Catching Sleep in 2021
During the holidays we watched a lot of Christmas movies, from It’s a Wonderful Like to Die Hard (yes, the latter is a Christmas movie and an awesome one at that). Despite the lack of normal social interactions during this holiday season, we still had an enjoyable Christmas, got six of the seven fish in this Christmas Eve, and overall had an enjoyable holiday with Aurelia, even though she seemed to be more interested in the wrapping paper than presents from Santa.
I did notice one major change this year, my sleep. As someone who falls asleep within seconds of hitting the pillow, and sleeps soundly through the night, I realized something was off. I found myself having more trouble falling asleep and, more so, found myself having trouble staying asleep, waking up in the middle of the night for abnormal chunks of time. Something was clearly wrong, so I assessed any changes. Aurelia, who still wakes up at least once each night, has not been any worse, so she wasn’t the issue (though I would welcome her sleeping through the night). Our food and exercise regimens haven’t changed.
It was the movies. Something as simple as watching more TV at night wreaked havoc in my sleep. I usually read something light before bed and avoid light as much as possible, as it can disengage our melatonin production. I have even written in the past on the issues with blue light and sleep health. Now I was not even following my own advice.
The good news is I cut out the movies and my sleep has drastically improved. The only other time I noticed sleep issues were with a past stressful job or when I was not exercising as much. Much like this episode, both stood out to me in retrospect. The moral of the story is if you follow daily patterns, it is easy to assess any changes in that pattern when things go wrong.
Otherwise, Happy New Year everyone! Minus all the craziness going on, life at its core is still amazing, so let’s keep that in mind as we approach 2021!
If I could ask you for one last favor – thanks for everyone who has been messaging me about Leonardo’s Legacy and I am thrilled you like the book. Please drop me a review on Amazon (especially because they were nice enough to remove all my initial reviews for some strange reason).
After a year of watching society have its pants scared off (including me and my family), I have decided my New Year’s Resolution is to remember what it was like living without constant fear. Remember the good old days when we could walk on trails in the middle of the woods by ourselves without wearing a mask or getting a dirty look? The media-driven fear has also made us scared of our friends, family members, and even ourselves. Does this mean covid doesn’t exist or people aren’t dying from it or getting hurt? ABSOUTELY NOT. However, scaring the pants off of everyone so we live in a state of illogical fear is at best not helpful, and at worst, extremely dangerous.
For 2021 I am pushing this fear aside. And no, I am not suggesting I’ll be reckless, just not afraid. Much like when I get in a car to drive to work, I am not fearful the entire time of a car wreck and dying, but instead, I put my seat belt on, never text and drive, and play it safe. Then I drive like a maniac. Kidding, but you get the point. (The irony is the number of people of I have seen wearing a mask while texting and driving, wearing a mask while pulling into Krispy Kreme, or lowering their mask to take a puff on a cigarette).
We should be smart about covid, not unreasonably scared about it. In fact, we should approach all possible threat and illnesses that way, from cancer to diabetes to obesity. We don’t sit in our house scared of obesity; we live a healthy life. We exercise, get some sun or take vitamin D, eat nutrient dense foods, get quality sleep (even more in the winter), and spend valuable time with loved ones.
The media thrives on scaring us, not informing us. They are not a source of valuable information, which they claim to be, but rather advertisements and (albeit generally negative) entertainment. It is how they rope us in to continue to watch their programs and the advertisements – the real reason the news exists. Yes, our nightly news and media sources exist simply to push advertisements and sell products. Check out The Attention Merchants for a good read on the history of the nightly news and the scientific formulas used to hold our attention and get us to buy advertised products. This is why studies show us that the more the media reports health issues, the less risk we actually have of dying from the issues. The media avoids reporting what we need to hear, but instead scares and convinces us into what we want to hear.
In 2021 let’s live smart and not scared. Let’s take to the offense for our health and happiness, and not let the fearmongering talking heads scare us into continual defense and submission.
Let’s remain healthy and happy in 2021!
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