. Some may say I come from a long line of nappers. We are all quite good at taking naps. The ironic part is that for most of my childhood going to bed was the worst thing in the world. Being afraid of the dark and never quite understanding what "sleep" was, going to bed was a nightly battle that I feared. It was a battle I dealt with by reading all night, keeping the lights on and when over friends' houses, either staying up late watching "Amazing Discoveries" or when all else failed, call my parents at 3 a.m. to have them come pick me up. They were wonderful to let me continue to try to sleep over my friends' houses. Funniest part, I would just get home to  not sleep there either.