Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Thank God for fatigue. It is your body telling you you have to rest. That is a good thing. “Speed” kills you for it overrides that message and given enough time you keep going and eventually your body deteriorates from within. Rest is a period your body recovers. If you consistently don’t sleep enough you don’t feel well for during sleep your body rejuvenates itself so observe the messages your body is telling you. Your body is an incredibly complex piece of machinery.

Tags: fatigue, God, listening to your body, rejuvenating quality of sleep, resting, sleep, speed kills, thank God, your body
Posted in balance, death, God, health, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, time | No Comments »

I was struggling to fall asleep for five or six nights. I knew it was due to anxiety which was caused by fear. I happened to open up a book I had on faith and found several passages I had underlined. The words were just what I needed to allay my anxiety. I kept referring to them the next few days. I started sleeping better. And not taking so long to fall asleep. It was a book I had not opened in a long time. I must have been dealing with similar issues before. It was just the right words I needed to hear. Books can be lifesavers.

Tags: anxiety, books can be lifesavers, faith, falling asleep quickly, fear, God, sleep
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I went to bed by nine thirty PM and Tilla took advantage of it immediately and crept in the Lazy Boy chair I just vacated and fell asleep.  I checked on him a little later:  he would not raise his head.  He was out for the night.  My TV room is where he goes to sleep every night.  All animals are creatures of habit.

His sister, Coco always sleeps in my bedroom in the far end of the bed at the foot of the bed.  She likes her privacy and will retire to that room if she is inside.  Other times she may be the last one in from the yard.  She is a real sweet dog and has the personality of her mother, Sweetie, the golden retriever.  Unlike her, though, she can be really insistent if she wants something, like for instance, to go out into the yard.  I have one other dog, Pax, Coco’s and Tilla’s, dad.  He is a real character but I will talk about him, again, in another time.

Tags: Coco, Coco sleeps in my bedroom, Coco's nature, creatures of habit, dogs, golden retriever, Pax, pets, sleep, Sweetie, Tilla, Tilla's sleeping room
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Coco, Tilla and Cool Hand Luke have their nightly routines.  The first two are two of my dogs (I have four) and the third is one of my cats (I have seven).  Coco, when she is ready to retire for the evening, lies down on the far side of my bed.  In fact, once in awhile she even jumps on my bed after I have gone to sleep.

Her brother, Tilla, last night joined me in my office (or “man cave” as some people would put it) and while I was watching TV came in the room and nudged shut the door and laid patiently there waiting for me to retire.  As soon as I was finished watching TV and left my Lazy Boy chair he immediately jumped on it.  His bed time is nine (but not mine) and if I am not on the chair he will take it.  More than once he wouldn’t budge.  I had to sit on him before he reluctantly left so I could watch TV.

Cool Hand Luke’s favorite spot is in the same room.  The black cat (interesting enough the two dogs mentioned are also completely black) will sit on some books perched on top of a book case to the left of my Lazy Boy chair and by the window.  She is often found there.  That is a new spot for her.  For a long time she used to lie curled at night at the head of the bed to the left of me.

She does not get along too well with some of the other cats.  For a number of months other cats were often lying together on my bed especially Jasmine, a dainty female, with some or all of her four kids she had in two litters.  Sometimes Buttons, a tiger colored cat (we have two), will lie on our bed too; although he often hides under the bed.  He sometimes terrorizes Cool Hand Luke.  Of late, the cats have not been spending the night on the bed so Cool Hand Luke has returned occasionally to her old spot.

The other pets’ routines at night I have not noticed or they do not have the same ones every night.  The other cats are great at disappearing.  My wife who sleeps on the other Lazy Boy chair in the living room says the cats are quite noisy at night.  I would not know.  I sleep solidly.

Tags: bed, bed time, book case, Buttons, cats, cats noisy at night, Coco, Cool Hand Luke, dogs, four dogs, Jasmine, man cave, my wife, pets, pets nightly routines, seven cats, sleep, sleep solidly, tiger cat, Tilla, watching TV
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There is nothing sweeter than forgiveness.  It was only two days ago tempers between my wife and I flared over finances.  (Is there anything else couples fight over?)  Sure, but that seems to be a big area of disagreement.  Sparks flew between the two of us.  I did not act too nice or becoming.  She slept terribly that night and the only reason I didn’t was I took a pill at bed time.  We resolved our differences when both of us were calmer.  Sometimes you have to sit on opinions.  It really does no good to state your side over and over, which I did.  I forgot I needed to give my partner time.  The next day after the argument we hugged and made up.  There really is nothing sweeter than forgiveness.

