"Let Me Sleep On It....."

  I think my lovely wife is jealous because I can fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.  I tell her that anyone with a clear conscience can do it.  Well that  might be true, but not from my personal knowledge.  But I can fall asleep quite quickly, anytime, anywhere.  Sometimes if I am doing a lot of driving, I might get drowsy, no problem.  I find a place to pull over, close my eyes and within a couple minutes I am asleep.  In about fifteen minutes, I wake up and good to go.
  I haven't always been  a quick sleeper, I think medical events brought it about.  In 2009, I had heart surgery for a valve repair because it was murmuring.  I could never make out what it was saying, but the doctors said it wasn't a good thing.  Long story, short, I went in with a heart murmur and came out with atrial fibrillation or afib for short.  The docs never talked about why or how I got it.  I guess it is a risk with heart surgery.  When you think about it, there is a lot of risk, considering my heart and lungs are stopped and my body depends on a machine for the duration of the surgery.
  Anyway, I am getting off track, what a surprise!  To keep my heart in proper rhythm, I am prescribed a couple pills.  One is Diltiazem, the other is Metoprolol.  One of the side effects of both these pills is tiredness.  Since I am on a steady diet of these drugs, I assume it has become a great sleep aid.  Don't worry, when I am awake, I am awake.  No worries about my becoming narcoleptic.  When it is time to sleep, no problem!

  Now that I am under the spell of these pills, so to speak, I can better relate to the lyrics of a Beatles song "I'm Only Sleeping".  In one verse it says:  Lying there and staring at the ceiling.  Waiting for a sleepy feeling...  That is how it is for me except I am not staring at the ceiling, I simply have my eyes closed and drift off to LaLa Land.

  Ok, I am going to go off track again.  Why?  Because I want to!  Dreams are a part of sleeping.  Some nights for me are more dream filled then others.  However, for me, the night of dreams often has a 'theme' to them.  Particular people or places or events may be the theme.  Sometimes they are pleasant and sometimes they are not.  If, while sleeping, I become aware of an unpleasant theme, I wake up, get up, go 'wash my face' then go back to bed again.  That theme has been broken for the rest of my sleep.

  More about dreams?  Well, in What Doesn't Kill You, Kelly Clarkson sings You know I dream in color, I do too.  Dreams and sleep are so fascinating.  It is easy to see why so much effort is devoted to researching and studying the subject.  They say that we only use a fraction of our brain.  I think our dreams use our untapped brain power for a playground.

  I haven't made a musical insert for a long time so here is one coming at you.  Just click here.

"I'm Only Sleeping" by The Beatles

When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (Float up stream)

Please, don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping

Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mind, I think they're crazzy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need (There's no need)

Please, don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all I'm only sleeping

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time

Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling...

Please, don't spoil my day, I'm miles away
And after all I'm only sleeping

Ooh yeah

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time

When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (Float up stream)

Please, don't wake me, no, don't shake me
Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping