Facing the Day, No Matter What It Holds
Mornings bring new hope and new possibilities.
Good morning Dear Readers. I thought I would help you start your day with something I have found very fascinating, the phenomenon of Ken Curtis. Ken Curtis played the role of Festus in Gunsmoke for many years. I simply loved his simple wisdom and the hilarious ways he didn’t get along with Doc, played by Milburn Stone. Festus was also kind of a badass, with his six-gun at the ready at all times. There was an episode of Gunsmoke Festus interacts with a young girl saying, “Gosh Mary-Ellen! You’re purtier than a whole bouquet of sunflowers!” and then later the same episode, the time came for him to draw his gun on a bad guy and he did so, lightning fast and had a very cool line to puncuate it. To me this makes for an interesting role model, someone who can be kind and compassionate, and also knows how to deal with situations where trouble gets stirred up.
What I found out in recent times is that the voice of Festus on the TV show was something the actor invented, that he had a fairly normal voice, actually probably an exeptional one and was a singer with a band called ‘The Sons of the Pioneers’ for quite a while before transitioning to TV and movies.
Anyhow, I really wanted to discuss a little about starting your day. Although this to me seemed impossible, a person really needs to get to sleep at the same time each day, and wake up at the same time each day. If you have troubles sleeping, don’t nap, try to get fresh air and exercise, avoid caffeine after 5:00pm or so, and it will make it easier for you to regain your proper circadian rhythms.
Another thing I wanted to mention is that I take advantage of just about every type of sleep-enhancing gadget I can. One of the smaller and simpler ones is a blackout mask. I don’t use this all the time, but it can be very helpful if you want to sleep and there is still some light you can’t get rid of, or if you need to sleep during the day. The next item doesn’t directly help me sleep, but I think it definitely helps with my circadian rhythms, it is a Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD light. I keep it by my computer and turn it on as much as I can as living in the North as I do, we get little sunlight and there is a reduced production of vitamin D due to that.
The next sleep aid I have is a Mexican blanket. It is wool and has cool designs on it and for some reason it helps me sleep when I can’t otherwise rest. It was cheap, and I simply love it. The next thing I use is an electric blanket I got off amazon. This blanket not only keeps me warm, but actually relaxes me a lot and is definitely a sleep promoter. The next thing I use is a weighted blanket. I have this blanket that is stuffed with some kind of little pellets that allow it to be comfortable, yet heavy. It weighs about 25 pounds, and I guess a good way to describe it is to say it is like getting a hug while you sleep. The next investment can be a huge one, but in my opinion well worth it, I bought a queen sized bed with pillowtop mattress. I also have a futon in my living room, and have found that if I switch around between places to sleep, my sleep health improves.
I have also been on kind of a kick lately where I switch to decaf coffee and tea around 5:00pm and slowly wind down as the day comes to a close. I often start the day with regular coffee or tea, but I find if I didn’t have a good sleep I won’t even be able to finish them before falling back asleep.
One of the great things about getting up early in the morning is that I find that I get a great deal more done in the course of a day than if I indulged myself in all the rest I needed. Mornings can be a difficult time. One of my problems with mornings is that I have to take a fair bit of medications in the morning and often have a hard time functioning. What I have found works best for that is for me was walk for 3 miles to a mall north of where I live, buy something simple like a bottled water or a pepsi, and then enjoy the beverage while I wait for the bus and ride it back home. As I will mention in a moment, even this simple pleasure became troublesome though.
Walking is such a great way to stay healthy. Unfortunately, one has to understand that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. A year ago I was walking every day to start the day off and I simply loved it and it felt so great. Now I am dealing with hip and knee pain that makes this much walking almost impossible. I am trying to take the positive effects of long walks and adapt them into low impact experiences such as stretching, riding my new exercise bike, and basically just getting my heart moving.
As far as sleep and supplements go, I often have a three milligram pill of melatonin about an hour before I go to sleep. In all honesty I have no idea how they work so well. Melatonin is actually a sleep hormone that allows us to rest and take care of the damage done to our bodies by daily stressors. Something I wanted to mention was that, for a long time, I was taking a tranquilizer to help me get to sleep. My doctor wanted me to go off of it, but that idea kind of worried me. I knew there would be withdrawals, I knew it would be difficult, and I ended up not taking my doctor’s advice. More recently, I have been on a kick to eliminate any drugs I don’t absolutely need, and one of them was the tranquilizer. It was a difficult few days of not getting much sleep, but I have come through that and I have found that I have sleeps that are so much more restful and refreshing than when I was using a chemical crutch.