The Blessings of Blissful Sleep (2)

Insomnia! I have never experienced insomnia since breathing 27,361,449 minutes of my 52 years and 10 days on earth. Let me narrate some examples in chronological order about my sheer ability to sleep soundly in any given situation.

When I found out that my two elder sisters were going for a party, I decided I would sleep on the mother of pearl bench in the living room, as I was afraid of sleeping alone without my two sisters. It was a happy and comfortable arrangement for an 8 year old child, because papa was also in the living room, writing his music scores. When papa got out of his chair he was surprised to find me sleeping on the floor! Apparently I had fallen down from the bench but had continued sleeping blissfully! Papa was so engrossed in his writing that he did not hear the thud that must have accompanied my fall.

Mama had always warned me not to lock my room because it is very hard for me to be awakened! On my way to Canada for my tertiary education, I had to stop over in Tokyo and stay at the New Tokyo Hotel. I was surprised to find out that the Hotel caught fire just a week after my stay.!

Once I went shopping with my two elder sisters. They took very long to choose a pair of shoes. I was so bored that I just put my haversack on the displayed shoes and fell asleep! In the background, Yao Su Rong, the famous singer of "Jin tian Bu Huei Jia" (Today, not going Home) was screaming loudly from the record player. The shopkeeper was amused I could sleep so soundly for almost 30 minutes until my two sisters found their favourite pair of shoes!

In Edmonton, I shared an apartment with 3 other flatmates. Once the fire alarm rang throughout the hostel. Everyone woke up, except me! I never heard the alarm much to my flatmates' consternation.! During Winter, at dawn, the snow machine operator would come by and make loud noises as he tried to shovel the ice on the road. My flatmates would be pulling their hairs in frustration, but I was never awakened by the noise.

When we flew to Kathmandu for our short mission trip, I was the only one who slept soundly during the flight! At Nanglay village, we had to sleep on the mud floor on the first storey of a building. The villagers had kept some cows on the ground floor. Except for the very pungent smell, which I tried to lessen by tying a scarf around the lower part of my face, nothing else prevented me from having a sound sleep. Going back to Penang by bus is also a breeze for me. After the passports are checked at the Immigration in Johore Bahru, I would sleep throughout the whole journey until we reach Penang Island.

Indeed to be able to sleep soundly is one of life's blessings. Worries and anxiety will cause insomnia. All of us have our own problems and set of worries, but Luke 12:25 challenged if any of us could add one more hour to our life by worrying. The more we worry, the better we get at it. Since my adolescence I had been making do with an average of about 5 hours sleep a day. But whenever I get bored while taking the MRT or bus, I would just doze off! To me, the quality of sleep is more important than the quantity. Why force yourself to sleep if you cannot sleep; why not be awake and make your dream a reality! It might be a good idea for some to read books so as to cool down and then, sleep will come more easily. Try it if you are suffering from insomnia. For me, it is also important to be at peace with myself and with others. Whatever anger I might have for the day should be gone by the time I settle for sleep, peaceful sleep.