thinking

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I Fell Asleep In The Middle Of Thinking

The other day I fell asleep trying to think of something to write about. 

I fell asleep in the middle of thinking

I can understand this happening if it was 10:30 p.m. and the room was dark. Sure, anyone could fall asleep while thinking in that kind of environment.

But I fell asleep about an hour after I had gotten out of bed, having had seven hours of sleep … and the sun was shining through the windows.

“That’s pretty sad; he must be getting old”, you are probably thinking. 

Well, I have had a history of falling asleep in all sorts of places and conditions. 

I remember one time biking with a couple of friends to a campsite. We got there late in the afternoon but something spooked one of the guys, so at about 3:00 a.m. we headed back. 

I heard wolves in the distance as we rode and at one point got chased by a dog. We finally made it to some semblance of civilization by about 5:00 a.m.  

We were hungry but the restaurant we found didn’t open until 6:00 a.m. So we sat down on the sidewalk to wait. 

I put my head back on the cold, grey slab of cement and I was gone. 

The boys woke me up and, by the time I shook the cobwebs out of my head, they were half way across the parking lot. 

It doesn’t matter the surface or the environment, I can sleep pretty easily anywhere. 

The other day I saw a video of a little bulldog puppy who fell asleep sitting up and then fell over.

I’m kind of like that now. 

Before I had my heart attack nine years ago, I would get a little tired after lunch. But since my heart attack, the lull after lunch has become a major issue for me.

I had to rearrange my schedule. Then I replaced quiet activities like reading or heavy thinking with meetings and visits and things that would require me to be more active. 

I even got a stand up desk because, unlike that bulldog puppy, I have never fallen asleep standing up. 

… But give me something to lean up against and I can get close.

The other day when I fell asleep thinking, it was because it’s so hard to come up with an idea. I need something to happen in my life. My life is too predicable. 

I will admit, though, that I enjoyed my nap at 8:00 a.m. 

And one thing I do know, if it’s difficult to think of something to write about when there is nothing going on in my life, it is impossible to think of something to write about when I am sleeping. 

Here’s the thing: Life just seems to roll on day by day. As with COVID, where we are anticipating an end, but every day there is nothing to indicate the end is coming, one day Christ will return. There are many people who don’t think about making decisions now for what seems to be way down some distant path. We kind of fall asleep in the present. Let me encourage you to make a decision to put your faith in Christ now because when you go to sleep for the last time, you won’t be able to think about doing it then.

That’s Life!

Paul 

Question: What do you have trouble thinking about these days? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Maybe I Didn’t Think I Had Enough Stress

Could I have added more stress to my life? I don’t know what I was thinking; I’m just glad I got through it. Stress is something we all live with, but there are times when stress is higher than at other times.

I’ve even heard that a little stress is good for you. Stress keeps you alert, motivated; it keeps the blood pumping.

Without a little stress we would probably all be sloths, sitting – rather, lying – around with no cares, no urgency, no get up and go.

When I was a teen I had no stress in the summers. I would sleep until 11 a.m. and then stay up late at night.

My dad used to call that “living the life of Riley”, and though I never met Riley, and didn’t have any idea what he did, it sure sounded like he had a pretty good life.

At the time, it sounded like my dad wished he had a little of that life.

Now I always have a little stress in my life. I always have something to do, and if I don’t, I put a little stress on myself to find something that I need to be doing.

But this past Saturday I put too much stress on my life.  

It was game 5 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. My team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, were down 3 games to 1 in the series. 

They were facing elimination and playing in Boston, which has so far in this series proved to be a near impossible place in which to win.

To be honest, I didn’t have much hope for my Leafers going into the game. 

But just the same, I was a little stressed that they would leave the playoffs so quickly after having such a great year. 

I was also preaching the next morning. I’m very used to that so no bad stress there – just a little good stress having my sermon in the back of my mind.

That should have been enough stress for one night. I should have been happy that I was showing no signs of slothfulness on a Saturday night.

But for some crazy reason I decided to add more stress to the evening … I decided to start doing my income tax.

I’m not sure why but maybe I thought that it would provide a distraction from the stress that was being generated in me by the game.

Everyone has to do taxes but you don’t have to do them when you’re stressed out to begin with. But that’s exactly what I did.

It was a rollercoaster of a night. Tension was high because the Leafs weren’t making it easy, especially with all the penalties they took in the second period. 

All the while I was gathering my information, making calculations and demanding that Lily find me certain documents and receipts. 

It was a brutal night, but the Leafs won which reduced my stress level significantly. And though I didn’t finish my taxes, I got to a winning stage with them as well.

Now I need a day of being a sloth so I can recuperate.

Here’s the thing: We put even more stress on ourselves whenever we don’t seek God in times of stress. Even if it’s a little, if we will take it to Him rather than go it alone, God can ease our burden, leaving us with just the right amount of stress to keep us moving forward.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you deal with stress in your life? Leave your comments below.

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10,000 Steps A Day

You may have heard this before, but then again maybe you haven’t – I hadn’t until recently.  Research shows that we should take 10,000 steps a day.  Doing so can help to lower your BMI, reduce your waist size, and increase your energy.  It can help with hypertension and lessen your risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease.

If this is true, TVs should be hooked up to treadmills to make them work.  Doctors’ offices shouldn’t have parking lots, forcing us to walk to see our doctors!

10,000 steps equals about 8 kilometers (based on about a 2.5 foot long stride).  That’s about the distance I travel to work each day … and, uh, I would walk it if I … uh … didn’t need my car.

Some people have jobs where they walk all day, but not me.  As a pastor, I don’t walk very much.  I work at a desk and mostly walk to or from my car.  Tapping my feet to music while I work on my computer certainly doesn’t add any steps to my day.  I bought a pedometer to track my steps and, by noon some days, I’ve only taken 500.

So, to get a few more steps in, I started to walk for 30 minutes a day at a fairly brisk pace.  I walk with Lily around our neighbourhood, or go on our treadmill while watching TV.  I would take our turtle, Winston, for a walk but his legs are pretty short and I think I would end up dragging him around.

A thirty minute walk can give me about 4000 steps, which is pretty good, but still a far cry from ten grand!  So I’ve started to do something else: I get up from my desk mid morning and mid afternoon and walk for ten minutes around the sanctuary of the church.

It’s not the most interesting walk – it’s a little boring walking up and down the pews.  The only break is walking up the outside aisles and looking out the windows.  The problem with that is, if you see something interesting, you can’ t stop to get a better look.  You have to keep moving and just hope that it’s still visible on your next lap!

But I’ve found two things that make those walks exciting.  I either take time to think about what I am presently working on, taking my phone along and dictating into it any ideas that come to mind, OR, I use the time to pray.  I’ve found that I have some good times with God in those 10 minute intervals of walking in the sanctuary.  The time goes so fast as I walk that rather boring route.

Here’s the thing:  I’ve done my devotions early in the morning for years.  But I don’t have blocks of time later in the day that I spend in prayer.  I’m finding these 10 minute walks perfect for telling God what I’m thinking or feeling about right then.  I can talk over with Him what I’m wrestling with or what’s captured my immediate attention.  These short spurts of prayer or thought are inspiring and stimulating.  They’re like an injection of energy into my day.  I never would have thought of it.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What do you do to keep God in your day?