Counting Sheep ‘Cause I can’t Sleep 6


I’m counting sheep ’cause I can’t sleep.

Instead of doing my nightly rituals that help me relax – I  did what I should not have done – turned the computer back on.  Read the book I’m currently enthralled with, Freshwater Road, earlier in the evening.  Decided to take one last look at email and then, why not, visit a couple of websites and blogs, and before you know it I’m in the computer zone.  The computer gave me a second wind and set my mind to racing.

If I drank I’d have a nightcap. (Don’t drink, don’t smoke…what do you do?  Remember that bouncy song?)  Don’t feel like making the effort to warm some milk and drink it.

At least when I finally do lay down, after this entry is finished, I’ll sleep straight through the night.  No tossing and turning or clock-watching for me.  It is a kind of hell when you want to sleep but instead find yourself tick-tock, tick-tock, watching the clock.  I’ve read advice that insomniacs should not watch the clock – in fact they shouldn’t have a clock visible to them.  You also shouldn’t toss and turn in bed – that makes your bed the enemy.  Rather, it’s better to get up and do something until your body slows down and your mind relaxes.

I’ll stretch a little and do my breathing – in, two, three, four and out, two, three, four.  I’ll banish the worries about people and stuff.  I’ll pray a short, all-inclusive prayer.  I’ll push back the “remember to do tomorrow” ideas.

I n h a l e.  E x h a l e.  i n h a l e   e x h a l e.

Sleep…I’m getting sleepy.

Nighty-night.


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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