Operation Achieve Anything: Day Twenty-Two, Dateline 1-22-2018

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
— T.S. Elliot

Welcome back Crickets, it’s time to start day number twenty-two of Operation Achieve Anything. I’m still feeling a tad bit run down, but it could just be a psychosomatic attempt from my brain to get me to stay in bed to daydream about the future to provide content for the uptick in the number of vivid dreams I’ve been having lately.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been sleeping under a weighted blanket since the start of the year which has improved the quality of my sleep by at least threefold. Thanks to this improvement in my state of slumber, I’ve also noticed that I’ve been having a lot more dreams which makes me a happy camper.

The only problem is, I like sleeping and dreaming so much, I’m now finding it hard to get out of bed since I’m really enjoying my time in it. Usually, I only get out of bed after giving up on being able to transition out of the woken world into the realm where my thoughts control everything. Right now, however, I feel like I could sleep forever.

I think this is a good thing though. Though all of this sleep might be why I feel like I have so little energy, I feel like I’m recharging from months and month of insomnia as opposed to sleeping to escape depression, but that definitely is a fear since sleep is a common tool of the escapist.

I really hope that this improvement in my sleep isn’t just the placebo effect playing tricks on mind because of this new weighted blanket because I can’t wait to, hopefully, settle into a consistent sleep schedule once I fully replenish my bodies need for sleep following so many restless nights. At this point, I feel less physical tension that usually comes from the stress of long-term sleep deprivation.

Hm, I was originally going to focus on the dream aspect of this improvement in my sleep since yesterday’s assignment dealt with my imagination. In order to complete the task, I was supposed to image that I was a Superhero with my superpower being the ability to help three people, which personally sounds more Genie-like to me. Anyways, I’m then supposed to share who these three people are and how I would change their lives for the better.

First, I would help my mom, since she is the only person who has consistently been there for me. We were super poor growing up, but thankfully she was part of a generation who could still rise through the ranks of a company by being dedicated and putting in the work, so I’m not all that worried about her as far as finances go. However, I am concerned by the fact that she is such a savior type who helps everyone to where I don’t often feel that she knows how much she’s appreciated for going above and beyond to help facilitate everyone’s needs. I would use my powers to allow her to feel the joy that she provides to everyone else.

Next, I would help my dad, who is a bit of a dreamer just like me and is always working on some sort of scheme (not to be confused with scam) to escape the shackles of the modern world in order to focus on the tasks that he loves. At least that’s how I’ve always read the situations. We don’t talk all that much anymore, but I feel that this stems more from the fact that neither of us is good at communicating. I also feel that I inherited his brand of avoiding awkward situations by keeping to myself. For him, I would use my powers to make one of his schemes bear fruit so he can stop chasing dreams and actually live them.

I would use my third and final superpower on my dog. Again, I know she’s not human, but right now, she is the only living thing that is consistently by my side and having to care for her reminds me to take care of myself as well. I’m not the best owner though; thanks to my shut-in ways I’m not always up for taking her out for a walk. Luckily, she’s like me in that she is also lazy and old. Granted, the easy solution would be just to take her out, which is part of my plan but I’d still also use my superpower to give her an endless field filled with critters for her to chase around without any leash involved.

Mainly, I would use my superpowers to help as many people as I could live a life where they feel free to do what they want instead of just struggling to fulfill needs. Again, that felt more like I was a genie granting wishes, over a superhero who was saving the day, but I’m okay with that since I don’t look good in tights.

Today’s assignment is a lesson in failure!!! In a quick summary, it’s trying to teach me the reality of my favorite Winston Churchill quote, “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm,” a fact that I know so well. To learn this, the Achieve Anything… book is asking me to try something that I’ve been putting off due to my fear of failure.

I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do in order to fulfill this task but, you’ll have to wait until I check in tomorrow to find out what I finally decide to do. Until then, it’s that time where I say, good day and good luck to you and all of your projects.

Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Wicker Breaker

P.S. Below are links to my novel, which I plan to promote as part of Operation Achieve Anything, as well as a link to where you can buy the book that is providing the structure to this project in case you would like to purchase it in order to play along.