Sleep Sweet

Over the last year or so, I've encountered my first bout with serious sleep issues. It's not that I'm sharing a bed with my husband - he's easy to sleep with. Actually, I think I've been able to correlate the incidences of sleeplessness with my anxiety levels.

When I was at my previous job, I rarely slept. I was always stressed out, and if I did actually manage to get to sleep at a normal time, I would inevitably wake up several times during the night, heart racing, mind a blur. When I lost my job, I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I finally started sleeping soundly and for 8 hours at a time. It was such an incredible relief, even given such an upsetting situation.

Oh, don't worry - it caught up with me. It was inevitable that I would start losing sleep as time went on and I wasn't able to find a new job. I would say it was around the holidays when I started noticing it again. Although the last thing I want is to be reliant on sleep aids, I began taking Tylenol PM or Advil PM, just so that I could get some shut eye before 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

Enter my new job, and the wonderful, blissfulness that is sleeping like a log was my friend again. Not only was I happy and not stressed, I was physically exhausted. I'm spending 7 hours a day on my feet, and those dresses are HEAVY. I've been headed to bed around 10:00 every night and sleeping better than I have in years.

Last week, insomnia struck again. It may have been travelling to New Orleans for the weekend, it may have been some things on my mind related to a party I'm helping to plan...regardless, it was no fun at all. I briefly mentioned my lack of sleep to a girl I work with, and Monday morning I found the sweetest card in my inbox. She wrote me a quick note and included a verse from Proverbs that could not be more applicable. I may not consider myself to be the most religious girl on the block, but I firmly believe in prayer and the power of having people thinking/praying for you. I'm so thankful to have people in my life, even those who I've just met or only know peripherally, who care for me enough to pray for me. I only hope that I have the grace to return the favor.

"When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea,
thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet."
-Proverbs 3:24