It’s Time to Sleep Better!
That’s what I told myself for the longest time before I finally decided to actually sleep better instead of just discussing it.
I’m Eric Hamm, a computer consultant living in the United States, born and raised in a university town on the East Coast. I have many interests to keep my busy mind bouncing (other than my quest to sleep better, of course). I grew up playing with gadgets, flying radio control airplanes, and watching MacGyver every chance I got.
It’s easy to see why I ended up with tinkering as my trade.
My other passion is health and wellness. I was a wild teenager, never giving my body the respect it deserved. Over time, neglect took its toll and trying to sleep better was nothing more than an exercise in futility.
After a few definitive moments in my life, I knew I needed to make some different decisions. I made a 180 degree turn and focused on treating my body right.
I would sleep better no matter what!
I grew acutely aware of how everything I did had an effect on my body, mind and spirit.
I knew that if I wanted to sleep better, I must also put attention into my diet and physical activity.
It’s difficult to exercise without the desire to eat healthy falling immediately behind. As soon as you see results in one area, you desperately wish to see them in another. Often, a positive result in one aspect of your life will lead to a positive result somewhere else as well.
Your body loves to return little favors. Treat it well, it treats you well right back. Neglect it, and…well, you get the idea. If you want to sleep better, you should treat your body like a temple.
When I first got married, my wife and I were spending money fast and bringing unneeded stress into our lives. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t much I would have changed much. Learning to do things better is what growing up is all about.
What did I learn?
If I want to sleep better, I needed to think different.
It isn’t about how much stress you have, it’s about how well you handle what’s coming. We were doing well, but the stress of my business, mortgage, and mounting responsibility began to narrow the walls around me.
I wasn’t exercising nearly as much and my diet was rolling downhill. I didn’t have the time I was used to and when I got home at night I only wanted to sit comatose in front of TV. My body was tired and my mind was exhausted.
When would I ever be able to sleep better?
When I first started my struggle to sleep better, I would rise from bed in the middle of the night, wide awake and certain it would be hours before my lids would close, if they would close again at all.
If I didn’t wake in the middle of the night, I would rise hours before the alarm, tossing and turning until finally fleeing the bed.
On the occasions when I could force myself to lay there, often exhausted but still unable to sleep better, I would wonder what was wrong.
I used to be a able to fall to sleep.
Better I accept that my problems were real. Real problems required real solutions.
The first thing I did was look behind me. What had changed? What in my life was different from the yesterday when getting a great night’s sleep was as easy as closing my eyes.
Tomorrow, I’ll continue writing of my journey.
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