Tuesday, February 26, 2008
How To Have A Night of Sleep
In our many discussions one thing we have not discussed is ways and means of inducing not just sleep, but restful, peaceful sleep.
Sleeplessness usually results from bad bed habits. Tossing and turning for long periods of time after lying down is frequently psychological than physiological. If, however, you have difficulty in sleeping, you should first go see your doctor to learn whether it is some bodily ailment which is keeping you awake. If it is, be guided by your doctor, if it is not then this discussion will be of excellent use to you.
The thoughts and suggestions given to you from here on out are based upon the assumption that you are in good health. We will not spend be discussing sleep from a psychological standpoint. In fact, you are not interested in knowing what sleep is; you want to learn how to go to sleep and rest peacefully. A fault discovered is half overcome, In other words knowing is half the battle, the other half is action, so, let us begin.
First we will discuss some of the problems common to most people, and the solution. As this will be of limited space we will by necessity have to keep it short.
Worry is probably the Number one enemy of sleep. We lay down and then let our mind worry about things we have no current control over. Things like finances, health, our job, or our businesses. We worry about wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, the end of the earth, and so on. Another part of this worry causes us to translate sounds into burglars, or just a general “something is wrong” thought. I will wager that if you reflect over the worries which have kept you awake in the past, you'll be able to add many more worries to this list.
Now the Solution to this is to be logical! We have discussed in the past that worry cannot in any way help the condition about which you are worrying. In fact worry often times brings about the very problem you want to avoid. Also a sleepless night will rob you of the energy and stamina which could have helped you to combat the causes of your worry. Most worry is a lie; seldom do the things you worry about materialize.
You will learn that things one worries about are seldom reasons for worry at all. They are challenges; opportunities for us to grow and we can easily find solutions to our problems. So therefore tonight, and every night hereafter, instead of worrying, go to sleep with this thought: When you worry, you are holding mental pictures of things you do not want, instead of things you do want. So, as you go to sleep, visualize the ideal condition you are seeking, the ones you do want, instead of the one you don’t want, and realize that when you are asleep your subconscious mind will work on the problem and present you a solution in the morning.
The next problem is related to worry but is just a little different so as deserve its own mention: Bringing home your work. Many people carry their work to bed with them. For hours they relive the day that just ended; thinking of the things they did do but should not have done; and thinking of the things they did not do but should have done. Then after spending many sleepless hours with the past, they switch to worry about the future.
This solution takes a little different approach. Before going to bed, take a few moments and review the day. Note the word “few” and limit yourself to 30 minutes or less. Have a pad of paper and write down if there is anything not pleasing to you, decide what you will do about it the following day, or sometime in the future. Then say to your self that the job will stay on paper, and you will take the yoke again in the morning, my favorite phrase is “Let the world turn without me tonight” and then go to bed and sleep. If you catch your self trying to think about the past remind yourself that you can not fix, change or undo the past, it is over, you are in bed now, worry about the world tomorrow. Make use of your subconscious mind and permit it to work for you while you sleep. Knowing that a good night's sleep will let you awaken in the morning refreshed and ready to start a day of great accomplishment.
Next is Jealousy: It is pathetic how many hours of sleep the green-eyed monster has taken from men and women. Such hours of sleeplessness are miserable, too. We toss and turn as we imagine our happiness and security being taken away, or our leave us for another. Again this is like worry but needs its own mention.
The solution is Simple. Jealousy usually indicates one of two things: selfishness or inferiority. As you retire at night, realize that refreshing, restful sleep will give you the charm which makes you unafraid of competition. Remember! The more you trust others, the more that trust will be deserved.
Next come a harsh one; Envy. A good number of people, upon hearing of the good fortune of a friend or relative, will stay awake for long periods of time wondering why they never get the breaks. They envy others who have better jobs, better homes, better automobiles, and so on. Envy is negative. To envy someone for a possession indicates that you doubt your own ability to obtain that which you are envying.
Again a simple Solution: Instead of envying others for what they have, understand that you may acquire the same things, a little planning and action can cause you to be able to earn and acquire the things you think you so desperately need, or have better than you originally thought.
