Wishing for Spring

Yes, it's still winter here, but you can tell from the picture that my mind is on spring!  We had cold rains yesterday and it was a miserable day for anyone and anything that had to be out in it.  Those cold rains, though, are building soil moisture that will give the grass a nice boost when the weather finally warms.

I wasn't able to write a post yesterday due to an early meeting.  I prefer early meetings; it seems the mind is sharper early in the day.  That may just be an indicator that I'm a "morning person."  I'm not sure I buy into the whole "morning person/night person" concept, I think we can train ourselves to be either; it's just a matter of conditioning.

I think a short nap after lunch is ideal.  I learned that way back in about the 8th grade when I worked for a farmer that required a brief nap after lunch which I ate with the family.  We would adjourn to the living room where he would lay back in his recliner and I would stretch out on the floor for about a 30 minute nap before heading back out to the fields to work until dark.  It made a lot of sense on those long summer days when we started shortly after daylight and didn't finish up until almost dark.

I've known a number of successful people who take a nap after lunch almost every day.  One was a business partner who owned a number of profitable businesses.  If you needed to talk to him after lunch, you had to wait until after his nap was over because the "gatekeeper" wouldn't let him be disturbed during that time.  I think his approach must be a good one because there are few people I know any more productive.

I used to think I needed to work through lunch when I had too much to do to get done in a day.  I learned that I got more done taking a break.  I would sometimes take my lunch to the park and after eating would take a brief nap.  It always made the afternoon better.  I was more alert and more productive.  Our body needs that brief restorative period to remain sharp.

I guess it's the sight of those cows in the picture that has caused me to think about naps.  In my mind I can smell the green grass, hear the flies buzzing in the lazy summer heat and the sense of drowsiness that comes with it....

Insomnia

Sometimes random thoughts
Flit right through my head.
Often when it happens
I'm lying there in bed
Trying to get to sleep.

It's very frustrating
When my mind is racing so
With all the crazy things
It doesn't matter if I know
That certainly aren't deep.

If I was contemplating
Something that was needing thought
It wouldn't bother me as much
If understanding was what I sought.
Instead it's just random stuff.

These things that keep me wide awake
Instead of getting sleep
Just aren't that important
That 'til morning they should keep
And I want to yell, "ENOUGH!"

Sleeping to the Rain

Lying in my bed I hear
The sounds of gentle rain
Falling
Falling

I drift into light sleep
To the steady, rhythmic
Falling
Falling

Drops upon the roof
And my mind drifts
Falling
Falling

Into the swirling pool
Of thoughts that lead me
Falling
Falling

Deeper to the edge
Where sleep beckons
Falling
Falling

Crack!
Boom!
Jolt!
Awake!

Lying in my bed I hear
The sounds of gentle rain
Falling
Falling....

Cycling Through the Night

Sometimes in the dark of night
I lie upon my bed
And think on all the many things
That dance within my head.

Of things that I forgot to do
Or, things that wait tomorrow
Or, things that happened in the day
Or, things that cause me sorrow.

My mind is oh, so restless
As I ponder on each thought
And then it shifts unmercifully
To other things unsought.

And I wonder if I'll ever fall
To sleep though hard I try
As I toss and turn about
In my bed there as I lie

Until I wake much later
Not knowing I have slept
But, find my thoughts on other things
Which in my mind have leapt.

But, for an instant
As I wake and come aware
Of some small noise in the night
That once might give me scare

And I remember dreaming,
Something twisted and confused,
Where thoughts of one thing
With another have been fused.

And so it goes throughout the night.
A pattern soon is seen
From waking to the depths of sleep,
To dreams of vivid scene.

Until the morning comes and eyes
Become of time aware
That it is the hour of rising
As at the numbers I do stare

And think, "How did my body know
That it was time to be awake
Without alarm a ringing
Or, my shoulder someone shake?"

This body that we dwell within,
Amazing as can be,
Is made so very special
As it seems so plain to me.

And I wonder how one e'er could doubt,
Oh, yes, I find it odd,
That some would ever question
We're made by the Hand of God.

[Sleep cycles intrigue me and I find it interesting to see how my Fitbit records them and then compare that to what I remember.  Our minds are amazing things.  I rarely use an alarm clock, but instead decide when I want to awake and almost always can do so within a minute or so of that time, if not precisely.]

Catching ZZZ's

Often in the darkest night
When thoughts are whirling 'round
Of conversations and events
That passed throughout the day
I question what and why and how
And if and even say
To myself, "did I handle that
The way I should?"
Sleep remains a sought for goal
That slips just beyond my reach
Until it finally occurs to me that
I shouldn't question each and every
Thing in such detail but rest in
Knowing that God is in control
And it really doesn't matter
Whether what I said or did was
Exactly right because in all
Those things He works for my good
And for the good of all who love Him
And seek Him with all of their heart.
In that comforting, enveloping knowledge
I peacefully fall asleep.