My Mind Won’t Turn Off!
I have got to get more sleep but I have so many worries. Do you want to be less worried and sleep better? Then perform small acts of kindness everyday. Oh come on, are you kidding?
Nobody notices that! No one even knows my name or appreciates those small acts anyway – a tip to a hotel maid, holding the elevated door for an elderly woman, buying a meal for the angry person behind you in the drive thru lane – nobody cares!!
Here’s the proof – even we don’t care about receiving or making positive gestures, at least based on what keeps us up at night. When we are trying to sleep, we further focus on the negative – our regrets, our worries, the statements we said or should not have said, these are all killing our sleep.
Our own negative thinking won’t turn off and it does us in.
“Our biggest muscle and worst enemy is our mind.” ~ Susan Brown
We are what we think. If we have too many thoughts and worries, we need to change the channel.
Give yourself joy for the little things you do every day, including a simple smile. Actually count the little things that were positive, or made you feel better, if only for a moment. Count them and it adds up in your thinking to forgive yourself, worrying less, and relaxing. The release of oxytocin and other pleasure hormones increases your positive thoughts.
Those positive thoughts allow you to paint positive pictures and relaxes you to help make sleeping easier.
Sound silly? Sleep may only be a positive mental picture away.
Want some additional tips to sleep better? Here’s the link to my previous blogs on better sleep and worrying less.
7 Sandman Tips For Rest And Recovery
Jim