The past two mornings I have found myself exhausted. Not simply because I
stayed up too late or haven’t had my morning cup of English Breakfast, but
because for some unknown reason, I could not
sleep. I fell asleep just fine, but sometime in the middle of the
night, my mind decided to turn on, regardless of how tired my body felt.
I lay there staring bleary-eyed at the ceiling and thought of all the things that I had done that day and of
all the things that I needed to get done the next. I continued to tell myself
“don’t worry about this now, you need to get some sleep. Go to sleep. Go to
sleep! Just close your eyes and stop thinking.” Yeah. Right.
My mind quite enjoyed keeping me awake with senseless
thoughts and ridiculous worries. “Did I remember to call that friend back? Yes,
yes. Did I put the milk back in the fridge? Yes. Did I put the boys’ blankets
on before bed? Yes. Are all the windows closed?” The list goes on.
And so, this morning I find that I am completely useless. I
tried to continue writing my next novel, and I simply stared at my computer
screen instead. The phone rang and I answered my TV remote. My sons somehow had
interchangeable names, and half of what I have said came out as
mumbled gibberish.
Sigh.
And so I ask you this: Does
this ever happen to you? If so, how do you turn your mind off and get back to sleep?
More times than I care to remember! I've heard that writing down the things that you need to remember for the next day helps. Often I'm too tired to get out of bed or don't want to disturb Hubby, so I just lie awake, hoping I won't forget anything. When I do get up and write things down, it does seem to help.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I couldn't possibly muster the energy required to write my thoughts down, I just hope I'll remember it in the morning. Most times I don't, but there is the odd occasion that I will.
DeleteI might try that, though, the next time I have difficulty shutting my mind off. I hope it works!