Tags: anxiety, argument, couples, fight, finances, forgiveness, hugged, made up, my wife, opinions, resolve differences, sleep, tempers flared
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Tilla, one of my dogs did it again.  We were about to go to bed.  My wife took her spot on the left side.  And my eighty pound short-haired black dog jumped on the bed, took my spot on the right and curled up looking so comfortable at the head of the bed.  He would not move and I slipped in bed to the right of him almost off the bed and tried to grab what blanket I had left.  My left hand wrapped around his sleeping body as I slept on my side.  The black mid-sized dog was quite cozy.  He even sighed a few times.  Thank God it was a king sized bed!  At some point he jumped off the bed but I did not notice.  I was long asleep.

Tags: bedtime, dog sleeps on bed, dogs, my wife, pets, sleep, thank God, Tilla
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Your feedback is essential to the psychiatrist.  In the beginning patients want to be “fixed.”  They want the medication the doctor prescribes to solve everything.  You have to take an active role in your treatment.

Question everything the physician does, every medication you are put on.  After all, it is your body you are putting the medication in.  Learn what to expect, with every medication adjustment.

Learn what a therapeutic level is.  How long it takes to get there, what changes to expect.  Learn the side effects of each medication you are on, whether you can live with them.

Learn, also, what changes will occur in you body and mind, when to determine whether the medication is, truly, helping you.

You are not a passive participant.  The doctor can not prescribe medications properly without your accurate feedback.

Know the time frame of each medication, how long you have to wait before it works properly, if at all.

The medication is only an aid.  You still have to help yourself.  The medication does not work properly if you do not take care of yourself:  that means eating correctly and sleeping enough regularly.

You have to know if the doctor is listening to you.  Don’t be afraid to change doctors if they are not.  I have fired a few in my time.  This is harder to do if you are going to a mental health center but it can be done.

Learn everything you can about every medication before you take it so you know what to expect.  Your feedback is essential to the doctor.  He can not do his job properly without it.

Tags: eating correctly, help yourself, medication, mental health center, mental illness, patient feedback, patients want to be "fixed", physician, psychiatrist, question your doctor, side effects, sleep, therapeutic level
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Black moods often follow when you have slept badly.  Not all the time for peoples’ constitutions differ.  There is nothing like a solid good night sleep to restore your mood and dispel depression due to fatigue.  Your emotions sometimes are deceivers.  You can’t always rely on them to be accurate.  If you are eating correctly (yes, a poor diet heavy on sugar can exacerbate depression) and sleeping well and you are often depressed, there is another reason you are depressed and you have to look at that.  In any case, realize a bad night sleep can darken your moods and all it takes is a good night sleep to brighten your day.  Depression can be solely physiological due to a bad night sleep.  Sleep is restorative.  When you sleep, your body purges itself of poisons.

Tags: black mood, depression, depression can be physiological, dispel depression, eating right, emotions, fatigue, good night sleep, sleep, sleep is restorative
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Do all couples go through this?  She was complaining I would steal her half of the comforter away from her waking her up.  And she usually did not fall asleep again so quickly.  I decided to give each of us our own sheet.  It seems to be working.  I have been waking her up less.  Marriage is working out every detail–especially when there is some problem between the two of you.  You are not always successful but you need to try.

Tags: comforter, couples, marriage, my wife, sheets, sleep, working out details
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I have thousands of LP’s, CD’s and cassettes but always return to this one.  My nerves are ragged and when this happens I “pull out” this 60’s album “Clouds” by Joni Mitchell.  I did put it on cassette years ago.

The music is soothing and I will play it over and over and also search for other quiet music until this phase of mine passes.  I can’t listen to uptempo music right now.  I don’t think my episode will last too long.  I am still sleeping whole nights so I am not overly concerned.  I will play it by ear.  The more I can soothe my nerves the quicker I will return to normal.

Tags: "Clouds" album, 1960's, cassette, CD, Joni Mitchell, LP, music, my nerves, quiet music, record albums, sleep, soothing, uptempo music
Posted in balance, health, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, music, time, wisdom | 2 Comments »

It is only 66 degrees outside today and praise the Lord for it.  It is only a week ago we had a short heatwave–temperatures in the 90’s and it was quite uncomfortable.  It was hard even sleeping when it was that warm so I am thanking the Almighty for his “gifts” when they come along.  So thank the Lord for all the small gifts that come along.  This was just one.

Tags: God, God's gifts, heatwave, His gifts, June, praise the Lord, sleep, thank the Lord, thanking the Almighty
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My favorite dog “Tilla” had joined me in bed and was sleeping right along side of me.  There were no uncomfortable dreams last night.  I slept soundly.  I stayed away from fluids last night.  I usually wake up several times a night and had gotten in the bad habit of taking a quick swig of something before going back to bed.  This time I refrained from doing that.  So I got up less to use the bathroom.  I discovered “Tilla” sleeping along side of me at some point last night.  That is all I remember of the night.

Tags: dog sleeps on bed, dogs, dreams, last night, pets, sleep, sleep soundly, Tilla, use the bathroom at night, wake up at night
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