To Sleep or Perchance Not To—There’s the Rub
What is happening to me? When I should be sleeping I am awake and when I am supposed to be awake I fall asleep.
Dozing off during the evening news is commonplace. Waking up at 2 a.m. is a recurring occurrence. They say that REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is important to your mental acuity and well-being. Well, that explains a lot about my state of mind at the moment.
For a time, I wore a Fitbit that tracked my sleep. I became seriously paranoid when it recorded that I had little if any REM sleep. This means that I am rarely in a deep sleep which supports mental and physical wellbeing.
It also recorded that I toss and turn often. I became so upset by these Fitbit reports that the stress added to my sleepless nights. I gave up using the Fitbit and handed it off to my granddaughter—she sleeps all the time no matter where she is or what she is doing, and she always complains how tired she is. I have no doubt her REM performance is much more impressive than mine.
I often wonder if my fretful sleeping pattern is an underlying desire to extend my alive time. “Melinda,” a voice may be telling me, “you cannot sleep away the remaining years you have!”
Waking up at 2 a.m. and wandering around the house does, however, have its perks. Everything is peaceful, quiet, dark and still. I expect something magical to happen. I am very quiet so as not to awaken my husband.
He sleeps like a log stored in the dark recesses of our basement. Out of resentment of his sleep skill, I toss and turn and throw my leg over his back and snort in his nose and wiggle around until he rolls over and says, “what is it?
It is during these moments that I request to have his attention because we need to talk about our today and our tomorrow. I complain that I am too hot or too cold, and ask him questions like “honey, what happened on that TV show we were watching when I fell asleep?”
Over time, I have found some remedies for getting back to sleep: drink a cup of warm milk or chamomile tea; never drink caffeine or eat chocolate after 4 p.m.; and don’t drink alcohol after 7 p.m.
Avoid your computers and cell phones at least an hour before bed. Don’t exercise before bedtime. Take up Transcendental Meditation, which is bound to put you to sleep. Listen to soft music or a soothing podcast and never watch TV before going to bed.
But hey, I will share with you my secret remedy that always manages to hit my snooze button. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I arouse my husband and we have a frolic in the hay. And for the rest of the night it is sayonara, folks!
