A Slight Shift In Attitude

As a big fan of mind-body medicine, I am on the lookout for things that help health that aren't pill or procedure oriented. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to stumble onto a trick that works. The other night, I did stumble (so to speak) on a nice little shift in attitude.


I'm an insomniac and have been as long as I can remember. Surely at some point there wasn't a problem, but I do not remember it. At any rate, as you've gathered by now, I'm not a big fan of medication. But, I do like to sleep, just a few hours, nothing out of the ordinary. So I take a medication to help. The problem seems to be that I'm hyper-vigilant. I can be in a dead REM sleep, and if someone quietly says my name I'm instantly awake, even with sleep meds.

And that's the end of my sleep cycle. Any number of noises is enough to wake me out of this deep sleep, annoy me to no end, and slash any hope of return to slumber. (No wonder I'm slightly more than goofy, you think?)


My dog Rio, the chubby little lab mix that wears red high heels and carries a whip, sleeps on my bed with her head on my feet. My son moved back in a couple months ago, and as a young man will do, he goes out and stays out late. When he returns, Rio starts thumping that tail, loud and hard.

The son comes in, the tail thumps, I wake enough to cuss quite a bit ...

then I realized, this pup, though she's old, is still so full of the joy of life, so full of love for those she knows that her tail can't help but THUMP THUMP THUMP X 5000. I found myself smiling, and a little laugh bubbled out. It didn't last long and I was sound asleep again--this NEVER happens. I never return to sleep after awakening in the middle of the night, ever.

Since that night a few weeks ago, the son has come in late a number of times. I haven't heard the THUMP THUMP THUMP ... but I know Rio's waggin' that tail.

That slight shift in attitude has to be the reason. I can not think of anything else that would, particularly since I haven't changed meds, and nothing else can account for it.

I'm starting to like these attitude shifts.

;)

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