Counting Sheep

Waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble getting back to sleep is horrible! It happens to me quite a lot and frankly, it’s annoying the heck out of me.

I have no trouble falling asleep but if for some reason I wake up , be it for a glass of water or a bathroom break, I can’t get back to sleep. So I spend at least an hour in bed thinking about stuff or playing with my dogs. (They can’t sleep if I’m asleep…If I’m awake, heck, it’s playtime!)

I tried really hard to not think of stressful things because that makes it harder for me to go back to sleep. But it’s impossible. (I can’t meditate either, in case you were wondering.)

So I begin to run down a list of things that I have to do at work = Very, very annoying.(Sheep #1)

I try to switch gears and envision myself in a future time doing something really cool = Super cool but then I get excited and start to think about how I can make this future time happen. (Sheep #2)

Onto the path of reflecting on things that have happened recently that I would redo/repeat/forget if possible = Usually makes me annoyed that I didn’t do what I should have the first time around. (Sheep #3)

I imagine some wonderfully romantic occasion where my husband (or Johnny Depp) pamper and indulge me with sweet nothings and other stuff = makes me wonder why my husband is sleeping and why Johnny Depp lives in France (Sheep #4)

Begin to listen to my dogs chewing on bones or breathing and zzzzzzzzz.

Something about their masticating, snoring and breathing really calms me down. So next time, I’ll make sure to just pay attention to them rather than the noises in my brain.