Calls in the Middle of the Night

On September 21st I woke up, fed our dogs, got my tea, grabbed my journal, and sat down to start my morning routine. (Journal, look at the current transits, then meditate) Just as I settled in to meditate, I had a “pinge” to check my text messages. As a rule, I do not check my phone until I have completed my morning routine. Our phones can send us into a spiral of thoughts and activity and these dopamine hits can make or break our whole day. This morning something told me to look at my phone right away.

Play back the tape. On September 20th I had two separate conversations about the practice of using the DO NOT DISTURB setting on our iPhones at night. Mine is set so that no phone calls or notifications come through from 7pm to 4am. This keeps my phone from dinging all night when someone texts or sends a random TikTok they find while they are up in the middle of the night. I do have it set so that my daughter can always get through and if someone calls twice, they can get through in case of “emergency.”

The topic of emergency was what was discussed with my 2 friends. One owns a business and feels that he needs to be there 24/7 in case a customer has an issue. My other friend has concerns about a family member needing her in the middle of the night. In my thinking, DO NOT DISTURB allows for emergencies to come through in the middle of the night, if someone really needs you, they can reach you. On the 20th I even posted a video about this topic.

And oh, how the universe likes to test us!!! Was I truly happy with the do not disturb feature?

Back to 21st when I look at my phone, the unusual text I saw was from my daughter’s best friend. There was also a random call from a Columbus number at 10pm the night before. Turns out this was the hospital trying to let me know what had happened. The message from Whitney (BFF) said that Toria (daughter) had been in an accident and that she was in the hospital. Immediately, I called my daughter’s phone and one of her friends answered. The accident was bad, but she would be ok and had surgery in a few hours. I sat for a minute I let the immediate volume of what I was told wash over me. There was an accident, she was hurt but I had time to catch my breath, gather my thoughts and my things before driving to the hospital.

“Should” I have been there the night before? Why didn’t anyone try and call me? Twice! From what I later learned of that night, my daughter was not her best self and it was chaotic that night. The reality is what could I have done? Been mad? Yelled at her for being dumb? Her injuries were not life threatening, but they were awful.

Not knowing in the middle of the night allowed me to get a good night’s sleep first, then allowed me to be there for he when she needed me in the morning. I was ready for the whole situation rather than rushing out in the middle of the night unprepared.

Is this cold or impersonal? I don’t think so, I care deeply for my daughter but my DO NOT DISTURB did its job that night.

But, everyone should know that if the situation was worse, they needed to wake me up!!!