When Sleep is Elusive

It doesn't happen too often, but occasionally I wake up in the middle of the night with a lot of issues on my mind and I can't get back to sleep.

It is happening right now. It is 2:50 AM, the house is dark and quiet--too quiet for me to go back to sleep. I turned on the fan about 30 minutes ago to generate some white noise and drown out the voices in my head going over the jam packed day ahead.

I need to be at the top of my game today--there are a lot of things that need to be done. For instance, meetings to attend and decisions to influence. I love what I do on a day-to-day basis, but sometimes big and impressively important actions get my mind running down multiple rabbit holes simultaneously. And I can't sleep.

I want the day to begin so that I can tackle what lies ahead. But I need sleep to be on my game.

So I am up. My mind is calming as I write and compartmentalize the plans and actions for the upcoming day. 

Sleep will return soon and with it my anxiety at not sleeping will dissolve.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD