It’s a Monday evening, well, technically Tuesday morning now. After a full day of work and a night of household tasks, here I am, wide awake at 1:16 a.m. with the alarm set to go off in less than five hours. But strangely, I’m not stressed. It’s one of those nights where nothing is pressing on my mind, and yet, sleep remains elusive.
I’ve done everything I could to wear myself out. Laundry? Done. Dishes? Put away. Chair yoga? Completed. I’ve even showered and mentally walked through tomorrow’s schedule, but none of it brought on that satisfying feeling of sleepiness. And I definitely don’t want to turn on the television, because we all know where that leads—hours later, completely engrossed in a show that I had no intention of watching. No, thank you.
Instead, I find myself here, typing out my thoughts. Blogging has become something I love, a little escape into my mind where I can let my thoughts breathe. I wonder if any of you have had nights like this. Those nights where you’ve ticked off every task on your list, tried to quiet your mind, but still, sleep dances just out of reach. There’s no “right” answer to how to deal with this, but I’m curious: what do you do when you find yourself in this situation?
My eldest son and I once had a conversation about this very predicament. He told me that when he can’t sleep, his mind goes back to this quirky little question, “Do penguins have knees?” It’s an inside joke now between us, and though it sounds silly, sometimes it’s the exact kind of random distraction that helps in moments like this.
It’s strange how something so simple can take your mind off the ticking clock, how it lightens the pressure of needing to fall asleep. I’m not sure what will get me to sleep tonight, but for now, I’m content to just sit here, filling the quiet with words. Maybe the act of writing will settle my restless energy, or maybe I’ll still be thinking about penguin anatomy at 6:00 a.m.
How do you handle these moments when sleep refuses to come? I’d love to hear from you. Maybe there’s something I haven’t tried yet that will make nights like this just a little easier.
These are my thoughts. You can have all of them, some of them, or none of them.