Sleeping on It

I’ve got too many people on my Facebook page, because I went back to look for the original post that gave me this idea and it is already lost in the mists of time, like from this morning, so I can’t properly give credit, although if I discover it later I will come back and edit.

Let me sleep on it. There's a reason clichés are cliché

Her point was that if you are faced with a problem, a choice, a situation that needs to be resolved, you should write it down on a piece of paper, as concisely and accurately as possible, one simple sentence, and put it under your pillow.  Maybe you’ll wake up with the answer.

Well, of course maybe you will and maybe you won’t, but it can’t hurt and I actually think she had a point, you would increase your chances.

The point is, when you put it down on paper like that, you are forcing yourself to think about it.  Not that you weren’t thinking about it all day anyway, if it wasn’t something you were obsessed over, you probably wouldn’t be going to that extra effort, but it forces you to think about it coherently, it forces you to think about it to the exclusion of all those hundreds of other little things that you think about (did I lock the door?  What time do I have to wake up?  Is the computer off?  Did I save everything?) and it forces you to think about it as the last thing you think about before falling asleep, so that it will influence the direction of your dreams.

Now, the mind is a complicated place and nobody knows what direction their dreams will take, but choosing the direction is a good step.  If you leave Chicago driving East, you may wind up in New York, maybe Philly, Boston or even Atlanta, but you have pretty much ruled out L.A. and Vancouver.  So, half the possibilities are eliminated and you have effectively doubled your chance of finding an answer.

It is the same reason talking to your plants helps them grow.  The plants do not care, they do not have ears, they do not understand English.  But if you talk to them, you are more likely to remember to water them.  (disclaimer:  I am not good with plants)

It is sort of like praying.  Now, it may seem strange for me to say this, because I am about as cynical an atheist as they come, but I think there is a power in prayer.  It is a sort of ritualized wishing, and sometimes it works.  The rules:

1.  Be concise, be specific.  Vague questions can only generate vague answers.

2.  Ask for advice, ask for wisdom, ask for strength.  These things can come from the deep, dark spots within your own mind, and therefore are actually available.  Ask for a Mercedes Benz, and prepare to be disappointed.

3.  If it doesn’t work, ask again.   If it still doesn’t work, oh well.  That’s life.  But, like I said, it can’t hurt.