The journey isn’t always fun. Sometimes it’s a sleepless night with hopes for a better day.
My grandpa lived a full life in the middle of the night when he got older. He would leave bed, watch some tv, make a sandwich and read Louis L’Amour paperbacks. Of course, he would sleep half the day, taking naps on the couch.
He and his poor sleep schedule were on my mind the other night as I doom scrolled Instagram from bed between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m. It was midnight when I awoke and the room was stuffy so I got up for a sip of water and turned on the ceiling fan.
About four minutes after lying down and closing my eyes tightly, I was cold. So I got up and turned it off. Stuffy again. So back on it went and I wrestled a blanket and my pillow to my likeness.
No matter what I do, I want to sleep on my left side but have read that sleeping with all your weight on your heart is a bad idea. That reminded me that heart problems run in the family.
I still have a chance at about five hours of rest if I go to sleep now.
Does the cat always bathe in bed in the middle of the night? Oh, look! My favorite writer is doing an online book club chat tomorrow night. I will register and then I will put down my phone and go back to sleep.
So I put down the phone, closed my eyes again and realized that I was hungry. Dinner didn’t amount to much and lunch wasn’t great either.
Nope. Too bad. Midnight snacks are not good for you and I will not become my grandpa.
I was still wide awake at 2:43. I should get up and do something useful. Maybe cleaning the kitchen would wear me out enough to sleep. Or maybe I would end up on the couch watching Little House On The Prairie with some peanut butter toast.
I have got to get it together, I thought. Grandpa was retired. He could sleep all day if he wanted. I have a job where they expect me to show up and be smart.
Good grief. I’m going to have an anxiety attack right here in the comfort of my bed if I don’t get a grip.
This does not bode well for my old age!
Sleepless (or really, semi sleepless) nights are the worst. I especially hate the fact that the longer you stay awake, the more anxious you get about not falling asleep, which just causes you to stay awake longer. And I’m not in my 20s or even 30s anymore, I need a decent amount of sleep to function. Thankfully sleepless nights are sporadic for me.
It doesn’t happen too often for me but this last week has been rough. I have an under active thyroid so sleep is really important to my ability to function.
Here’s hoping for better nights ahead for us all!
I am a bit of an insomniac myself. Thank heavens for Trazodone – 50mg is usually enough to push me over, even as late as 3 am should I awaken and struggle.
I very much look forward to at least this aspect of retirement: sleeping when I’m tired, and being awake when I’m not.
I typically don’t have trouble but I have been experiencing a dental issue that has interfered with my rest. That night was the worst.
Ha, it’s funny how sleep can come so easily some nights and other nights not so much. And the more we think about it and want to actually sleep, the worse it is to do.
That’s so true. I tried but it wasn’t to be. I’m having a dental issue and sleep has been tough.
That’s rough! Dental stuff is never fun.
It’s not but progress is being made.