Too little sleep? Too much?
Melody | Wednesday, 16 April, 2008 at 5:59 AM When you wake an hour before your alarm clock goes off, do you go ahead and get right up? Do you lay there a while and then get up? Because I spent the day in bed with a tummy thing yesterday, I experienced that particularly annoying way of waking at 4:30 this morning. I'd love to tell you I jumped right up and hit the floor for some truly invigorating exercise. I'd love to tell you that...but it would be a big ole' lie.
Instead, I lay there thinking, "If I'm still awaken in 15 minutes, I'll get up." Then stayed awake for a while...until I slept again. Hard. Which led to much snoozing when the 5:30 ringing began. I will admit to you now that I'm writing this in the dark, laptop on a pillow at the foot of my bed, in an effort to wake completely up.
Seems to me it's about discipline. And where sleep is concerned, I lack great, grand gobs of discipline. Never mind if I stayed in bed one minute longer, my body would just atrophy into this horrid mass of yuk. Here's the first time I've ever found myself wishing I were a runner. Like so many of my friends are. Then I could just run the kinks out of my legs and back after all those too many hours of non-movement. Ugh.
Here's to discipline, proper balance and the right kinds of exercise today to get me moving like a normal person again. Cheers!
Reader Comments (4)
Turn the light on when you're trying to wake up. Even if you lie in bed a few more minutes, the light sends signals to your body that the "sun" is up and internal sensors start firing.
Glad you're feeling better! I missed you yesterday. I got to pass out Alumni Association can coozies and eat cold pizza while standing outside in the cold wind and you didn't...sucka!
Dena, thanks for the advice. Which I just tried. Apparently I'm capable of falling asleep with light shining straight in my eyes, too. Perhaps I just need to start going to sleep at a reasonable hour?
Heather, thanks! And it was cool to see you yesterday after you helped out in my absence. Today...one more such event. But maybe no cold wind. Please...
I would like to tell you I jump out of bed and make the most of the extra time but sadly that is not the truth. I lay thinking I could still be sleeping or I lay there and think of all the things I could be doing but then I do nothing. I justify it by telling myself that I don't want to wake anyone else in the house. I did however jump out of bed several Saturdays ago, shower, dress and then go to the kitchen to make coffee where I found in horror that it was a hour earlier than I had to get up ....someone in my house, I suspect my son had changed the time on the alarm making it a hour later than it really was. All of a sudden I was exhausted, where minutes before I was feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Mind over matter....any way, what was the question?