Thursday, December 31, 2020

Nocturne

 It's New Years, but I'll spare you the "Good riddance, 2020" takes. (Which tend to come from people who need to take a long look in the mirror, but we'll glide over that.)

A friend who shall remain nameless has a nocturnal complaint. He'll get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, as we all do. Then he can't get back to sleep. 

The thing is, he can tell me the exact time he was awake from. And I tell him that's his mistake, taking notice of the time. When I have to get up and then go back to bed, I at no time take a look at the digital clock by my bed. I get back in bed and face the other way. It's called peace of mind.

2 comments:

susan said...

I agree with you that the worst thing you can do when a return to sleep (or getting there in the first place) is to look at the clock. Doing so can simply create more anxiety about not getting enough sleep when you know there's only so much time left before you have to get up.

You might enjoy reading two of the best comments we've heard recently:

I never thought the phrase 'I wouldn't touch that person with a six foot pole' would become national policy.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the day would come when I'd walk into a bank wearing a mask and ask for money.

Happy New Year.

Ben said...

The anxiety is the thing, yes. Like they say, a watched pot never boils. This isn't fun when you're both the pot and the person watching for it to boil. Better to just close your eyes, relax, and enjoy however much of the night you have left.

Those are two good comments. The second reminds me of how when masks started to be more common I saw two guys walking out of a liquor store with their faces covered. It seemed strange to me that they weren't running and there were no sirens.