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Stop Thinking, Damn You!

Why won't you let me sleep?!

What will I have for dinner tomorrow night? I want to wear those shoes tomorrow, so I will have to wear black trousers, you know I think I really like vanilla, I can't remember if I locked the back door........I'm soooooo tired.

Anyone who has ever had trouble sleeping will know how frustrating it is to lie in bed with your mind racing, all the time knowing that your brain (and body) will compensate for the acceleration tomorrow. This thought keeps popping into your head in between the snippets of that fight that you had about seven years ago with your sister.

Thankfully, I'm not constantly effected by this mental rubato, but I do feel so sorry for people who are. It must seriously affect your quality of life if it is ongoing.

I have noticed that I have certain triggers which disturb my otherwise normal sleep patterns (Some people would say that my sleep patterns are slightly sub-normal). On a typical working day, I get up at 5.15am (I commute from Mullingar to Dublin) and I go to bed at about 10.30pm. At Christmas I found that lying on in the morning (albeit until 8.00am) really messed me up. I find now that I am having difficulty getting back into my normal sleep pattern. I have come to the conclusion that I have too little to worry about and that my mind needs a certain level of stimulation (seemingly above Mary Poppins & Chitty Chitty bang bang) or else it will melt.

I don't think it would be as frustrating if the thoughts that course through your mind were constructive. Last night I spent about 45 minutes deciding whether I preferred Philadelphia with chives or garlic. As a consequence of this when my boyfriend asked me about changing our mortgage the other day, my response was something like "Yeah, I mortgage do."

I think this affects everyone at some point and everyone has their own solutions for it from sleeping tablets to warm milky drinks. Personally, I find reading a boring book helps (Any government publication is good). I once fell asleep sitting upright reading an article on social housing management policy. Another thing that works for me is to start my boyfriend off talking about hurling or woodturning or anything else that I have no interest in.

I have to go now, I suddenly feel very tired.

Goodnight.

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