To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

There’s nothing like a good, restful night’s sleep.

I’ve always been a big sleep fan. And I guess my nightlife experiences in my younger days no doubt suffered from my love of sleep.

“Hey Steve, do you wanna go to the bar and have a couple drinks? It’s Saturday night, and there might be something fun happening…”

“Nah,” I’d often respond. “Feelin’ a little tired tonight. You guys go have a nice time and tell me all about it tomorrow…”

I’d say something like that, but I really didn't care most of the time. I mean, the whole bar scene, with the super loud music, cigarette smoking, and drunk, obnoxious people either flirting with or threatening each other just was never my cup.

That same uncomfortable bar atmosphere was what kept me from seriously pursuing a life of playing music -- that, and the extreme unlikelihood of making a decent living at it.

But I digress...

Anyway, my preference for a good night’s sleep over a maybe great experience meeting someone cool in a bar just about always won out.

And I was right. I didn't meet my soulmate in a bar. I met her in a college classroom, but that’s another story…

So I -- and later, we -- would say goodnight to our more adventurous friends and head home, eventually turn out the lights, ahem, and enjoy a lovely sleep.

One thing I have to say about sleep, though. Over the years I've lost my ability to sleep on my stomach or my back. I don't sleep on my back because I know it makes me snore. -- and I can't stand to be around someone who snores or BE THAT GUY.

I also can't sleep on my stomach anymore. I don't know why. I don't have a big beer belly that might make it uncomfortable. I just can't sleep that way.

So that only leaves me sleeping on my left or my right side, and all night is a series of changing side positions.

But there was something about sleep I didn’t fully realize until recently: We spend A LOT of our lives doing it.

Figure: The average recommended night’s sleep is eight hours. That’s one-third of our day. -- and one-third of our lives.

For a person who lives to be 75, that’s 25 YEARS. For someone who makes it to 90, that’s 30 YEARS.

We’re talkin’ YEARS here!

Some folks might think that’s a lot of WASTED TIME -- just laying in a bed, perchance to dream, as Shakespeare said.

Dreams. OK, I don’t know about you, but I almost never remember my dreams. Oh, there are some I do remember -- briefly -- but they quickly fade into the dark shadows of my mind.

From where they probably came.

One thing I’m thankful for is I never dream of anything scary. Well, maybe once: About a creepy house I was in and knew -- just KNEW -- there was something ominous lurking in one of the rooms on an upper floor.

Yeah, creepy.

But mostly nothing scary. Weird, strange, nonsensical -- yes. But rarely anything that frightened me -- almost never. And that would usually vanish with my first blinking moments of consciousness.

Some people claim to have very detailed dreams, with all kinds of portents of stuff they should watch for when they are awake.

But not me. I've never dreamed of anything that later happened in real life.

Anyway, at this point, I’ve slept more than 23 years based on that eight-hours-a-night schedule. So do I regret spending so much of my precious time sawing logs in bed?

Not really.

Hey, sleep is good for you! And just try living to 90 without it!