Isn't Narcolepsy Wonderful?

Most of you that read my blog know I have narcolepsy. Therefore, most of you know I have to schedule naps in my day function well. And many of you know what happens when I don't do such a good job of nap-scheduling. Well, I was taking one of my scheduled naps today and had the most interesting dream.

"A guy (we'll call him Bob) I grew up with who is currently in prison, got released from prison and decided he wanted to reconnect with some old pals. Well in order to do so, he had to go through the proper legal channels. His attorney, Sam Elliot (dressed in rugged western clothes), decided to try to get Bob what he wanted by looking for loop holes in the law. Well, the Law & Order: SVU medical examiner found out and was upset because she was the one who give the 'okay' when it comes to dealing with parolees. Well, she and Sam have it out. But, after going through the right channels, Sam gets Bob in to see his friends. One of his long lost friends is yours truly and the other is another one of my childhood friends - we'll call her Tif. Well, Bob get all Sadomasochist in our reunion (no, Sam is no longer present) and threatens to jam a meat thermometer in my shoulder. A MEAT THERMOMETER! Oh yeah.... he was upset because I didn't think it was such a good idea for him to see Tif. So, liking my shoulder like it is, I decided to go against my gut and put Tif's life at stake. What a good pal I am. He grabs Tif....holding the meat thermometer in his hand, but jams it in his own leg...told ya - masochist. Freaked out, I grab Tif, light the place on fire and scram! Also, I a pretty sure I turned into someone else while making this heroic effort. But that doesn't matter - I saved her!"

You all may have had similar dreams before. So, I'll tell you why this is different for a narcoleptic. First, I was only asleep for about 10 minutes. As many of you are away, I cycle from awake to REM - no in-betweeners. When I kick back and my eyelids get heavy...I'm already dreaming. Therefore, this brings me to my second reason, I woke up feeling like all this really happened. Yep, I woke up feeling like a HERO! Save the childhood friend - save the world.

Check out the link to watch some cool narco vids.

Barking at Cats

My lovely wife and I spent our Christmas holiday at her parents' in Arizona. In addition to hauling our luggage down, we also brought our 2 wonderful dogs with us. They loved it down there. However, if I could guess one frustration they might have experienced it probably had to do with my in-law's tabby cat. Oh they wanted to play with her so badly, but she would elevate herself on different structures to avoid potentially deadly interaction with our dogs. In response, the dogs would sit and bark at her. This really got my wheels turning. I asked myself, "Do these dogs really think their (semi)ferocious verbal outbursts will somehow convince this cat that they are no longer a threat to her well-being?" or "Maybe the cat will become so annoyed with the barking that she'll just give herself up to shut them up?" - HERE'S YOUR SIGN. I believe, in reality, the dogs, with their primitive minds, probably do believe they'll get what they want from that cat by barking at it. Thus, my first thought is, "Shut up you stupid dogs." Then, I realize I must be careful because we, humans, often do the same thing. For example, I have counseled (and witnessed) many married couples who get into these vicious arguments that involve name-calling, scorekeeping, nagging, so on and so forth. What do they think, that this behavior will actually get the other to think or do as they wish? The answer is "YES!" for the most part. The odd thing is that most of them have been doing this with each other for years; although it never worked, THEY STILL DO IT! Sounds a lot like the dog barking at the cat, huh?

Jerry Seinfeld has a great piece on this behavior. He refers to men whistling and yelling at women from construction sites, but he states that honking the car horn at a women is the last human brain cell working. He says what do we think will happen? Do we think she's going to kick off the heels and latch on to the bumper of a moving car? And when the car stops, do we think she'll walk over to us and say "I'm so glad you honked! I never knew how you felt." Very primitive behavior - just like dogs barking at cats.

As people, but especially as Christians, we have to stop acting so primitively as we relate to each other. In James 3, James actually alludes to the fact that our tongues are harder to tame than animals. I don't know if I like this notion... that in some ways we are worse than animals....but its true. We don't have an excuse. We actually have this part of our brain that animals don't have known as the neocortex - this is what makes us human. James challenges us to actually use this part in 1:19 - Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. When we are hurt, threatened, or misunderstood by others, as hard as it may be, we have to take a step back and consider these thoughts, "Will my next behavior reflect Christ? How can I respond in a way that increases my chances of advancing the Kingdom? Will my next action make a difference for this person? Will my next behavior make a difference for the Kingdom of God?"