The next robber of sleep is the guilty conscience. A guilty conscience does not always indicate that you committed a crime, or a breach of conduct. One's conscience may bother you simply because you may feel that you have been negligent toward those near and dear to you, or if we feel we have been negligent in improving the body, taking care of our self, exercising and eating right, or if we feel we should have done something that we neglected to do. We lay in bed ruminating over the things we did wrong or failed to do. A guilty conscience is caused by something which happened in the past. It is beyond the power of anyone to relive a single day of the past.
The solution to this is simple in theory but hard in practice. Let bygones be bygones and forgive yourself for your mistakes of the past. Forgiveness of ones self is often harder than forgiving others, but you must forgive your self. Learn from your errors and in so doing profit by them, so that you will not make similar mistakes or omissions in the future. Go to bed with the thought that you forgive your self, and will do better in the future. Sometimes it is because we think we are lazy. There is no such thing as actual physical laziness, all laziness is mental. When we do not do what we should, it is because we are not interested in it. Learn to like that which you have to do. Decide you will do it a bit better than it has ever been done before. If laziness has been the cause of your guilt, retire with a promise to yourself that in the future you will find something to like about everything you are supposed to do and that you will take delight in doing it well.
Now comes another giant stealer of sleep: Hatred. In the causes of sleeplessness, it has been noted that one with a heart of hatred never sleeps as well as the one whose mind is at peace. The hater has difficulty in going to sleep and when they do it is a tense sleep more like exhaustion and has little if any benefits of rest. The hater will allow their mind to dwell upon the perceived injustice, the wrong that the object of the hate represents. Hate is a poison and will destroy your life faster and surer than the abuse of drugs or alcohol. Hate is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Hate is unreasonable and causes many more problems than it is worth. A sure way to destroy all that you love is to harbor hate within you. . If you would but realize the damage which is done by hating, you would know that you cannot afford to hate. Remember: Hatred never harms the one hated. The hater is the
one who pays the penalty, after all who does hatred keep awake at night?
Here is the solution; Hatred is a poison which works on both your mind
and body, understand that hate only harms your self. Ask yourself the question: "Wouldn't that person be glad if they knew this was keeping me awake?" Knowing the futility of lying awake, just hating; whisper a prayer asking that the hated be blessed and then forgive them for the wrongs they may have committed. This act will actually dissolve the hatred, and you will drop off to restful sleep. Again you must forgive, you do not have to trust them ever again, but you must forgive, or you will pay a higher price than the person or things that you hate.
The next area is planning and creating. This is the only constructive reason for sleeplessness given. Progressive, far-sighted people usually spend many of the hours in which they should be sleeping in making plans for the future. As admirable as this trait appears, a weakened physical condition is developed which may later hold one back from doing the things one has planned to do. The inventive-type mind, whether it is concerned with patentable ideas, designs, story material, subjects for paintings, etc., will frequently be most active at bedtime, when ideas seem to come thick and fast.
Now this solution requires only a little self discipline. Retire with the thought such as: I do my best writing early in the morning. As you lay down tell your subconscious mind: "I will sleep peacefully tonight, and as I do so, my subconscious mind will develop a good plan and in the morning, as I write, thoughts will flow to me enabling me to write what I need to accomplish.” Keep a note book next to your bed or readily available nearby, and when you awake you will have to take a little initiative to start writing, but then the thoughts will come, and you will be amazed at what a genius you truly are.
Now this last one; fear, is by no means the least. This is the one most people have. Fear of something, it might be the fear of getting hurt, the fear of losing, the fear of dying, whatever the other part it all boils down to fear If ones health is not good, then you fear death as a result of illness. You can fear death through accidents, fear of being hurt, there are so many types of fear that that whole libraries have been written about the subject. Understand that the fear will grab you and have you imagining all sorts of things, usually all bad. It is a lot like worry but far more sinister as it will actually cause you to not take any action of any kind as you may suffer one or more of the results you stayed awake imagining. Fear will shut down your life and will cause you to stop living even though you are still breathing. You will be torturing yourself and, at night, when everything is dark, and one has a feeling of loneliness, that is the time when one gives vent to such fears.
