I am back! I have returned to share my thoughts and stories with my readers – consisting of my mom and brother –due to the fact that my mind is restless and I find it easier to sleep after I put my thoughts into the black hole of the internet. At some point, I believe that most, if not all, people find a moment of difficulty sleeping, because of thoughts running through their mind. Why do we do this to ourselves?
One of the most common solutions to this problem is known by most and shared by counselors, psychiatrists, and all docs alike…we all know this trick. What is this common trick? Take a notepad, put it by your bed and write down all of your thoughts at night. You can do the same with your dreams. As you wake up, write your dreams down before you forget them…but I digress. Now, this is a wonderful technique that, I’m sure, may work for many people. However, I failed to succeed in my many attempts of writing down my thoughts before bed. I would begin and, if it were a blog thought, I would end up writing the entire blog and falling asleep later than I had originally planned. Another situational effect would be my forgetfulness and how it played into writing the note. “Don’t forget to (insert important action here).” What is to remind me to check my notepad in the morning? “Don’t forget to check notepad.” Well, that doesn’t do any good.
So, off to method two, tie a yellow ribbon around the finger. Actually, it’s a string…and it can be any color, but doesn’t that remind you of that song (sung by Tony Orlando)? I’ve got it in your head, now. Haven’t I? You’ll be humming it all day and trying to get it out of your head at night before you sleep. Just let the music in your head soothe you to sleep…did I discover a method three?
Back to method two, not only have I seen purple fingers in my day of tying a string to remind me of something I need to remember, but I have also forgotten what the string was for. “Now what is it that I’m supposed to remember? Why did I tie this string around my finger?” Of course, we mustn’t forget the pièce de résistance, “What in the world is this string doing on my finger?!?” Method two is a no-go on many levels. More importantly, just hold on to those fingers rather than having them fall off due to lack of circulation and forgetting why they fell off in the first place.
The foundation underneath much of the late-night conversations with your rampant mind is usually stress related or worry. For me, I worry that I will forget important things. Yes, many of the things we worry about are important bills, family, friends, and etcetera. However, what good does all that worry do? We make ourselves stressed and lose sleep. In the morning, we find it difficult to wake up. We spend our time wandering through daily rituals tired and fatigued. Then, we can’t think properly when trying to find a solution to what we were worried about. We go to bed worried about the decision we made and so starts the rotation again. What a vicious cycle!
Positive actions do come from worrying; however, when it consumes your life…or your sleep, it’s not so great. So, why do we worry? To cover all aspects of something; avoid surprises, expect the unexpected, having an answer to anything? Most psychology will explain that worry has an underlying fear. I’m afraid that my life will not turn out like I planned if I forget important things. This is definitely a type of fear that is relevant, but still does not help us realize how important it is to sleep.
So now what? I rock your world…that’s what. I’m about to delve into the depths of your psyche and shake things up to make sure you can no longer sleep for the rest of your life. That is, until you realize I’m right and you follow through…
We are peeling an onion. Just how that big green guy described it from that copyrighted movie…named after himself. Here’s a hint: His name starts with a “Sh” and rhymes with “wreck.” Yes, we are peeling an onion. We couldn’t sleep…we worry…because we fear…
We fear, because we have no control over what may happen. We want to control things. So, we worry and stress to come up with as many solutions for what may or may not happen as a form of control. I want to control where my life is headed and when I will reach my life goals. I want control over how many readers will choose to follow my blog and comment. I want control over the uncontrollable! “I am She-Ra!” Does that help me? I didn’t think so.
So, what do we do? We let go. We understand that we can only have power over our actions and we cannot solve the worlds’ problems in a night. We realize that goals change, people change and nothing we do can change things back. We realize that…if we cannot change the outcome, we change how we view that outcome. Only then can we get a restful night. Easier said than done, right?
…sending controlling thoughts to make you come back March 30th.
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