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short stories

Wonders never cease for an insomniac who gets some sleep!

Insomnia can be one of the hardest things in life to deal with. We, as humans, require a certain amount of sleep to be able to function during our wakeful hours. Without the proper amount of sleep, our bodies and brains have a hard time keeping up with what is needed to accomplish anything at all. This includes simple things like having a conversation or comprehending directions without being told twice. To those who have never experienced insomnia, this may sound like a funny story. However, for those who know the woes of insomnia, this is no laughing matter.

Person laying in bed with insomnia

Most people have had insomnia at least once in their lifetime and understand how this affects them the following day. For those who have had it a time or two, think of those who live with it constantly. It is understandable that these people are more irritable and sometimes downright mean to the others, who enjoy their eight good hours of sleep. I say eight hours just because that is a rule of thumb. Different people require different amounts of sleep. Some may do fine with four hours, while someone else may require twelve to be at their peak performance. While the majority of people enjoy their four, eight, or twelve hours of restoration, the insomniac would do anything for one or two hours of restful, uninterrupted sleep. 

The insomniac will try anything to get some form of sleep, including taking sleeping medications. The problem with this is that the medications also create other problems, like headaches and drowsiness, which affect us in our wakeful hours. So, all in all, they still have a problem being at their best when they are awake. So, the solution to using medications is really no solution at all. The person taking these over-the-counter medicines is not much better off than not sleeping as much as needed in the first place! If you don’t get enough sleep, you will feel like crap, be irritable, and not be able to perform at a high level in anything. On the other hand, if you take the over-the-counter medications and get some sleep, you will find the effects of headaches, be irritable, and not be able to perform at your best. Are you seeing the problem here? With or without the pills, peak performance cannot be achieved. 

Now, let me explain that I am not a doctor of any sort. (Well, maybe a doctor of self philosophy, ha ha). But I have no degree in what causes insomnia. The only thing on which I am basing the information I am presenting is that, well, I am an insomniac. I live with this affliction almost every day. The few days a month that I get a restful night of sleep (usually once a day out of fourteen) are because my body almost shuts down on me. I become so tired that I can literally fall asleep standing up! I have tried many things to cure my sleeplessness, but to no avail. The one thing I have found is that if I use these over-the-counter drugs, it makes things worse. Yes, I can sleep, but I sleep very restlessly with nightmares and wake up feeling like crap.

Men in line at boot camp are getting yelled at by company commander

I will add here that insomnia is caused by many different things. Veterans (like myself) are more prone to insomnia than those who have never served. I thought on this and found why I personally believe this to be true. Veterans are trained to always be thinking ahead to the next task that must be completed. We were taught to always be ready at any given time for any situation. Our brains must always be tuned into the coming situation, whether we know what’s coming or not. I was a firefighter in the US Navy, and even in my deepest sleep at the time of service, I could be awake and fully functioning in a matter of seconds to do the job I was trained for. This works very well in the military because you have others in the same situation as you, and we lean on each other for help if needed. The problem comes when the airman, sailor, or soldier becomes a civilian, and his or her needs change. No longer do you have the support of many men and women around you, and the need to be ready in a matter of seconds is no longer a part of your life. However, the training to always be thinking ahead is so deeply instilled in the veteran that he or she has a tremendous difficulty getting that part of their brain transformed back to civilian life. To a civilian who hasn’t served, this sounds ridiculous. However, to a veteran, this makes complete sense.

Man getting a good night's sllp

So, how do we get past these sleepless nights? This is a question I wish I knew the answer to. If you know, please inform me. I sure could use that information. The best way that I, personally, have found help through meditation. The times that I can focus on something particular, like a tree or a certain model of a car (mine is the 1969 Ford Mach 1), it helps. I have to put all other things aside. I cannot think of bills, things that need to be fixed around the house, or even family (both good and bad). Once I achieve this task, which seems simple but really isn’t, I can fall asleep. The question then is, “Can I stay asleep and keep the nightmares away?” This I still have not mastered, and so about once every fourteen days, I will fall into a deep sleep and stay that way for anywhere from twelve to sixteen hours. After this time, I feel great for one day, and then it’s back to thirteen more grueling days of insomnia. However, every once in a great while, I will achieve that inner peace and be able to focus on my dream car or that big tree and fall into a relaxing sleep.

For those who deal with insomnia, my heart goes out to you. I wish you the best of luck in breaking whatever pattern is causing your affliction. Hopefully, one day, we will all enjoy night after night of restful sleep. Until next time, have a good night, and remember, we are all in this together.

Veterans; You are not forgotten

I am republishing this post from April 13th 2021 in honor of our fallen heroes for Memorial day. Although this post is a little different than most Memorial day post you may see, I believe this must also be recognized during this very important holiday. Please indulge me in this short read. God Bless the families of our fallen.