Good luck and may God bless you in all of your relationships.

Not My Problem

I apologize for not have written in a while. If you are like me and periodically check other's blogs, you probably feel a little disappointed when your blogger buddies do not have new entries. But there are others of you that are probably relieved as there is less for you to read that day.

Just to let you know my blog probably won't have much update in relation to what is going on in my life. My wife pretty much covers it in her blog - www.amandanichols.blogspot.com. Unless she has left something out or something spectacular happens to me alone, I more or less will attempt to challenge your maps with mine (see blog description for definition of "maps").

To address the title of this entry "Not my problem," I was having an interesting conversation with someone whom I consider to be very wise. As we were talking, he told me that when it comes to life's challenges, he lumps things in two categories - 1. Things that are his problem and 2. Things that aren't his problem. I found this to be very interesting. At first glance, this might sound cold or hardhearted. However, after further thought, it is reality. I believe we often overwhelm ourselves with the things we cannot control (i.e., things that aren't our problem). What we have to do is examine the stressful/challenging situation and determine "what about this situation do I have control over? What parts of this do I take responsibility for?" The parts we can't control, we have to let be. This is when it gets scary. We are such control freaks that we actually create the illusion that we are in control of the things we actually are not in control of; thus, our anxiety raises because our illusion is being challenged. In Matthew 6, Jesus asks if by worrying can one add a single second to his/her life? In reality, you might actually find that you are in control of very little (read Romans, particular chapter 8). God has set it up that way, because if we are the ones in control, we really have no need for God. A very wise woman (Mamaw) once said, "We often have it in our minds that we'll just help God out a little." This should be Webster's definition of "control freak."

Blogging Difficulties

I am uploading a picture so I can use it as my profile picture. As technilogically advanced as we are these days, you'd think that blogger.com would make it easier to upload a pic, instead of having to use one from an existing website. Oh the frustrations. Well here it is, feel free to comment...but I am only doing this so I can use it as my profile pic.

Utopia Syndrome

"The psychology of the unattainable necessitates that every actual fulfillment is experienced as a loss, as a profanation: for the devout Jew the political reality of the State of Israel is little more than the bana parody of an age-old, messianic longing; for the romantic lover who at long last conquers the beautiful woman, the reality of his victory is a far cry from what it was in his dreams. George Bernard Shaw put the same thought even more succintly and pessimistically: 'There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.'" - Watzlawick, P., Weeakland, J., & Fisch, R. (1974). Change. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., p. 50.

I thought this statement does a good job of illustrating the challenges we face as we strive to achieve our goals in life. We have in our mind an image of what things will look like when we meet our goals. Not achieving this goal is unacceptable. However, we often find that achieving this desire is unacceptable as well - because a "perfect world" is not what we find when we get there. For example, I was so excited when I recieved my Bachelor's degree from Oklahoma Christian. I was one of the few in my entire family to do so. Although it meant a lot, I literally chose that particular major to prepare me for my graduate studies - which had quickly become my heart's new desire. I did it! And everything happened the way I wanted it to. I got a good job, my family came up to celebrate this accomplishment, and I have nice diploma that says "Master of Science" hanging on my wall. I was living in Utopia. But that was short-lived. I often forget I have a master's and most of my friends and family probably don't think about it much either. When I meet new people and they hear about my education, they don't throw me parties and pop fireworks. Today, my degree is simply another milestone I had to cross to get the job and education I wanted. And with every accomplishment comes a variety of new challenges. But this is how I want it. I am content with the journey. I always want to have an adventure. I think people often get caught up in finding Utopia that they miss the journey or at least create a miserable one for themselves. We won't find Utopia; we won't discover perfection; and we won't find rest in this life. God has called us to be content as pilgrims in this life, not settlers. In the end, Utopia will be something He will willingly give to us, not something we discover on our own.

Blogging...I've been sucked in.

Today I learned that creating a blog is a great alternative to working out. Yes, I had great intentions today to get back on a regular work out plan....didn't happen. Instead I decided to spend 2 hours creating a blog. I realized that thi s is Satan working in my life for during these 2 hours, I didn't even manage to insert a profile picture. I spent 15 minutes deciding what font to use!!! Well, at least I haven't been tempted with food as I haven't thought about eating the entire time....well....scratch that. Satan is a sly devil.