Stuck in My Own Head

From dumpaday.com & so true...and then I'm dancing in bed

Many of my friends and family suffer from the affliction of Chronic Over-thinking. I remember one Christmas sitting in my Nana's living room listening to my Aunts talk about how at night they almost always have trouble sleeping because that's when their minds kick into overdrive, and wondering if this was a hereditary trait or just so common that most people deal with this problem on a regular basis. Like, is there such a thing as an "I Think Too Damn Much" Gene? If so, apparently I got a double dose. Yay, me!

My tendency to over-think almost always rears its ugly head at night.It doesn't matter how tired I am when my head hits that pillow, as soon as I get all snuggly and comfortable, BAM! my brain has gone into Warp 8 with any and every tidbit of speculation it can run with. First, I try hyper-concentrating on my breathing. In with positive thoughts, out with the negative. Repeat. If that doesn't work (and about half the time it doesn't), I do my times tables as fast as I can in my head so no thoughts can sneak in between my mental computations (...for all of my Math teacher friends, I'm not saying Math is boring but rote recitation of the times tables = snooze city). When that fails, I give up, get up, and try to find something to do that will utterly bore me to sleep (*Note: Watching C-Span, golf, or QVC usually does the trick). In truth, some of my best writing ideas have come during this time period of supreme over-tiredness. I've learned to keep a journal by my bed, because if I don't jot them down as soon as I have them, by morning they're merely a ghost of a memory in my mind. I am also at my silliest and most shockingly honest somewhere around 2 am, which seems to be the hour my filters all fall off and don't show up again until around 10 am (I know, even I think it's quirky).

So, why am I sharing this with all of you on a random Monday in February? My hope is that I'm not alone and y'all will comment on your own experiences. At the very least, we can keep each other company on nights when we're all walking around at 2 am in our bunny slippers desperately trying to find some way to fall asleep! And no, that doesn't mean we're all going to hang out in my living room...just that it would be nice to know I'm not awake all by myself wondering about every damn thing in the Universe. I'll be thinking about you while I'm curled up on the sofa (..at some point in the future) talking myself out of buying that MUST HAVE deer throw from QVC for just $19.99 plus shipping and handling! Send me some after midnight good vibes and a healthy dose of self-control, please!