I decided to write this post not because I  am a veteran but because there are so many others out there struggling.

Did you know there are on average twenty-two veterans that commit suicide a day? This is unacceptable!! My brothers and sisters have sacrificed so much for you and I, yet end up ending their lives because they feel they have no purpose left in society or the nightmares are just too much. I myself understand the nightmares.

Arlington memorial grave stones with single American flag standing by one of the grave stones

When was the last time you thanked a veteran for their service? This is a very small task that may mean nothing to you but it means a lot to a veteran. When someone thanks me for my service,  I automatically stand a little taller and feel a spark of appreciation and love. Trust me it means a lot. And when you see a Vietnam veteran, make sure you add to the phrase thank you for your service and welcome home. This is huge to a Vietnam veteran because they were not welcome at the time they did actually come home.

Most people don’t understand that when you sign on that dotted line, you automatically are setting yourself up to die for your country.

Did you know if you put all service people together ( Army,Navy,Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard) that is only seven percent of the population of the United States. Let me say that again, only seven percent of the population of the United States ever serve their country in the Armed Forces. By figures, that means that ninety three percent of Americans are living free in this country from the sacrifice of the seven percent. Let that sink in for a minute.

United States soldier sitting down with his head in his hands showing depression
Depression is very real and for veterans it’s common

Are you so into yourself that you can’t take three seconds out of your life to thank a veteran? I am so tired of my brothers and sisters taking their own lives because they feel they have nothing left to give.

Let’s not take our veterans for granted anymore. If a veteran needs help and you have the means, please do what you can to help. They sacrificed their lives for you and still sacrifice after they are out of the service. It’s extremely hard to fit back into civilian life and actually,  it’s never quite the same after serving our country.

Also don’t forget the families of these veterans.  They have a harder job then you know keeping everything together while their husbands or wives are off fighting for our freedom.

There are many charities you can give to like Wounded Warriors, Veteran suicide prevention, many others that help veterans overseas and don’t forget the ones that help veteran’s families. You can choose if and who you would like to give to, or you can choose to help a veteran you see with whatever that person needs. Please don’t ignore their needs because they didn’t ignore your needs of freedom.

God Bless our Veterans and God Bless  America! Remember, we are all in this together.

Silhouettes of soldiers standing at attention in front of the American flag
Categories
short stories

Technology, Good or Bad?

I have been offline for a couple of days because my website was broken.  It was a rough couple of days full of a lot of hair pulling.  As you can see, my site is back up and running.  Thanks to the good Lord above it wasn’t any longer because I’m running out of hair. This little stint away has brought me to my next journey into a phase where I ask myself and others, “Are we better off with or without the technology we have today?”

The first thing that comes to mind is, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with all of you if there wasn’t internet. The second thing that comes to mind is how much simpler things were when I grew up without all these gadgets we are stuck to today.

Picture of apps on a phone screen

I believe this is a subject that takes some looking into. Do these electronic devices help or hurt us? In some ways, life is so much easier. You don’t know the answer to a question today, well ask the all and powerful Google.  I mean, before Google,  we had to look things up in a dictionary or travel to the local library to find the answer.

Of course, on the other hand, if the grocery store loses power before you are done checking out, we’ll then you go home with no food because none of the registers work. Before all this technological advancements, if the power went off, it’s okay because the drawer still opens to make change.

Nowadays, we can find out what our military is doing overseas by simply turning on the television and searching through a million channels twenty-four hours a day. When I was growing up, we had three channels, and you couldn’t pause the station to use the restroom.  If you left the room for any reason,  you missed what ever happened to be on.

Now, I’m in an up and down battle with myself whether these advancements are good or bad. I mean as far as knowing everything the military is doing overseas at any given time may be a good idea for you, but I’m against it. As a veteran of these United States,  I believe something’s are better left untold. I may go into more detail of that at another time. ( If you would like to read my thoughts on why I don’t believe we need to know everything that our military is doing, send me an email and I may write a blog about it)

River rushing through the forest
There are many things to see without a phone on hand, like this creek.

So where do I stand with technology? I guess I enjoyed life a lot more without it. Sure it’s neat to have a phone I can carry around with me and not get strangled in the cord, but I spent a lot more time enjoying the world we live in without it. I  didn’t have that feeling all the time that my phone buzzed even when it wasn’t in my pocket. Anybody else gets them sensations?

I guess that’s my feelings on technology.  Let me know what you think.  I really like reading the opinions of others. If you don’t want my audience reading what you have to say, it’s okay,  drop me an email like a lot of others do, and it will be between us.

Well, I’m glad to be back to writing again, and I hope you are glad I’m back. Take care of yourselves and set that phone down sometime and enjoy the world around, there are a lot of things to see without a screen.  Until next time, remember, we are all in this together.