Sleeplessness isn’t just for Seattle anymore

So, how did you sleep last night?

In my social media feeds, I’ve noticed a lot of people tweeting and posting throughout the night. And how do I know this? Well, I may have been in bed for nearly 8 hours last night, but I only slept for about 6 1/2 hours, according to the sleep cycle app on my iPhone. It felt as if I was awake every two hours, waking up after one weird or anxiety-fueled dream after another.

This has become somewhat typical. I’m pretty sure I have lots of company. Why wouldn’t I? We’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, millions of Americans are out of work, and the president of the United States speaks like this. If he was your father or grandfather, you’d probably be sitting down for a family discussion about what to do with pops. (His supporters argue the other candidate, who is 77, is just as bad.) And now his plan for addressing the pandemic seems to be veering towards herd immunity, a theory critics say could lead to the deaths of 2.5 million Americans. No big deal, right?

Political debates surrounding the pandemic, the president, protests in several American cities, and every other hot button issue in this country are only going to ramp up and get worse in the 64 days between today and Election Day. Here’s to more sleepless nights.

At times like this, it’s good to remember the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

One thing I could control was finishing the MBA program I started two years ago at Loras College. I’ve written about this before, but we got our final grades Monday after giving the presentations last week for our capstone projects. Now all that’s left to do is walk through the commencement ceremony scheduled for Oct. 9.

Finishing the degree puts an end to one chapter of stress and anxiety. No doubt, I’ll find something new to take its place. For now, however, I’m enjoying a bit of freedom. Janet and I actually sort of went on two “dates” over the past weekend. We went out to eat on Saturday and then took a walk along the Mississippi River and watched barges go through Lock and Dam 10. On Sunday, we hiked at the Mines of Spain.

It felt good to not have homework to work on instead of doing something fun or to worry about if I did sneak away for a while for some fun. I want to enjoy that feeling for a while.

Now if I could just start sleeping through the night.

Thanks for stopping by. Be safe.