Sound sleep for better dreams, better dreams for better life!

by Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Everybody must have the habit of dreaming or day dreaming in order to make the most of his hidden potential. One might have long cherished hopes, expectations, longings or aims and be careful to do one’s level best to bring them to a happy issue, that is, to achieve contentment or utmost satisfaction in life. This is what every social being has priorities in life because life is a complex organisation of wishes and aims both fulfilled and unfulfilled. Building a better house reaching the crest of profession, winning social prestige, securing satisfaction of owning a top class vehicle or blessing our children with high quality education are among the varied strong expectations which act as a powerful stimulant in whatever we do or think. Yet the most significant factor guiding our life, full of wishes and expectations is dreaming or day dreaming which stimulates our thinking and actions daily with positive and negative implications.

Dreams have short term and long term impact on our life. Some dreams are strangely capable of spawning life at its strongest, most successful or most fully developed whereas some dreams wreak havoc on life and blend it with living death.

The prominent figures in different fields in society - cinema, business, politics, or sports have come to be what they are now owing solely to the inspirational dreams that made them develop the determination to realise their potential. In short, realising one’s dreams definitely means much to him because it is the shortcut to the happy and contented life. Our expectations and ambitions create sub dreams which determine the course of our life because we are highly sanguine of flowering success.

Just as the dreams reshape what we think or do, we must not expect all objectives of life to actualize without our commitment whatsoever. Disappointment which springs from misfiring of our plans or targets need not be the decisive factor in life and it should not be allowed to undermine our prospective success in life.

This does not necessarily mean that disappointments or frustrations should be overlooked flippantly but frustrations are not to be allowed to disarray the smooth flow of life. Naturally people do not like to undergo any amount of pain, but they are frequently under the misconception that happiness must always be an “integral” part and parcel of their life. Once something contrary to their expectations happens, they quite unfortunately, begin to adopt pessimism towards society and soon negative feelings overpower their reasoning and logic of life. Therefore, dreams play a crucial role in reshaping a person’s outlook to life and society and fill him with vivacity much needed for the balanced decision making in the social mobility.

But most deplorably, what we often see are the unfulfilled dreams than fulfilled dreams which do not offer satisfaction enough to make-up for those which are unfulfilled or never likely to be fulfilled. However, our notion that we must live a happy life is not unwarranted as it is the human nature and at the same time, there is no justifiable reason to prefer a dismal, painful and secluded life.

No more disappointment

At a glimpse, we tend to regard dreams favourably if they come true and come under the impression that all the happiness depends on them. But the truth may be the other way round. The dreams that have fallen to pieces may bring an unbearable depression into life, but at the same time, it conveys an ironic message, highly important for the preparation for one’s successful journey to prosperity. Human nature is such that a person is extremely overjoyed at the dreams that have come true but he falls prey to long term blues the moment when one of his long cherished expectation miscarries. For example, a person who has given a poor performance and failed at an exam which is a crucial landmark to raise him to a higher position absolutely develops a high level of aversion to exams or tests and become pessimistic to life at large. The fundamental goal that everybody has is to achieve a lifestyle with utmost satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment.

Bernard Shaw once said, “Every one of us has a ladder of wishes and expectations whereby we reach up to our dreams developing from our childhood. We reach our ideal dream by gradual fulfilment of daily expectations and wishes. Our final aim is the happy life together with happy mind. Practically we are prepared to do everything to make that dream real. It is the buried drive in our minds.”

Dreams - not the panacea

A deep contemplation of everything takes us to the depths of reality - the reality that our pioneer aim in life should be to lead a satisfyingly planned life but not to go on a wild-goose chase of accomplishing a world of imaginations, passion, fantasy and reflection. Our ability to keep happy counts so much on the point of view from which we look at the dreams possibly smashed to smithereens and dreams which have come true. In brief, the way we look at our disappointment determines our happiness. It is absolutely true that a person feels unbounded happiness when his ideal dream happens to come true but he must at the same time understand that he may get carried away by the unexpected pleasure and overlook the fact that he has other important jobs to accomplish in order to make life better. To be more definite, happiness that has sprung from accomplished dream “may be” temporary. Again, thousands of fresh dreams begin to plague him once one dream is realised and the possible aftermath is a disgruntled man who builds an unending array of expectations seeing no end of them within his lifetime.

