My Tell…
Posted in Miscellaneous on July 18th, 2007 by JennyDoes your body give you a signal when you have taken on too much? Does it have a little white flag it waves in surrender? Or a “tell” like they say in poker? Mine does. After one too many days of not enough sleep, not drinking enough water or taking life a little too seriously my little signal comes out – an annoying twitching eyelid. No one else can see my “eyelid seizures”, but boy, can I feel it. The sensation is something similar to a surreal merging of those “butterfly kisses“ people give you with their lashes and the tingle of a foot that has fallen asleep. It is very strange and unpleasant, although not painful or debilitating.
I first tried understanding it through science. It turns out no one really knows why this happens. Even the best doctors come up empty handed. Next I tried outwitting it, but learned this is a fools quest. Taking a 30 minute nap when I have not slept more than 6 hours in 3 days just does not cut it. Actually it makes my twitching eyelid even angrier and the twitching increases. The only measure that stops these spasms is being proactive or giving in to reality. I need to sleep, drink water, eat a few healthy meals and make peace with my life. There is no pride in any accomplishment or learning if my darn eyelid is slowly driving me insane so I can‘t enjoy it.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I get that same eyelid twitch… it’s quite annoying, especially if you wear contacts. I also tend to lose my appetite when I don’t get enough sleep, and my hands tremble if I don’t keep my meals regular (I try to eat a small meal every 4 hours or so, instead of 2 or 3 big ones).
July 19th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Hey Jason,
Does the twitching eyelid make you nuts also?
Yeah, I try really hard to do the small meals every 3-4 hrs but often find myself “too busy” to do this. When I have managed to follow the frequent, small meal way of eating I do notice a difference.
Thanks for commenting, I checked out your site and will be returning.
July 19th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
You guys are goofy. Why not just have the typical “tell” of getting crabby and short-tempered? That’s more my flavor.
July 19th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Yes, the eyelid twitching thing drives me crazy. As far as the crabby and short-tempered, I really only get that way when the day is too humid, otherwise I leave it to certain other individuals around me (they know who they are).
July 19th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Oh, you know Erin do you?
July 19th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Yeah I get that eyelid twitch sometimes too, though usually only when I’ve had particularly bad sleep.
If I got crabby and short-tempered that would be a really, really good time to find the nearest fallout shelter.
July 19th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
I can’t remember the last time I actually raised my voice. My wife has told me the idea of me being mad scares her (she’s never really seen it).
July 20th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Hey Mark and Jason,
I detect simmering undercurrents of danger in your words. I find myself unwillingly drawn like a moth to flame…
Joking, just joking my fellow eye-twitchers!
July 20th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
I feel like I’m not in the “in” crowd here. But, maybe that’s okay.
July 21st, 2007 at 6:56 am
Jenny stop drinking all that damn caffeine.
It’s been a long time. I’m full of danger get your moth self on the phone and call me.
July 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
July 24th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I suppose people most often realize they have over-extended themselves by actually doing it. As a former distance runner, I was lucky not to experience any serious injuries. However, I always knew when I had pushed myself too far, because I’d already done it. The same might be said for experiences like sleep deprivation, over-eating and overdosing on things you consider good in smaller doses. Such is life. You can choose to live and learn or, you can invite another bellyache, headache or additional otehr negative experiences. The choice is up to you.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Very true, you don’t typically know you’ve pushed too far until it’s too late. I think the key to knowing when this happens, like most things, is to pay attention. However, it’s so much easier to find tools to distract ourselves than address what is really happening. It’s that whole denying what is going on, why do we do that???
July 25th, 2007 at 11:13 am
We need that, in this particular case, because we don’t like to admit that we have any limits (and it’s quite possible that we don’t have any that aren’t self-imposed… there are some pretty fantastic things that go on out there, some of them even scientifically verified).
Also, we look to things for distraction when we are not happy (doesn’t have to be actively unhappy, just an absence of happiness) with our current circumstances. Since this is usually caused by focusing on things we don’t like in our life, the solution is to make certain that we think about the things we DO like, and also make certain that rather than burying or suppressing the bad things, we let them go.
Wow, that was a longer comment than I thought… it could almost have been a post on my own blog!