Perchance to dream*
Thankful today that, in general, I get enough sleep.
It’s on my mind, because Tuesday night, I did not get enough sleep. And I’m a little ticked off about that.
See, I started the evening with the firm intention of awaiting the outcome to the election. I was aware that meant it could be a very long night, but I was game. I wanted to know what happened. It seemed to me to be infinitely more desirable to be disappointed (assuming disappointment was the outcome—and it was 50/50, you know)—infinitely more desirable to be disappointed and then go to bed than to awake to disappointment.
There was always the chance of a joyful outcome, too. And how much better to end the day on a high note than to miss all the excitement.
Having reviewed these possibilities exhaustively (2 or 3 seconds, at least), I decided to stay up and see what happened.
All well and good, and the election was called remarkably early. At something like 11:15 pm, it looked like I would be heading off to bed.
Then there was a little problem with math over on the losing side, and we were suddenly looking at—we didn’t know what.
Now, a person cannot go to bed with the spectre of that famous photo of Truman the morning after the 1948 election hanging over her. She has to stay up to see what’s going to happen.
The result was that I didn’t get to bed until after two a.m.
You wouldn’t think that would be a big deal, but I’m neither as young as I once was nor,apparently, as resilient. I am certainly not as used to staying up late as I had been in the past. (56 hours without sleep is my limit. After that, I start to hallucinate. I know this from experience.)
Anyway, the election ended, the speeches were made, the pundits talked…and talked…and talked, and eventually, I went to bed.
I didn’t have to do anything important today, so it’s no bit deal that I’m tired and unproductive and have had a bit of a headache all day, but I do realize I need to be thankful for those days—and nights—I get enough sleep.
If you’re thinking about pulling an all-nighter sometime, I encourage you to think again. You might get more done if you take time to take a nap.
Try it. You’ll like it!
* Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Sc. 1
