Insomnia: Take 2

I know I already wrote a post about insomnia in February, but obviously it's still an issue. A. I didn't realize that the last time I wrote about this was in February and B. In that post I wrote that it had been going on for a few months. Rediculous! This post is more about the effects of what has now been months of insomnia. Effects that I should have known and should have picked up on much earlier- you know like being tired. I have always been a morning person. In college, I used to wake up at 4am and do my homework because I thought I was more productive in the morning (clearly, I was much of a party girl in college) But now it is harder and harder to wake up in the mornings. I blamed it on the fact that I was working 12 hours a day and had to be at work at 6:30. But then today I finally had that lightbulb-over-the-head moment. I set my alarm for 5--which I always do for work, but have gotten into the habit of pushing snooze until 5:45 or so. Horrible, I know! But today, I woke up at 5 and got right out of bed and realized how much energy I had. Then I thought about the last time I stayed at my parents' house and how much energy I had when I woke up the next morning. Seriously, I felt like a different person!

Let me just give you a preview of Thursday night. I got in bed around 10. Finally fell asleep about 11. Woke up at 12:30, 2, 3, and 4:30. Then my alarm went off at 5 on Friday morning. Yeah, it's no wonder I push snooze! But last night... I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 5am. Now usually I require more than 5 hours of sleep, but I don't remember the last time I got 5 uninterupted hours.

 So, the first question I get when I tell anyone about this is "why?" The simple answer: my mind races. I wake up with approximately 7523 thoughts running through my head, give or take and I can't stop thinking and worrying about things until I finally fall back asleep only to wake up and do it all over again in an hour or so. (Yes, DTR group, I have done a break-in on this and yes, I know what the stronghold lie is. The problem, as usual, is breaking out.) But I have definitely noticed that these racing thoughts are consuming my attention more and more at night and are now starting to intrude into my day as well. I'm afraid that all the thoughts, and worry, and stress are becoming idols in my life. I have never understood the phrase "Peace of Mind" more than I do now. So I am publically asking for prayers (privately, I will give more details...) Prayers for rest and for energy. Prayers for peace and comfort. Prayers for faith and dependence. Below is the verse that I put at the end of the last insomnia post. Clearly I need to continue to meditate on this...

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8