Monday, December 12, 2005

Sleep: The Sustainer of all life

My computer clock here shows 6:30 AM and has added a count to my zillionth peaceful sleep filled, night. I had slept around 10 PM yesterday night and woke up now!! Another 15 ½ hours to go for the zillionth + 1 to happen!!!

Wonder how many hours God might have spent researching to create this wonderful element called sleep. So peaceful and wonderful and generous!! The more you sleep the more you will want to sleep. Never asks a question or never comments. Never asks for something in return. All it takes is, the clock ticking to 10 PM and my head touching the pillow; and boooom… I wake up and find its past 6 in the morning!!! It’s like you start to code a new program and before you can realize, your code is out there sitting pretty!! I think waiting for the clock to go to 10 PM is a barrier I have put for myself. A feeling of some sort of guilt encompasses me if it’s still not 10 PM and I am planning to sleep. If only instead of an hour the day light savings was to advance the clock by 2 or 3 hours it would have been really good!!!

Sit in front of TV or have a book in hand, you can sleep. It doesn’t matter whether you had food or still feeling hungry. It doesn’t matter whether you have your exams the next morning or if the world is going to end in an hour!! Sleep is like time which doesn’t wait for anybody.

Assuming that everyone sleeps for 8 hours a day, I wonder what we would have done if sleep was not at all created by God. Currently it is 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work and 8 hours for other activities. If sleep was removed then that additional 8 hours had to be equally divided among the remaining two or maybe 16 hours for one and 8 hours for the other. Further there would have been no use of pillows and comforters and sleeping bags etc, except maybe used only in hospitals. Don’t know what we would be doing at night if we are not sleeping. Or maybe God would have made a day to be only of 16 hours or day with no darkness at all. That would mean that either earth would never rotate or God would have created 2 suns. Now if earth would never rotate then one part of the earth is always in darkness and one with always light. If this is the case the part which is always in light would have been burning hot and part which is always in darkness would have been bitter cold. Else if we had 2 Suns then it would have been burning hot always. Either of which cannot sustain life. Further, if we go by theories which suggest a direct relation between speed of earth’s rotation and gravity, again we can see that life is threatened.

This proves beyond doubt that sleep is the most important element on earth. It is sleep which is sustaining all life on earth!!! Air, Water, life, food, work everything depends on sleep. It is almost impossible to imagine a world without sleep!!!!!!!!!

Yet sleep has been one of the most looked down and neglected element. Work-shy, laziness, lethargy etc have been the words for this crucial, life sustaining element. More research and propaganda is needed to fully understand the concept of sleep and its life sustaining characteristics. The day people start understanding and appreciating the importance of sleep, the world would start becoming a better place.


~Narendra V Joshi

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So true. I am a believer in your school of thought. What would we be without sleep? Automatons waiting for Judgement Day? Maybe...

Anonymous said...

If you ask any easy-goer and informal friend about his/her habits, the first answer will be 'SLEEP'. I adore this nature-given gift, without which nobody would have stayed alive.

Anonymous said...

What a line of thought!!!

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