DAY 117 - Free Our Children from Nightmares

photo courtesy of Santa Rosa OLD SKOOL

As a child, as early as age 4, nightmares were a common part of my bedtime.

At times I was chased with the threat of knives or guns. Usually my body was heavy and weak as I tried in vain to escape.

Some nights I was falling from cliffs. One recurrent falling variation was based on my inability to maintain altitude as I flew through the sky unaided by aircraft.

I didn’t grow out of these scary dreams. As years rolled by, the content changed to include some dreams involving distressing issues in my daily life; but they continued nonetheless.

When I married at age 19, I was still having bad dreams. My wife, Joanne, adjusted quickly to my talking in my sleep, and my thrashing about, which occasionally resulted in her being awakened by a blow as I struggled to escape from danger.

Upon awakening in the morning, Joanne would often ask, “what was that about last night?” Usually, having no memory, I would ask what she was referring to. When she could remember, she would recite a few of the words that I had spoken while sound asleep and simultaneously in flight. Not infrequently, what she had remembered would bring the dream back with detail, and I could recount a lengthy ordeal.

At age 35 my bad dreams stopped; not entirely, but overwhelmingly. As I now write this, 24 years have passed, I am 59, Joanne and I still sleep together each night, and I still don’t have bad dreams, talk in my sleep, nor smack her unknowingly.

If you suspect the work of powerful mojo in this miraculous healing; you are dead right! At age 35 I completely removed dairy products from my diet.

Through my youth I had suffered with a duodenal ulcer and other digestive problems; with fatigue, with severe back pain, and with the complete ruptures of both of my achilles tendons. By 35 I had had enough of poor health and pain, and had noticed that I did not feel as well after ingesting dairy. That was enough. I have been off of dairy, and reaping the rewards, ever since.

Note: My hope in publishing this personal account of the effect of diet on my sleep and dreams is that it will awaken a few parents to the possibility that their child’s fear-filled nights might be caused or worsened by everyday foods that the child is eating.

My report does not stand alone. With a bit of research, one will find an abundance of reports and evidence of foods influencing sleep and dreams.

Please help me spare children this traumatizing fear by sharing this article with others. Also, please post comments and experiences to this book post to help spread the word.

DAY 29 – A Word of Thanks to Goethe

I was 14, and in 9th grade print shop class when Goethe first began his attempts to contact me. Another kid in class printed some business cards for his older brother. On them it simply said, “What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." ~ Goethe ~

I don’t know that I was that impressed with the quote, and I certainly couldn’t pronounce the guy’s name, but I remember that the type font was a cool italic.

I collected a sample of everything that got printed in class that year, that I liked. This card made the cut, and being the right size, was carried in my wallet for many years.

As the years rolled by, having learned of Goethe and this quote, I was more apt to recognize and attend to the glimpses of him and it as they would surface, at times very close at hand. Gradually, I felt that I better understood the quote; better knew it.

Two months ago, on the eve, so to speak, of starting to write this book, still apprehensive, OK fearful, and confused about what I was doing trying to get myself to write this book, Goethe contacted me again. This time it was his quote, pasted into a signature template in an e-mail from a person with whom I had little connection. He must have known that I still didn’t get the full meaning, the real energy of what he had been trying to tell me. So this time he provided me with a longer version, that leaves no doubt, even for the slow-learner like myself. And here is what he said…

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."
~ Goethe ~

As I read it, I felt sure, not just of what I was doing, but of the truth of his words that speak of the power of beginning, of beginning with commitment, and of magic!

I am writing the book, emboldened to have begun it; still a student of Goethe’s message.