Sleeping and waking up enriched

 

　When my mother was an elementary student, one early morning, my grandmother waked her up roughly by opening a window. There were many factory workers outside. They were on their way to work. In those days, Japanese factories opened their business early.

 My grandmother said, “They had to wake up really early in the morning to work. I am a teacher. I have woken up now. I can be a late riser because I studied very hard when I was young. My dear daughter, you need to study very hard. If you don’t, you have to wake up early every day in the future.”

 I don’t know whether my grandmother’s advice worked. My mother graduated at a prestigious university. I suspect that my mother studied very hard because she wanted to be a late riser. I think this is not a good reason to study.

 My father worked for a newspaper company. He started work in the middle of the night and came home early morning. Then he slept during daytime. When he reached retirement age, he started a new lifestyle: waking up early in the morning. He used to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. He would walk to the park and watch the sunrise every day. This lifestyle might be his dream for a long time. Waking up early in the morning could be a rich experience.

 I lived in our house with my mother who had Alzheimer’s disease. An Alzheimer’s patient often makes troubles even in the dead of the night. Having good sleep was difficult for me in those days. I finished graduate school. If my grandmother’s advice were true, I might have been a super late riser. But her advice was not true. Sleeping and educational background are not related.

 Being a late riser could be a rich experience. Being an early riser could also be a rich experience. Both of them are a deeply enriching experience.

 I think the best sleeping habit might be like this: going to bed when you feel sleepy, not setting any alarm, no one disturbing your sleep, not even caring if it is day or night. You get up when you naturally wake up. Your natural sleeping cycle depends on your mental and physical condition.

 This must be a great lifestyle. I wish I have this lifestyle someday.

Picture by BlueRingMedia