Having "Me" Time

I need my sleep but sometimes I wonder, why do we sleep?  Do I really need to sleep? If I didn't sleep I could spend more waking hours doing a million more things. Why we sleep though is a question that has been asked for centuries and still no one really knows the answer.  I do not know why I sleep, but I know that if I do not get enough sleep, the next day becomes a waste of a day. I get headaches, feel groggy and my concentration level is low.   This lack of sleep is what scientists have been studying for centuries in an attempt to better understand why we sleep. Scientists study these various effects of sleep defiency to better understand sleep.  Without it,  our cognitive skills would be harmed and brain development probably affected. If you think humans sleep to save energy, the BBC article "The Science of Sleep" mentions that for eight hours of sleep, we only save about 50kCal which is very minimal.  One piece of my Peppe...

In life, in dealing with problems and losses we go through five stages of emotions:   denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance .  Most commonly we experience this from heartbreak, losing a loved one, going through a crisis, business problems, etc..  The list is endless.. We humans have a lot of problems and we deal with them through our emotions. Sometimes we do not acknowledge that these are our emotions.  Yes, we feel hurt, feel sad, feel angry, feel serious, feel resentment.  We try to act "civilized" and push these emotions aside.  We ignore them. After all, we are all grown ups and grown ups do not succumb to their emotions.  It's dangerous.  Psychologists mention that it is not good to ignore these emotions for it can cause "emotional indigestion." It can cause us to be tense, stressed and ready for a fight. Our heart beats faster and our natural instinct sets in.  We want to survive. We are ready fo...

Being in a contemplative mood today a title of a book pops suddenly into my head:  Harold Kushner's "When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough."  I have to admit I have not yet read this book by Rabbi Kushner but somehow the title has intriqued me on more occasions than one.  It's a title that grabs you whenever you walk by it at the bookstore.  It grabs your inner voice and leaves a mark in your brain as if it were your subconscious speaking the words "when all you've ever wanted isn't enough." So what happens I wonder when all I wanted isn't enough?  How much is enough?  Is there an end to enough?  The end seems far in sight.  It seems to be far out into the horizon like when you are looking out towards the sea.  There is no end.  The earth is not flat and we won't suddenly drop off the ocean even if we wanted to.  If we keep going and going, we'll go around in a circle and end up where we started.  We end up still...

This afternoon, as I sat there watching and reading the news about the earthquake in Japan, I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness and a certain emptiness inside.  The quake measured 8.9 on the richter scale.  This is no little affair even for Japan which is used to having earthquakes.   I pray that there are no devastating aftershocks and that the tsunamis don't affect more people than it has already.  I know it's partly wishful thinking since warnings have been issued from Russia to the US, and the Philippines, but one does have to hope for the best.  We must all hope for the best. This was one catastrophic movement of the teutonic plates and somehow this past year or so, more of these catastrophic events have been occurring.  I'm not sure if its just me but with the one in Haiti, New Zealand , Indonesia and South American countries,  earthquakes seem to be occuring every few months.  Thaila...

The weather is hot in Bangkok, and emotions are even hotter.  It has been over a month since the anti-government Red Shirts have been protesting in BKK and people's patience are running low.  The main shopping and entertainment district where Bangkokians go to relieve their stress has been closed for weeks.   Stress levels are going up. This past week, pro-government protests have started popping up all over bangkok.  Its no longer time to just sit and watch.  If we want what's right four our country we can't just be sitting in front of the TV screen hoping others will do the dirty work for us.   Anyways, something I've noticed with myself and others is a lot of " Emotions ."  When discussing politics we hear people who normally wouldn't hurt a fly  say,  "Just use force and end this situation! ",  "Who do they think they are?  Why are they running around Bangkok without regard of the law?"     Even I,  catch myself shouting and sending...