The War General Who Slept Peacefully Every Night—A Short Story About Conquering Moments

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Excerpt: How was this General able to sleep peacefully knowing he was in the midst of war? It has everything to do with conquering moments…

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The Story: The War General Who Slept Peacefully Every Night

In ancient times, there was a General. The commander of a ferocious, successful, glorious army.

He lived almost his entire life on the battlefield, either commanding battles or preparing for them.

He lived through many tense situations and saw many horrible scenes: wounds, death, bloodshed, brutality—everything that comes with war.

Yet, one thing everyone under his command found astonishing was how well he slept. He would go to the battlefield and lead from the front, would suffer injuries and face near-death experiences, and yet, would never suffer from a bad night of sleep.

Even when the upcoming enemy was powerful; even when the general was going to war with an outnumbered army; even before the day of battle itself—he would sleep as peacefully as he slept on vacation.

Like everyone in the army, his personal assistant was curious. Was it a fake show of confidence? Had he figured out a type of sleep-hack? Or was it that he just didn’t take battles that seriously and his success was luck? So many questions flooded his mind.

So, the night before a big battle, when the General was calmly and comfortably preparing his bed for sleep, his assistant finally asked his long-held questions:

“Sir, how can you sleep so peacefully every night? While half of the army is awake with tension of the upcoming battle, when people in our camp are trying to sleep but can’t because of worry, how can you simply fall in bed and sleep almost instantly despite being the General—the one fully responsible for the outcome of battle?”

The General smiled and said: “You know—if I do not sleep well today, I might miss the last good sleep I could ever have.”

The assistant thought for a few seconds about what the General said and replied, “Sorry sir, I don’t understand.”

“Well,” the General continued, “I don’t know what will happen in battle tomorrow. It’s a matter of life and death—anything can happen. If I am defeated tomorrow, I can be capsized or killed. That’s the reality. After that, I will never be able to sleep peacefully again. So, I must go to the battlefield, thinking I have had the best sleep possible yesterday, because then, I know I am ready for anything.”

“But sir, you can also win tomorrow. Isn’t it?” The young assistant asked him again.

“Yes, I can, and in that case, even after I win the battle, I will feel like a fool for missing such a good sleep yesterday, just by worrying about a future that didn’t happen after all.”

“I am an economical man. Every soldier’s life matters to me. So the sleep of every night must also matter.” The General quipped.

“And with that I say, Goodnight.” And the General surrendered to bed.

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Source: Tamal Saha via Quora — Edits and rewording my own.

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Afterword: What keeps you up at night?

This story is such a powerful reminder that the best thing we can do to take care of our future moments, is take care of our current moments. And the general embodies the notion that if he’s going to lead, perform, and fight at his best tomorrow, he’s going to need to rest at his best, today.

Staying up late worrying, anxiously pacing his shelter, running his mind through unnecessary situations will only tire him out and hinder his performance the next day. And so it is for you, too.

What keeps you up at night?

• Are you worried about an upcoming presentation?
• Are you replaying situations in your head and fantasizing about alternative actions you could’ve taken?
• Are you trying to squeeze a larger quantity of hours into your study/ prep/ hustle because you think sleep is a waste?

Rather than trying to own moments of the past or future, maybe you should refocus your energy into owning the moment of the present—the only moment you can ever truly own?

For what is staying up late worrying really accomplishing? Making you feel nervous? Causing you to lose sleep? Draining your mental resources? Maybe the best strategy isn’t worrying after all.

Maybe the best strategy is to just handle this current moment in the best way you can and to deal with the next moments when they come. Maybe that’s how the General was able to perform his best in each battle. And maybe that’s how you can perform your best in the battles that lie ahead of you, too?

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