Now I don’t mean to boast, but I am the sort who can have a short nap practically anywhere and awaken fully refreshed; and I usually, also enjoy a restful night’s sleep. But I do truly empathise with those among us who lie awake at night, waiting for elusive sleep to come claim them. If you're one of the insomniacs of the world, you will identify with these memes:
You’ve been active all day; you're tired and would love to sink into delicious oblivion. But sleep won’t come.
You try various sleep positions, you try counting sheep, you make sure there’s no sound or light to disturb you, but to no avail.
We all know that we need a certain amount of sleep to stay healthy and function normally. So you spend time trying to work out how much sleep you need vis-à-vis how much you're actually getting. You then wind up so stressed that sleep is further away than ever before!
You end up thinking and overthinking everything in your life; even questions of existential angst. If only you could stop thinking, sleep would come. If only.
You may be tired, irritable and unfocused during the day. There could be physical as well as mental symptoms of not being able to sleep.
Some of us worry about ants crawling into the ear canal and laying eggs while we are asleep. Some worry about spiders crawling into the mouth or up the nose. Can’t happen if you don’t sleep!
You love sleep, but you also hate it – because like a lover in a dysfunctional relationship, sleep keeps leaving you when you need it most.
You probably relive some of your worst memories and have some of your worst ideas when you're trying to fall asleep – or maybe some of your best ideas?
Everyone else seems to fall asleep so easily. That can be extremely annoying… and lonely.
Maybe you can while away some time watching TV, discussing politics online or watch funny videos since you cannot sleep? But wait, is it because you're watching TV, discussing politics online or watch funny videos that you cannot fall asleep? Point to ponder!
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