I Am Sleep

When Too Big wedges into a head too small, When Too Hard crowds into a life too soft, When Too Much has happened to make sense of it all, I am Sleep. Let me do my work. – Roy H. Williams Have you ever been confronted with an idea Too Big, a circumstance Too Hard, or a series of events Too Much? Thank God for the right hemisphere of your brain. You spend about a third of your life asleep because your 5 senses gather data faster than it can be processed. And the half of your brain responsible for fitting these new puzzle pieces into place works best when the other half is asleep. The left brain – logical, sequential, deductive reasoning – gathers information then goes to sleep. But the right brain – data integration and pattern recognition – doesn't sleep but works all night, connecting the dots, seeing the pattern and its possibilities. Intuiting. During the night the right brain takes a step back, puts things in perspective and gives you insight. This is why the wise say, “Let me sleep on it,” and why things always look better in the morning. The left brain demands science and data and facts and justice. The right brain seeks relationships and mercy and meaning and God. This is why you are torn between two opinions. Your left brain or “head” tells you one thing while your right brain or “heart” whispers another. The left brain is about vertical hierarchy, up and down. Dominate. The right brain is about horizontal relationship, near and far. Communicate. Most American men live in the left, worshiping at the alters of technology and sports, sneering at softness, mocking mercy, ridiculing the right. Strictly speaking, men, reading the sports page and the stock market report takes only half a brain. What are you doing with the other half? When a woman says “romance,” she means “right brain stuff.” She's talking about feelings and impressions and reactions that can't be proven and are neither right nor wrong, but are simply “yours.” You have feelings and impressions and reactions, guys. I know you do. How does the music make you feel? How about the painting, the play, the photograph, the book? Tell her. Let her remember why she married you. In just 10 more days Princess Pennie and I will celebrate 30 extraordinary years together. We are extremely married. You should be, too. If today's memo annoyed you a little, will you please let me make one final suggestion? Sleep on it. Roy H. Williams