They might not be enough, but they sure do help me. Do you use them too?
July 5, 2015
A Good Laugh and a Long Sleep
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They might not be enough, but they sure do help me. Do you use them too?
July 5, 2015
Forget the laugh for the moment. You can’t force/fake a laugh.
Actually, come to think of it you can’t force sleep either. But sleep (unlike laughter) is a physiological necessity. A few years ago my life so spiraled I slept max (as in ‘time lying on my back’) for about three hours. The effect was enough for me to understand why sleep deprivation is used as an instrument of torture. Not that I saw it that way at the time. Sleep deprivation as a concept so deluded me that I was dead grateful for all the ‘extra’ time I gained in every twenty four hours. The not so funny, ha ha, bit when people assumed my being high high and higher that I appeared mildly drunk round the clock. My doctor confirmed that sleep deprivation does indeed have potential to mimic symptoms of being inebriated. Honestly, Jean, you couldn’t make it up if you tried. There I was, fighting for my life, my survival, my son’s wellbeing, whilst having to reassure the ‘kindhearted’ that I was not ripe for the looney bin. Ridiculous, thinking back.
Anyway, my mother – who likes nothing better than laughter – is beginning to get on my nerves. She has always liked her sleep. If sleeping were a sport she’d win gold. Triple. Now she is old(ish) – 82 – I find it harder and harder to call her. Always feeling vaguely guilty (not really, she needs to be kept awake in my opinion) that I wake her as she is just about to drop off (any time of the day). I sometimes think she prepares for the big sleep. In training as it were. Can’t say I like her for it. But yes, as you say, as long as I can make her laugh her world is good – and when we put the phone down, no doubt, she’ll go back to sleep.
U
I’m not sure your mother doesn’t have the right idea, even if it’s not convenient for you. Better that than not being able to sleep. And the art of laughing is well worth cultivating.
What a harsh response, Jean. I lament the inevitable fact of my mother being on the way out. You make it into “even if it’s not CONVENIENT”. Terrible thing to say.
As to “cultivating the art of laughing”. There is no art to laughing. And you most certainly don’t need to “cultivate” it. It either comes naturally or it doesn’t. You can’t force life’s forces.
U
Oh, poof! You write “my mother …is beginning to get on my nerves.” Instead of interpreting my answer as harsh, you might consider how your wording might have been misunderstood.
I don’t want my loved ones to die either, but if they have to I’m more concerned about them having a peaceful/painless demise than I am about how I will cope.
And laughing more can indeed be cultivated, at least by some of us.
I’m sparing you the details of my own mother’s death.
I am naturally endowed with both in abundant measure and since I can sleep when I want and where I want within my comfort zone, I am blessed and perhaps even Irish!
Yes, you are doubly blessed!
I don’t know about “anything” but they certainly help keep me sane when everything around me seems to be in free fall. I don’t always sleep well though, sometimes I wake at 4 am and read for a while. But then again reading can be as refreshing as laughter and sleep.
I listen to audio books if I have trouble sleeping. They are relaxing and I usually drift off. (I process them so they automatically shut off after 10 minutes unless I push a button.)
yes to both.
i especially am a fan of laughing. i don’t mean like a silly manic hyena type of person… but if you can find the glimmer of humor in any situation…
it’s probably better for your health. mental and otherwise.
i learned from the best. from bob. even when the cancer would have seemed to take everything from us … it never took his sense of humor.
and sleep? i love naps now. this med i take for the high triglycerides has a side effect of extreme fatigue. so i nap. i gave him my word i’d take it until i see him again… with is sept 23. so i’ll be doing a lot of napping i guess. LOL.
couldn’t disappoint you. had to thrown in that irritating little LOLOL! xo
I love your LOLs. 🙂 I also love napping when I feel the desire to take one. Yay, tammy! Yay, naps! And I couldn’t agree more about the importance of having a sense of humor.
Good luck on the next appointment with the doc.
I have trouble napping.
I want to nap but I have so many things to do.
But sometimes I’m very tired and I just fall asleep in my chair.
I hate doing that.
I did go lay down in bed the other day and fell asleep in the sunlight and a light breeze streaming in the windows. It was Heaven and I woke up covered in little dogs. It was a nice feeling. I must do more of it.
And Laughter? I laugh all the time.
I’m that person at work who always makes a little joke or wisecrack
but sometimes I think I’m really laughing so that I don’t cry.
But I love when I’m watching a show or something happens that makes me laugh out loud. God, I love that feeling.
A lot of humorists laugh to fight off despair, but it’s also great to laugh for joy. And to take naps when we need one. Please take care of yourself!