I lay in bed this morning glancing at the clock, 5:15. Fully rested, I tried to recall what time it was that I had fallen asleep. Not sure why, but for some odd reason it is important to my brain to know how many hours of sleep I have achieved. It seems to be an unconscious ritual for me each morning. Five hours is not so good, seven is sufficient and on the rare occasion that the equation equals more then eight I feel as if I’ve won the gold.
Earlier this year, which wasn’t that long ago since it is the end of February, it was thought that I had acquired asthma. In my desperate search to learn about this disease, I came upon a book titled; Asthma-Free Naturally. The author simplified the breathing process, explained the lung function and gave breathing exercises to help the reader control their breathing. By controlling one’s breath one has more control on Asthma.
This process made sense to me. I immediately began to practice controlling my breathing and in doing so I began to notice very positive side effects. Energy level increased, food cravings decreased, weight loss increased and I found that I was sleeping sounder. The author had suggested that once your breathing is well controlled the patient may realize that they are requiring less amount of sleep at night, as little as six hours a night and will be fully rested. It was 5:15 and I was fully rested, ready to take on the day. Unfortunately there was still an hour or so of darkness which hindered my ability to take on too much so my mind began to consider deep, probing questions; what is the difference between AFFECT and EFFECT?
Sitting in my dark living room with only the light of the fireplace and my computer, I went to my favorite resource website; www.dictionary.com and this is what I found:
Affect1 and effect, each both noun and verb, share the sense of “influence,” and because of their similarity in pronunciation are sometimes confused in writing. As a verb affect1 means “to act on” or “to move” (His words affected the crowd so deeply that many wept). The verb effect means “to bring about, accomplish”: Her administration effected radical changes. The noun effect means “result, consequence”: the serious effects of the oil spill.
Isn’t “to act on” or “to move” the same as “to bring about, accomplish”?
It is now 6:21 and there are hints of a beautiful sunrise. It’s time to put on a sweater and take the dog for a walk. I’ll consider these two words all day, try to understand the differences and perhaps use them in a sentence. As I walk today I will continue to practice my breathing and recite my list of things in which I am so grateful. Today I will add one more to the list; today I am grateful for spell check (I’ve got the feeling I’ll never figure out if I am affective or effective?).