There is a solution: Love life, and do not fear death, give no thought whatsoever to the day when you will leave this plane of existence. Fear of death hastens death. When we have a pain, instead of looking for the cause and trying to correct it, we worry about it, and associate it with a possible cause of death, we become frantic. This fear will simply cause the situation we do not desire to hasten it’s entry into our life. Live life every day, see the sun come up and know that regardless of what happens today the sun will come up again tomorrow, with or without you, choose to have it rise with you still here, and your fear left behind in yesterday. Live as if you had an average life span of 199 years. Then, no matter what your present age may be, you are young in comparison with the time you have set for yourself.
If there are any unavoidable sounds or noises which may keep you awake, get the right attitude toward the sounds instead of resenting them and they'll no longer bother you. Perhaps you live in a neighborhood where there is considerable street noise. Resenting it will keep you awake. Learn to be indifferent toward the many sounds, and you will soon forget them.
"I just can't sleep with all that racket," you might say. Of course, knowing the mind and how it operates, as you now do, we understand that such a statement literally instructs the subconscious mind to keep one awake.
When I was a younger, I slept on a US Navy destroyer that always made noise, the vents, the engines, and people moving about twenty four hours a day. Because I chose to ignore the noise I became accustomed to it, and whenever it got quiet during night for any reason, the silence would wake me.
Problems, fears and worries are greatly magnified at night. With eyes closed, and in a dark room, your entire attention is focused on that which is keeping you awake. In the daytime, with your eyes wide open, the object of your sleeplessness, when viewed in comparison with all about you, loses much of its importance.
Many people actually prepare for a sleepless night, by commanding them selves to have a sleepless night. You hear then say "Oh, how I dread going to bed. I just know I won't sleep," or they moan that they will toss and turn and worry, and so on. These are commands that you give your self. If you tell your self in such a way that you can’t sleep, them your mind will comply with the order you have given, and keep you awake. .
Look forward to bed time, think how good it will feel to be able to stretch out and relax in a comfortable bed. Tell your self that you are going to have a good night of sleep, and know that soon you'll be fast asleep gaining strength and energy.
Be Blessed
Sleeplessness usually results from bad bed habits. Tossing and turning for long periods of time after lying down is frequently psychological than physiological. If, however, you have difficulty in sleeping, you should first go see your doctor to learn whether it is some bodily ailment which is keeping you awake. If it is, be guided by your doctor, if it is not then this discussion will be of excellent use to you.
The thoughts and suggestions given to you from here on out are based upon the assumption that you are in good health. We will not spend be discussing sleep from a psychological standpoint. In fact, you are not interested in knowing what sleep is; you want to learn how to go to sleep and rest peacefully. A fault discovered is half overcome, In other words knowing is half the battle, the other half is action, so, let us begin.
First we will discuss some of the problems common to most people, and the solution. As this will be of limited space we will by necessity have to keep it short.
Worry is probably the Number one enemy of sleep. We lay down and then let our mind worry about things we have no current control over. Things like finances, health, our job, or our businesses. We worry about wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, the end of the earth, and so on. Another part of this worry causes us to translate sounds into burglars, or just a general “something is wrong” thought. I will wager that if you reflect over the worries which have kept you awake in the past, you'll be able to add many more worries to this list.
Now the Solution to this is to be logical! We have discussed in the past that worry cannot in any way help the condition about which you are worrying. In fact worry often times brings about the very problem you want to avoid. Also a sleepless night will rob you of the energy and stamina which could have helped you to combat the causes of your worry. Most worry is a lie; seldom do the things you worry about materialize.
You will learn that things one worries about are seldom reasons for worry at all. They are challenges; opportunities for us to grow and we can easily find solutions to our problems. So therefore tonight, and every night hereafter, instead of worrying, go to sleep with this thought: When you worry, you are holding mental pictures of things you do not want, instead of things you do want. So, as you go to sleep, visualize the ideal condition you are seeking, the ones you do want, instead of the one you don’t want, and realize that when you are asleep your subconscious mind will work on the problem and present you a solution in the morning.
