Nocturnal lucidity

I have a tendency to worry. But while a lot of worriers can be kept up at night by their ruminations, I've found that, once I get to sleep, the night can shed a lot of "light" on my concerns.

This is how it works. I generally wake up once or maybe even twice in the middle of the night. And if there's been something that day that has really been nagging me, I'll bring it to mind.

Whenever I start to think about the issue that's been on my mind, well, my desire to go back to sleep is so strong that I can immediately convince myself of the truth. This isn't as easy to do during the day, because I don't have to stop whatever I'm doing to worry. I can continue to drive, run, cook, clean, work, etc. and worry at the same time.

I first learned this trick when I was single and wondering/worrying if I would get married. One night I woke up and thought about my situation. It came to me so obviously and immediately that God would not have forgotten to find me a husband if he wanted me to be married. If it was going to happen, well, it would just happen! Simple as that and I went right to sleep.

I've recently been using this tactic with my concerns. I decide to give my worry the nighttime test, and if I can get back to sleep, well, I determine that it's not worth worrying about.

Now I know the real test is to not worry during the day, too, and I'm definitely working on that. I'm just glad I have this little trick up my sleeve for the time being.