{"id":236,"date":"2012-10-02T19:00:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T00:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=236"},"modified":"2017-04-03T11:49:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T16:49:44","slug":"whats-keeping-you-up-all-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2012\/10\/02\/whats-keeping-you-up-all-night\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Keeping You Up All Night?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I have a confession to make. For years I was hooked on a prescription sleep aid. Several times a week I would happily and with great\u00a0anticipation take a pill\u00a0and go blissfully to sleep. I called it the sleep of the\u00a0living dead. 6 hours of deep uninterrupted sleep and a tail that popped you out of\u00a0bed ready to face the day. It was awesome!<\/p>\n

But a few summers\u00a0back\u00a0I decided it was time to let go of my\u00a0crutch. I needed to learn how to better manage whatever was keeping me awake, rather than medicating myself to sleep. So Father\u2019s Day weekend I took my last sleep aid\u00a0and arrogantly decided I was a changed woman. Ha!<\/p>\n

The first night without it\u00a0sucked! I tried to go to sleep about midnight. The\u00a0minute I crawled into bed I heard a cricket. What??? How did a cricket get in my\u00a0room? I hopped up and turned on the light. Looked all over but couldn\u2019t find the\u00a0stupid cricket. And of course it had stopped chirping.<\/p>\n

I crawled back in bed and\u00a0there it was again. Oh God, it\u2019s in the bed with me!!! I hop up and strip off all the\u00a0sheets. No cricket. Now I\u2019m mad and cussing. I can\u2019t sleep, there\u2019s a freaking cricket\u00a0in my bed, and there is no sleeping aid\u00a0in the house. (It wasn\u2019t my best moment.) Finally,\u00a0I gave up finding it and just prayed.<\/p>\n

God, please don\u2019t let this cricket touch me. You\u00a0know I hate bugs. Please don\u2019t let it get anywhere near my nose, mouth, ears or you know, down there. Just let the thing go on its way and I\u2019ll go on mine. Minutes later\u00a0I cut the light off and crawl into bed. As I\u2019m pulling up the cover I hear the cricket\u00a0again, only now I realize it\u2019s not a cricket. It\u2019s the tag on my comforter moving across\u00a0the sheets!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny in hindsight but those first few weeks, adjusting was a nightmare. Not\u00a0sleeping was bad enough, but worse I just could not shut off my brain. All kinds of\u00a0crazy stuff ran through my head at night. It seemed like all the day\u2019s problems, plus\u00a0yesterdays and tomorrows were rolling around in my head. After many sleepless\u00a0nights I finally found a way to tone down the chatter in my mind and get a good\u00a0night\u2019s rest. Here’s my formula for a good night’s rest.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Finish the day. I\u2019ll NEVER finish everything, but at some point my waking\u00a0day must end. Journaling helps me punctuate the close. By writing it out, I\u00a0can release it from my brain and restore the calm.<\/li>\n
  2. Empty my box. My mom shared with me the three boxes: my box, God\u2019s box,\u00a0and the trash. Before I close my eyes, I think about everything in my box and\u00a0do one of two things \u2013 give it to God or throw it in the trash (Guess where\u00a0most goes??).<\/li>\n
  3. Count my blessings. Even on my worst days there is something for which\u00a0I\u2019m grateful. Focusing on those things doesn\u2019t make my problems go away. It\u00a0does, however, put them in perspective and reminds me that this is a season\u00a0in my overall journey of a lifetime.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I know this is not rocket science. In fact, I hesitated to share it because it is so simple and the struggle is so personal.<\/p>\n

    But the thing is I know I\u2019m not alone. So many women I know are using sleep aids\u00a0and caffeine to cope with life. And believe me, I get it. Sometimes we just feel like we\u00a0need to take the edge off. It\u2019s just become too much. We can\u2019t do it all. And instead of\u00a0taking something off our plates \u2013 which is the advice we\u2019d give the people we love \u2013\u00a0we continue to do it all and try to cope.<\/p>\n

    Part of Loving on Me! has to be learning to say NO. The truth is no matter what\u00a0we\u2019ve convinced ourselves we don\u2019t have to do everything. Yes, we might have to\u00a0work two jobs but no we don\u2019t have to sing in the church choir and keep our friend\u2019s\u00a0kids too. Yes we may have to travel non-stop for work, but do we have to go out with\u00a0co-workers every night we\u2019re on the road? Take back your power! You don\u2019t ever\u00a0have to say this out loud, but in your mind repeat these words after me \u2013 I don\u2019t\u00a0have to, and you trying to guilt me won\u2019t make me.<\/p>\n

    I know some of you are concerned that I\u2019m going to end by asking you to give up\u00a0your sleep aide or glass of wine at night. I\u2019m not. The truth is I found some sleeping pills\u00a0the other day – 20 precious tablets underneath my sink. (I counted. Don\u2019t judge.)\u00a0I was so happy, but then I remembered I didn\u2019t need them and threw them in the\u00a0trash. Two days later I heard the trash man in the back. It took everything in me not\u00a0to run after him to go dumpster diving. Day by day is all we can do.<\/p>\n

    So no, we won\u2019t be going into immediate detox. Instead, let\u2019s focus on two things that will hopefully help us minimize needing them. For the next week:<\/p>\n