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ical for the reverse to be true if
money alone assures success?
The truth is, men (and women)
who perform strenuous, pro–
longed physical labor build their
minds and bodies into one. They
generally have no pretensions
about who or what they are and
see positive, physical achievement
in what they accomplish-wheth–
er it is clearing brush or moving
steel drums. And generally speak–
ing, when they retire for the day,
they enjoy sound sleep.
On the other hand, an execu–
tive or office worker is often har–
ried, under mental pressure to get
things done. He or she sits at a
desk, pushing papers all day
long--often under stressful con–
ditions. With no physical outlets
for stored energy, mind and body
drift apart. Excess weight collects
from hasty, s tarchy meals, circu–
lation lessens and muscle tone
weakens. Eventually, a doctor
may warn these people to slow
down and "take it easy."
But they can't! They've got
large house payments, car pay–
ments, a certain life-style- they
must
produce. Workers do, too.
But the executive carries his
problems home. The phone con–
stantly rings at night. He thinks
about his investments. His mar–
riage may be in trouble. Maybe
the company union is raising an
issue-little wonder he has trou–
ble sleeping!
He's expended little
physical
energy-but now mental turmoil
from today's problems races
through his mind . Unable to
sleep, our friend switches on the
television-cutting himself off
from proper rest. ''1'11 make it up
on the weekend," he thinks.
He's trapped in a vicious circle.
Dr. Ernest
L.
Hartmann explains
that mental tiredness "has the
paradoxical effect of making it
hard to fall asleep."
Has this ever happened to you?
1
t is something to be concerned
about. Even if we don't suffer
from chronic insomnia, poor sleep
habits can lead to many problems.
" Irregular hours of sleep ... have
physical and perhaps mental con-
8
sequences whose efTect we simply
do not know," say Gay Gaer Luce
and Julius Sega! of the U.S.
National Inst itute of Mental
Health. "Nobody is positive that
we escape without permanent
neural damage from simple loss
of sleep."
Research confirms that pro–
longed lack of sleep produces
measu rable effects on perfor–
mance. This means if you are not
getting proper rest and sleep,
your judgment is impaired, men–
tal functions decline, your ethical
behavior changes and finally,
after extreme loss of sleep, you
start exhibiting psychotic symp–
toms.
You may not be aware of this,
Sleep is a mirror of
your physical, mental,
emotional and
spiritual condition.
How you sleep gives
you c/ues on what's
happening in your lije.
' '
but after 48 hours without sleep,
your body begins manufacturing
a stress chemical that causes hal–
lucinations similar to the effects
of LSD!
Flnding Sleep
The Bible reveals other basic
principies of gett ing normal sleep.
Contrary to what sorne think, it
does not condemn people for
being · rich or holding executive
positions (III John 2). However,
the message is, that if you have a
job that requires more mental
than physical activity you should
exercise regularly to equalize the
mental energy spent. lf you don't,
you will end up in a condition
that prohibits sound slumber, and
hence, makes you less effective–
to your det riment.
"But," sorne have said,
" J
do
exercise and
J
sti ll can' t sleep!"
There is a deeper reason!
We should note that occasional
mild insomnia is nothing to worry
abou
t.
This can often be hel ped
by drinking a g lass of milk an
hour before bed. Milk contains
tryptophan,
an amino acid that
helps induce sleep.
For sorne, however, sleep is
affected because of physical
problems like narcolepsy (fall–
ing asleep uncontrollabl y) or
the hype r-somnia-sleep apnea
syndrome (unable to sleep at
night, but uncontrollably falling
asleep during the day). For the
vast majority of us, s leep is
chased away by anxiety arising
from undiscipl ined personal
problems.
Both real and imagined, big
and little, these problems seem to
grow the biggest just when we
close our eyes in a snug bed. The
real problem starts when we
begin worrying that we can't
sleep from worrying about our
problems. This vicious circle is
completely unnecessary!
Sleep is a mirror of your physi–
cal, mental, emotional and spiri–
tual condition. How you sleep
gives you clues on what's happen–
ing in your life. You need to ana–
lyze your sleep habits, as scien–
tists have found disheartening
evidence about the psychological
effects of sleep loss.
The Bible reveals the way to
peaceful rest and peace of mind:
" It is vain for you to rise up early,
to sit up late, to eat the bread of
sorrows: for so he [God]
giveth
his beloved sleep" ( P salms
127:2).
This is no sentimental , maudlin
statement! This is a promise from
the One who created sleep.
It
is the person who is beloved
of God who sleeps well. So we
need to find out how to become
"beloved" in order to claim this
promise.
Jesus Himself revealed how:
"If a man love me, he will
keep
my words: and my Father will
love him" (J oh n 14:23). And
(Con tinued on page 38)
The
PLAIN TRUTH