Jack’s Winning Words 1/3/14
“It’s better to sleep on things beforehand than to lie awake about them afterward.”  (Baltasar Gracian)  I read an article on why people can’t fall asleep.  If there’s a full moon, that can be a reason.  It helps to wear socks, too.  But a major cause is worry over unresolved problems.  Strange as it seems, I’ve found that some problem solutions have come after a night’s sleep.  I wonder if Baltasar ever wore socks in bed?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  you are so right about socks! ====JACK:  Someone once gave me a pair of socks, with a wire attached which went up to a battery that you carried in your pocket.  I don't know what happened to them, but they could have come in handy last night when the temp was below zero.====LIZ:  -12º at the moment here... no wind, thankfully.====JACK:  Crunchy snow here.  I like the sound of that. ====LIZ:  snow is cool!====JACK:  If it weren't, it would be water.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  I wish I had a cool name like Baltasar.  I generally fall asleep reading, no socks.====JACK:  My parents considered naming me, Jacobi (my father's middle name).  In retrospect, that would have been a cool name.

 FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  Socks definitely work! I remember resolving difficult math/stats problems in my sleep during college years.====JACK:  In the song, "Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed," there's a line indicating that someone was not wearing socks..."cold toenails a scratchin' your back."  You can listen to Little Jimmy Dickens sing it on Youtube.

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Some theorize that dreams include strategies for resolving troubles that are on our minds. I think that this is true, but in a much grander way. The greatest unresolved issue is oneself. To become the full completion of that which one was created to be by our God who created each of us individually is the inspiration of the soul. It does not rest until it is manifest in its entirety. It is like an acorn that must become the magnificent towering oak tree, and nothing short of that. It is continuously driven to become what it is. I think we are much the same, and so often we get distracted by the details of whether or not our feet are warm when we sleep. ====JACK:  In each acorn there is a potential oak.  In each individual there are potentialities.  Every acorn doesn't become an oak, nor do we always manifest our potentials.  That;'s neither good nor bad; it's just life's way.

 FROM TARMART REV:  I've had a few good "God thoughts" about something at times, and had to turn on a light, focus my eyes and write it down . . . never can seem to remember it the next morning if I wait. .====JACK:  I did the same thing recently, but couldn't read my writing in the morning.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Jerry and I always wear socks to bed and just lately I notice he's started wearing his knit stocking cap to bed too. I like to remember my dreams in the middle of the night--they seem to give me some sort of emotional clue on things to be done in the daytime, even if it's just feeling more secure in getting involved or staying out of something. They seem to give me a heads-up on which direction to go in.====JACK:  Jerry and his "nightcap" remind me of  "'Twas the night before Christmas, " and the verse:  "The children were nestled all snug in their beds,  The children were nestled all snug in their beds,  While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.  And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.  While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,  Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap."  It sounds as though you might want to start wearing a kerchief.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Measure twice, saw once.====JACK:  I wonder if the Carpenter's Son ever had to measure twice, since he was perfect, in every way?

 FROM JM IN MICHIGAN:  I slept and dreamt that life was joy.  I awoke and saw that life was service.  I acted and, behold, service was joy.  --Tagore    Happy New Year, Jack!  Thank you for your blog. ====JACK:  Some of my best ideas seem to come when I am "day" dreaming.  2014 has started out well, and I'm happy for that.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Often I will remember the thing I couldn't remember in the middle of the night.  Last week my sister and I were trying to remember one of our dad's friend's last name.  It came to me at 3 am.  Of course, I didn't call her then, but I called her first thing in the morning.  That happens a lot.  I think Baltasar didn't wear socks, but then again....I will think about it tonight.====JACK:  I wonder...when our body sleeps, is the brain still awake?  Does the brain ever sleep?