Tom's Message: Sleep Inertia and a Fresh Beginning
Hope you’re having a bright and beautiful morning!
Hope you’re remembering where you left the keys, your wallet and…what else am I forgetting?…so you can get out the door and on your way!!
Ever have those mornings when you just wake up and are confronted with the three most important questions of life, first thing?
“Who…?
Wher…?
“Wha…?”
As in…
“Who are I?
Where am I?
What’s my name??”
Well, there’s a word for that!
It’s clinically called, “sleep inertia”
You know, when you wake up...but not quite!
The CDC defines it as:
“…a temporary disorientation and decline in performance after awakening from sleep. People can show slower reaction time, poorer short-term memory, and slower speed of thinking, reasoning, remembering, and learning… Research indicates this typically can last from 30 to 60 minutes…”
In fact…um…let’s see,,,what was I talking about??.Oh, yeah!
Sleep inertia!
“Research found that 100 mg of caffeine on awakening reduces the time of sleep inertia, restoring reaction time more quickly…”
Really!? That’s amazing! My research confirms this finding!!
One of the solutions suggested is “exposure to natural light first thing…”
Like the sun.
“Expose yourself to natural light immediately by opening curtains or going outside. This helps reset your circadian rhythms…”
(Come to think of it, going outside would wake you up even if it was raining like today! Maybe better!)
I love what Zachariah told us about Jesus, the Coming One not yet born…
He will be “the rising sun Who will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness…”
Jesus will be like the sun!
When you have one of those days where spiritually, you can’t quite wake up…
when you don’t quite know where you are…
or who yo are…
or what your name is…
Jesus will be like the sun for you!
As the Apostle says…
“Wake, o sleeper and rise from the dead! And Christ will shine on you!!” (Ephesians 5:14)
Just finished reading First Corinthians and I was astounded (once again!) at the spiritual power that flows from the Message…and meditation on and thinking slowly about…the Message of Jesus and how He was crucified for us!
It’s the only thing Paul wanted them to hear about or think about! (2:2)
It gives wisdom in all of life! (1:24)
It gives power and courage and joy to the heart! (1:18)
When I wake up confused…
not sure who I am or even who I want to be…
wondering what my name really is…
the Crucified One shines on me and tells me…
“You have always been loved! And you are!
You are powerful, empowered by the knowledge of what was done to make you Mine!
And you, My child, get to begin again!
You have this day!
And if you need to start fresh…
and if you want to enjoy a fresh start…
you may!”
In the Dickens “Christmas Carol” of one who was awarded the golden opportunity of leaving behind his heartless, frost-filled past and of stepping into a fresh future of love-filled possibilities, beginning with one glorious morning, Ebenezer Scrooge could barely dare to believe that he was alive!!
He was thrilled that sitting up is his bed, his bed curtains…“are not torn down, rings and all. They are here!!—I am here!!!—the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will!!!
“I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath… “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy!! I am as silly as a drunken man! A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world. Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!”
…He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down at the kitchens of houses…and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk—that anything—could give him so much happiness!”
When you wake up in that unrelenting sleepiness…
and you let the light of Christ shine on you…
And you are momentarily stunned that of all people, YOU have been given a fresh beginning and
“Today” in which to enjoy it…
May you also be as light as a feather!
As happy as an angel!
As merry as a school child!
Good morning!!
Whoop! Hallo!