The next problem is related to worry but is just a little different so as deserve its own mention: Bringing home your work. Many people carry their work to bed with them. For hours they relive the day that just ended; thinking of the things they did do but should not have done; and thinking of the things they did not do but should have done. Then after spending many sleepless hours with the past, they switch to worry about the future.
This solution takes a little different approach. Before going to bed, take a few moments and review the day. Note the word “few” and limit yourself to 30 minutes or less. Have a pad of paper and write down if there is anything not pleasing to you, decide what you will do about it the following day, or sometime in the future. Then say to your self that the job will stay on paper, and you will take the yoke again in the morning, my favorite phrase is “Let the world turn without me tonight” and then go to bed and sleep. If you catch your self trying to think about the past remind yourself that you can not fix, change or undo the past, it is over, you are in bed now, worry about the world tomorrow. Make use of your subconscious mind and permit it to work for you while you sleep. Knowing that a good night's sleep will let you awaken in the morning refreshed and ready to start a day of great accomplishment.
Next is Jealousy: It is pathetic how many hours of sleep the green-eyed monster has taken from men and women. Such hours of sleeplessness are miserable, too. We toss and turn as we imagine our happiness and security being taken away, or our leave us for another. Again this is like worry but needs its own mention.
The solution is Simple. Jealousy usually indicates one of two things: selfishness or inferiority. As you retire at night, realize that refreshing, restful sleep will give you the charm which makes you unafraid of competition. Remember! The more you trust others, the more that trust will be deserved.
Next come a harsh one; Envy. A good number of people, upon hearing of the good fortune of a friend or relative, will stay awake for long periods of time wondering why they never get the breaks. They envy others who have better jobs, better homes, better automobiles, and so on. Envy is negative. To envy someone for a possession indicates that you doubt your own ability to obtain that which you are envying.
Again a simple Solution: Instead of envying others for what they have, understand that you may acquire the same things, a little planning and action can cause you to be able to earn and acquire the things you think you so desperately need, or have better than you originally thought.
The next robber of sleep is the guilty conscience. A guilty conscience does not always indicate that you committed a crime, or a breach of conduct. One's conscience may bother you simply because you may feel that you have been negligent toward those near and dear to you, or if we feel we have been negligent in improving the body, taking care of our self, exercising and eating right, or if we feel we should have done something that we neglected to do. We lay in bed ruminating over the things we did wrong or failed to do. A guilty conscience is caused by something which happened in the past. It is beyond the power of anyone to relive a single day of the past.
The solution to this is simple in theory but hard in practice. Let bygones be bygones and forgive yourself for your mistakes of the past. Forgiveness of ones self is often harder than forgiving others, but you must forgive your self. Learn from your errors and in so doing profit by them, so that you will not make similar mistakes or omissions in the future. Go to bed with the thought that you forgive your self, and will do better in the future. Sometimes it is because we think we are lazy. There is no such thing as actual physical laziness, all laziness is mental. When we do not do what we should, it is because we are not interested in it. Learn to like that which you have to do. Decide you will do it a bit better than it has ever been done before. If laziness has been the cause of your guilt, retire with a promise to yourself that in the future you will find something to like about everything you are supposed to do and that you will take delight in doing it well.
Now comes another giant stealer of sleep: Hatred. In the causes of sleeplessness, it has been noted that one with a heart of hatred never sleeps as well as the one whose mind is at peace. The hater has difficulty in going to sleep and when they do it is a tense sleep more like exhaustion and has little if any benefits of rest. The hater will allow their mind to dwell upon the perceived injustice, the wrong that the object of the hate represents. Hate is a poison and will destroy your life faster and surer than the abuse of drugs or alcohol. Hate is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Hate is unreasonable and causes many more problems than it is worth. A sure way to destroy all that you love is to harbor hate within you. . If you would but realize the damage which is done by hating, you would know that you cannot afford to hate. Remember: Hatred never harms the one hated. The hater is the
one who pays the penalty, after all who does hatred keep awake at night?
