OH! The Restless Night

Do you ever lay awake at night as thoughts rush through your head?  Toss, turn, up, down, flip, flop?  This is not uncommon.  When you go to bed, it is quiet and there is a pause in your physical activity which can stimulate the mind.  This leads to a restless night and often a grouchy morning.  Several days like this can lead to problems in relationships, let down of responsibilities, poor performance and obvious distraction.  When this happens, we become ineffective in our coping and then we have even more things to ruminate about at night.  

We tend to go over and over problems in an attempt to solve them.  We review our "to-do" list because we don't want to forget anything.  Truth...you won't solve problems effectively when you are tired and you are bound to forget something on your list if you are thinking about sleep.  

Solution...keep a note pad beside the bed and if something is racing through your head, write it down.  If you are trying to remember something, write it down.  Then, you can pick it up in the morning and worry about it or complete it when you are rested.  

To stop worry, you have to compete with it in your mind.  You can not worry and count at the same time.  You can't worry and pray at the same time. You can't worry and read at the same time.  Get out of your head and do something that engages your brain otherwise. 

Remember, not all problems are yours.  If it is not in your circle of control (your thoughts, your feelings, your behaviors) then you should put it away altogether.  Trying to solve something that is not yours is wasted effort and it robs the other person of the experience.