The idea for this column today came to me after a recent chat with the lady that looks after my family and home while I’m away. I had called her the previous evening at around 9pm as I was preparing to leave work for home but she hadn’t answered her phone. The next morning, she explained that she hadn’t heard her phone ring, “Pole, sikusikia, mimi nikilala nimelala…” she said.
Her explanation was brief and to the point. When it was time to sleep, she slept soundly, such that not even her phone ringing could rouse her. And true to this statement, each day I return home in the evening, I hear her soft snoring, my noisy return having gone unnoticed by her.
I have been thinking about this statement for some time, “mimi nikilala nimelala…”, and the conclusion I have come to is that there is no greater peace of mind than actually going to bed and sleeping like you’re supposed to. And I envied my house manager because it is not every night that I go to bed and sleep soundly until morning.
On those days, I have found myself worrying about one of numerous things that keep adults up at night, time that should have been spent sleeping fitfully to allow the body time to repair itself in readiness for another day’s work. Yet it shouldn’t be this way because sleep is one of those basic, natural things that should come to us effortlessly.
True, if you sleep on an empty stomach or have no idea where your next meal will come from or where you will get school fees for your children, sleep may not come at all. But it is not such situations I’m talking about. You, who has a job, a thriving business, a home, food in the fridge, savings and a holiday already booked for the December holidays, why do you toss and turn when you go to bed instead of simply closing your eyes and going to sleep until the alarm goes off in the morning?
What are those great worries that prevent you from sleeping when you go to bed at night? What are these ‘problems’ that raise your blood pressure, trigger migraines and increase your probability of developing a stroke due to insufficient sleep?
It may sound easier said than done, after all, I don’t know of the challenges you’re going through in your life, but it is probably time that we found a way to shelve our ‘problems’ when we go to bed at night for the sake of a good night’s sleep. It is the least we can do for ourselves after slaving and worrying during the day. And I’m talking to myself here too.
But if your problems cannot be shelved and picked up later, then you need to confront the source of your worry and get rid of it, even though not immediately. It could be a stressful job, an addictive habit like too much drinking which makes you hurt those you’re supposed to love, or even a bad marriage or an abusive relationship. Sleep is a natural, biological occurrence which we, ideally, shouldn’t struggle to get, and it is such a shame when it doesn’t come easy.