Here is the solution; Hatred is a poison which works on both your mind
and body, understand that hate only harms your self. Ask yourself the question: "Wouldn't that person be glad if they knew this was keeping me awake?" Knowing the futility of lying awake, just hating; whisper a prayer asking that the hated be blessed and then forgive them for the wrongs they may have committed. This act will actually dissolve the hatred, and you will drop off to restful sleep. Again you must forgive, you do not have to trust them ever again, but you must forgive, or you will pay a higher price than the person or things that you hate.
The next area is planning and creating. This is the only constructive reason for sleeplessness given. Progressive, far-sighted people usually spend many of the hours in which they should be sleeping in making plans for the future. As admirable as this trait appears, a weakened physical condition is developed which may later hold one back from doing the things one has planned to do. The inventive-type mind, whether it is concerned with patentable ideas, designs, story material, subjects for paintings, etc., will frequently be most active at bedtime, when ideas seem to come thick and fast.
Now this solution requires only a little self discipline. Retire with the thought such as: I do my best writing early in the morning. As you lay down tell your subconscious mind: "I will sleep peacefully tonight, and as I do so, my subconscious mind will develop a good plan and in the morning, as I write, thoughts will flow to me enabling me to write what I need to accomplish.” Keep a note book next to your bed or readily available nearby, and when you awake you will have to take a little initiative to start writing, but then the thoughts will come, and you will be amazed at what a genius you truly are.
Now this last one; fear, is by no means the least. This is the one most people have. Fear of something, it might be the fear of getting hurt, the fear of losing, the fear of dying, whatever the other part it all boils down to fear If ones health is not good, then you fear death as a result of illness. You can fear death through accidents, fear of being hurt, there are so many types of fear that that whole libraries have been written about the subject. Understand that the fear will grab you and have you imagining all sorts of things, usually all bad. It is a lot like worry but far more sinister as it will actually cause you to not take any action of any kind as you may suffer one or more of the results you stayed awake imagining. Fear will shut down your life and will cause you to stop living even though you are still breathing. You will be torturing yourself and, at night, when everything is dark, and one has a feeling of loneliness, that is the time when one gives vent to such fears.
There is a solution: Love life, and do not fear death, give no thought whatsoever to the day when you will leave this plane of existence. Fear of death hastens death. When we have a pain, instead of looking for the cause and trying to correct it, we worry about it, and associate it with a possible cause of death, we become frantic. This fear will simply cause the situation we do not desire to hasten it’s entry into our life. Live life every day, see the sun come up and know that regardless of what happens today the sun will come up again tomorrow, with or without you, choose to have it rise with you still here, and your fear left behind in yesterday. Live as if you had an average life span of 199 years. Then, no matter what your present age may be, you are young in comparison with the time you have set for yourself.
If there are any unavoidable sounds or noises which may keep you awake, get the right attitude toward the sounds instead of resenting them and they'll no longer bother you. Perhaps you live in a neighborhood where there is considerable street noise. Resenting it will keep you awake. Learn to be indifferent toward the many sounds, and you will soon forget them.
"I just can't sleep with all that racket," you might say. Of course, knowing the mind and how it operates, as you now do, we understand that such a statement literally instructs the subconscious mind to keep one awake.
When I was a younger, I slept on a US Navy destroyer that always made noise, the vents, the engines, and people moving about twenty four hours a day. Because I chose to ignore the noise I became accustomed to it, and whenever it got quiet during night for any reason, the silence would wake me.
Problems, fears and worries are greatly magnified at night. With eyes closed, and in a dark room, your entire attention is focused on that which is keeping you awake. In the daytime, with your eyes wide open, the object of your sleeplessness, when viewed in comparison with all about you, loses much of its importance.
Many people actually prepare for a sleepless night, by commanding them selves to have a sleepless night. You hear then say "Oh, how I dread going to bed. I just know I won't sleep," or they moan that they will toss and turn and worry, and so on. These are commands that you give your self. If you tell your self in such a way that you can’t sleep, them your mind will comply with the order you have given, and keep you awake. .
Look forward to bed time, think how good it will feel to be able to stretch out and relax in a comfortable bed. Tell your self that you are going to have a good night of sleep, and know that soon you'll be fast asleep gaining strength and energy.
Be Blessed
Labels: dreams, happiness, life
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