Guard against disappointment

If we have the ability to adopt nonchalance to frustrations of having been denied what we want - a type of “barrier or guard” purposely created in our minds to ward off depressions and disappointment which thwart the path of life - then we definitely are blessed with the success. The blues following a broken dream negate a person’s otherwise progressive attitude towards life and society at large. The best modus operandi to build up this nonchalance is to be strongly resolute not to be dispirited by sudden shattering of hopes or misfiring of a plan however much vital it may be. To make a long story short, the happiness or unhappiness, the pleasure or the displeasure in our lives hangs not on realised dream or a shattered expectation, but on how far we could remain unruffled or untroubled even in a situation that is disturbing.

Think positive!

Dispel negative feelings. Shattered hopes, wishes and expectations may leave a person at a point where he can take a turn for the better. Unfulfilled hopes and dreams prepare a person for fresh challenges and gives him ability for redoubled performance and scope for resounding success. If we are able to view the setbacks with a positive outlook, it is absolutely o.k. to build expectations or dreams which may misfire at any moment. This provides a person new scope for second attempt with more enthusiasm, energy, focus and vigour.

One must dispel one’s negative traits and emotions in order that one achieves happiness and peace of mind and for this purpose, dreams can be used as an effective stimulant. Yet, these valuable dreams come to us only through a sound sleep. What is this so-called sound sleep and what does it really have to do with “dreaming a plan?”

Awake when others sleep

For a person entrapped in the busy, complex lifestyle, a sound sleep at least five hours a day is a nightmarish experience. He might be developing an insomniac condition owing to the heavy stress of having to battle with a tight schedule of work.

The more he gets busy with the workload, the shorter and less sound his sleep happens to be and the harder he tries to get under power of heavy sleep, the less successful he is in having a soothing sleep. He has become so far-gone with physical and mental stress that he has to fight a constant battle against “insomnia” throughout the night and the effects of sleepless night begin to play on him at work during the day. This more or less chronic sleeplessness is enough to have bad repercussions on a person’s health and consequently he might fall sick for life. To avoid this critical condition some simple steps that follow are suggested.

1. Do a simple massage on the scalp. Just when you are pretty hard up at office work, find time to massage your scalp. First, tap gently on the scalp with your finger tips beginning from the front part of the head towards the back of neck. This could be done for about ten minutes and then send your fingers through the hair. After that massage your head vigorously until you get a type of comforting sensation on the head. Do this repeatedly before going to bed.

2. Add as much fish as possible to your meals because fish naturally contain amino acid which is of vital importance to the functioning of brain. Medical experts have found out that amino acid stimulates the brain and is substantially helpful in inducing sleep. (the stimulated brain sends commands to sleep).

3. Do breathe in and breathe out exercise before collapsing on the bed. Draw a long breath and hold it for a few seconds and breathe deeply out. This would refresh both your body and mind and prepares you for a carefree, trouble free long drawn sleep. This is a superb meditation to concentrate the feelings and leave out unnecessary worries and anxieties which hamper good sleep.

4. Listen to a type of music which suits your taste and style and which induces serene and tranquil emotions in you. Even while you are travelling, you could enjoy good music which helps you dispel any blues or cynical feelings and helps you build concentration much needed for perfect work and perfect sleep.

5. Instead of sending messages, directly meet him or her and express what you want and experience the real response from the other party. Direct, face to face communication is highly effective because it brings fresh attitudes to a person’s life and regulates proper blood circulation to release the energy unduly trapped in the body. The sub sequential lightness of body paves the way for healthful and sweet sleep.