Dateline 2-4-2017

I'm excited to have a new routine that helps me get to sleep when I want and so far has led to uninterrupted nights of slumber. Yes, it does include marijuana, which I do have a green card for while living in a state that recently made it fully legal so I'm not suggesting anything shady.

I first started smoking in my early twenties but it only lasted a couple months because I didn't like the paranoia. This was back when I lived in a party house full of drunks and the laid back effects left me feeling awkward and lame so I stopped thinking about the vice for decades.

Much later, in my mid-30s I ended up with a back injury that put me on a cocktail of painkillers and muscle relaxers that just didn't seem to help me. After several months and getting to the point where I could barely walk, I was offered some weed at a party. Normally I would have passed but when my friend suggested I try for medical reasons, his sincerity sold me since I was desperate for anything.

I woke the next morning walking much better despite crashing on the couch where I was smoking. The next day I bought a bag and within a week I was walking completely normal and within the month my back pain was gone and hasn't returned to date.

Though the pain was gone, I kept up the smoking because I found that I was feeling an overall wellness that had been gone for years. Not only did the weed relieve my pain but it led me to cut back on my night of mixing pills with alcohol just to get to sleep. I gave up the sleeping pills almost instantly and cut back to just being a social drunk over the everyday drunk I'd become. 

Now I barely drink at all but smoke almost daily to help with my sleep. Though I often partake earlier in the evening, I use weed as an end of the day tool to wind down for bedtime. This allows me to fall asleep instead of staring at the ceiling reliving the bits of life that bother me.

Up until I got my Fitbit, I was under the impression that I got a pretty sound sleep once I got past the transition between the realm of being awake and entered into the world of dreams. No, my sleep monitoring stats show that I am up and down throughout the night.

The other night, while trying to get in my final Fitbit steps for the night, I started a reward system where I would take a hit after every 1000 steps. I don't know if this is just a placebo effect, but with the extra breathing and the blood circulating, I found myself falling into a much deeper high. I did this for 3000 steps, which took a little under a half hour while walking at a casual pace, and by the end of my pace and bake session, I found that I couldn't help but hit the sack and before I knew it I was out like a light.

It wasn't even my intention to use this as a sleep technique but I woke up seven hours later without making a single peep. I've used this strategy ever since and I feel more rested than I've ever been in my life. Hopefully, this isn't just a flash in the pan that I'll eventually acclimate to because I swear that conquering my sleep issues will be a major step in turning my life around.

As always, we'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted if and when it does.

Until then, talk to you tomorrow,

The Wicker Breaker