Insomnia and Early Exits
Hello Dear Reader,
It has been an emotional week in the world. In most Southern African countries there has been varying levels of distress from xenophobia related violence, the cruel deaths of young women, and the death of an iconic leader who was for many years a hero to many in Africa. Closer to home there has been the usual unrest through our ongoing court cases, the floundering economy, some sudden deaths that have left us reeling as a community.
It has been one of those weeks that requires digging deep into one's reserves of strength just to get to sleep at night. Some more than others. On the issue of sleep, I have discovered what a luxury sleep is to so many people. As usual, I was chatting to a stranger I met at a fundraiser on the weekend. I find myself doing that a lot lately, my curious (nosy) nature gets the better of me and I find myself engaging in deep conversation with people whose names I don't even know. Well, this was the second stranger of the morning I found myself talking with as I sat down to recover from a particularly grueling 10km run. He spoke about exercise and gym, and how he thinks young people are finding solace in the social part of work outs. Then he said something that I have been hearing from many people, he has insomnia.
Now, this is a 20 something year old man, newly graduated and employed in a good organisation. Very active in sports and seems to have his life together right? Not quite. He has been worrying on what to do with his life, what direction to take, and how to make something of himself to the point of developing an ongoing sleep disorder. I avoided taking the professional role, instead I asked him how he thinks this phenomenon is happening more and more. To which in his opinion is due to many factors such as ill health, depression, pressures, the economy, and even relationships. Indeed, these are all major stressors in our society right now. Add to that the political climate, and the struggling economy which has many business people losing sleep.
Life is tough, for everyone. Even for those who like myself, can currently sleep through the night without any help from medication over exercising, or even substance abuse. There are many challenges we all face and there are many different ways that we deal with them. Some of us can cope better, others cannot. If we are honest, we all need some extra help just to get through the day, or the week, or the year even.
Struggling should not be a shameful thing, if you are a human being that is. Sharing your pain and challenges with others should not be cause for embarrassment, or fear of judgement. It should be natural to have conversations like the one I did, where we can be honest and admit that hey, I have problems and I can't cope. Instead what we have is a rising number of early exits. More and more people are taking their lives because of issues that they believe they cannot cope with. Just this evening before writing this I was in the hospital visiting someone that had tried to exit from life. He has problems, he is very open about his problems, sadly there was no one he felt would listen or even relate to what he is going through. This story is all to common in our societies the world over.
My most reliable comfort as always is what Jesus said to us while He was here on this planet.
John 16 vs 33,
"I have told you these things, so that in me you have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
We were not promised a rosy smooth sailing experience in this world. We were warned of what we will face; and given the promise of support and victory. So while we are going though different troubles whatever they might be, can we think about the millions of other people going through similar or even worse trouble than ours? I believe that when our struggle has a purpose, it becomes much easier to bear than if it exists solely for our own torment. If your story can benefit someone and help to bring then out of a dark place, then it must have been worth it to get that story right?
Anyway, cheers to a brand new week! A week full of challenges and obstacles, full of victories and breakthroughs. Many of us may sail through it, twice as many may not. I wish you the best as you navigate your beautiful, troubled, human existence.
Love from
Julie.x
It has been an emotional week in the world. In most Southern African countries there has been varying levels of distress from xenophobia related violence, the cruel deaths of young women, and the death of an iconic leader who was for many years a hero to many in Africa. Closer to home there has been the usual unrest through our ongoing court cases, the floundering economy, some sudden deaths that have left us reeling as a community.
It has been one of those weeks that requires digging deep into one's reserves of strength just to get to sleep at night. Some more than others. On the issue of sleep, I have discovered what a luxury sleep is to so many people. As usual, I was chatting to a stranger I met at a fundraiser on the weekend. I find myself doing that a lot lately, my curious (nosy) nature gets the better of me and I find myself engaging in deep conversation with people whose names I don't even know. Well, this was the second stranger of the morning I found myself talking with as I sat down to recover from a particularly grueling 10km run. He spoke about exercise and gym, and how he thinks young people are finding solace in the social part of work outs. Then he said something that I have been hearing from many people, he has insomnia.
Now, this is a 20 something year old man, newly graduated and employed in a good organisation. Very active in sports and seems to have his life together right? Not quite. He has been worrying on what to do with his life, what direction to take, and how to make something of himself to the point of developing an ongoing sleep disorder. I avoided taking the professional role, instead I asked him how he thinks this phenomenon is happening more and more. To which in his opinion is due to many factors such as ill health, depression, pressures, the economy, and even relationships. Indeed, these are all major stressors in our society right now. Add to that the political climate, and the struggling economy which has many business people losing sleep.
Life is tough, for everyone. Even for those who like myself, can currently sleep through the night without any help from medication over exercising, or even substance abuse. There are many challenges we all face and there are many different ways that we deal with them. Some of us can cope better, others cannot. If we are honest, we all need some extra help just to get through the day, or the week, or the year even.
Struggling should not be a shameful thing, if you are a human being that is. Sharing your pain and challenges with others should not be cause for embarrassment, or fear of judgement. It should be natural to have conversations like the one I did, where we can be honest and admit that hey, I have problems and I can't cope. Instead what we have is a rising number of early exits. More and more people are taking their lives because of issues that they believe they cannot cope with. Just this evening before writing this I was in the hospital visiting someone that had tried to exit from life. He has problems, he is very open about his problems, sadly there was no one he felt would listen or even relate to what he is going through. This story is all to common in our societies the world over.
My most reliable comfort as always is what Jesus said to us while He was here on this planet.
John 16 vs 33,
"I have told you these things, so that in me you have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
We were not promised a rosy smooth sailing experience in this world. We were warned of what we will face; and given the promise of support and victory. So while we are going though different troubles whatever they might be, can we think about the millions of other people going through similar or even worse trouble than ours? I believe that when our struggle has a purpose, it becomes much easier to bear than if it exists solely for our own torment. If your story can benefit someone and help to bring then out of a dark place, then it must have been worth it to get that story right?
Anyway, cheers to a brand new week! A week full of challenges and obstacles, full of victories and breakthroughs. Many of us may sail through it, twice as many may not. I wish you the best as you navigate your beautiful, troubled, human existence.
Love from
Julie.x
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