Sleep

They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but I beg to differ. For most of my life, I would literally gag if I took a sip of coffee. Then, about 15 years ago, with the advent of the Starbucks craze, I gingerly began drinking mocha's ( I laugh to think of the reaction to my first mocha at the Mall of America...I scrunched my face, saying "it tastes too much like coffee")!!!! Well, through the years, I drank more and more coffee, with less and less sugar and NOW...I LOVE COFFEE! I actually find this transition quite interesting. I don't attribute it to the caffeine as I like decaf as well, but I'm sure some scientist could explain how brains can be rewired from hating to loving a particular "taste" item.

What's an even more interesting change in my life, however, is the revolution of my sleep patterns. Until about 7 years ago, a nap was "like heaven" to me. I always felt guilty when, as a stay at home Mom, I napped when the boys napped. Even as a regular exerciser, I still seemed to need a daily nap. Along with my napping, I always slept great at night and could easily sleep for 9 hours!!! I really find that fact amazing in light of my current sleep patterns. As with my coffee change, I've thought a lot about how I could go from being a "sleeping queen" to a no napping, no more than 4hour at a time asleep, sleep pattern. One theory I've pondered is the fact that I now drink coffee, as discussed above. But, I tossed out that reason as I'm not affected much by caffeine. Another thought was leaving shift work. Working 3-11 from 1985 to 2000 definitely had an impact on my sleep patterns. I've come to the conclusion, though, that the BIGGEST impact on my sleep has been menopause. This common side effect "is what it is", but I am happy to report that LESS SLEEP = MORE ENERGY for me. I now find napping almost impossible and I rarely feel tired during the day. When I wake during the night, I listen to my little radio ( an indispensable gift from Bob) and eventually fall back to sleep. In fact, one of the ironies of our married life is that Bob is now the champion sleeper, a change from his troubled sleep in the past. I guess getting rid of the "worries of work life" will do that for some people.

So, all in all, I'm grateful for these changes. Drinking coffee has enabled me to "fit right into" the Northwest coffee culture. It's fun to find joy daily in such a small thing. My sleeping change has also been mostly positive as who wouldn't want more energy on less sleep? I know that change is the only constant in life, but I think this fact is often taken for granted. How nice when change happens for the better!