Daily A~Musing #59 A Good Night's Sleep

Our moms tell us, our doctors tell us, the people who see the ugly black bags under our eyes tell us...you NEED a good night's sleep.  Even though we all know it's a necessity, it's also, ironically, a luxury.  Not everyone is gifted with the ability to hit the pillow and get yummy, restorative, uninterrupted sleep.  And I'm not talking about new moms with babies waking them up every hour or people with crazy schedules that require they have funky sleeping patterns.  I'm talking regular, everyday, "I'm-going-to-bed -at-ten-and-waking-up-at-six" people who do everything else BUT that.  

There are at least four billion websites, books, tv spots, etc., that can tell you all about how to get to sleep, stay asleep, and so on.  I'm not going to do that.  I've had trouble with sleep every since I was a wee kiddo, so I've tried everything in the book.  There is no secret, special "this will work every time" fix.  In my non-doctor, pseudo-mom/therapist opinion, the best you can do is pay attention to your body and give it a little respect.  

I've learned over time that when I ignore my body, it retaliates swiftly and surely.  One of its fave methods of attack is memory.  When I don't get sufficient rest/sleep, I can't remember a damn thing.  People will talk to me and five seconds later I'll ask them something about what they'd just said.  I can't focus...I can't recall...I can't categorize information efficiently.  It's a waking nightmare, both for myself and for anyone around me.  When I get my zzzzs, people will sometimes stare in bug-eyed shock that I actually CAN remember details of things and hold semi-intelligent conversations.  

So, that's it.  No deep, meaningful advice, no how-to tips, just me sharing the moment of having had a good night's sleep and appreciating it out loud.