Panicking about panicking!

"Worry does not empty the sorrow from tomorrow, it empties the strength from today."

- Corrie Ten Boom

So today was the dreaded day. The first day back to work after the holidays. It's not that I don't enjoy work, but it's the dark mornings and early starts that I'm not exactly a fan of. Especially after having 2 weeks off not having to get up early!

As I set the alarm and tried to fall to asleep, the dreaded sleep panic happened. I don't know if its something you have experienced yourself but I will try to explain. Picture the scene...

You've gone to bed. You're pretty pleased with yourself that you decided to have an early night in preparation for work or an event that you are going to the following day. As you get into bed and close your eyes, you're pretty pleased that you are in bed early. A few moments pass and you start to relax... but soon you seen realise the worst.... you can't sleep! Eyes wide open, mind ticking over a mile a minute. You are not sleeping!

You try all the tricks. Counting sheep, watching tv, listening to music but....nope....nothing. You're still wide awake. Maybe if you lie there for a bit you will just nod off. But the longer you lie there the more you realise that you're not anywhere close to sleeping tonight and that time is passing you by.

How will you ever get the right amount of sleep in now? You'll never get 7 hours in, not even 6! Suddenly....Panic! You close your eyes tight but then you start panicking about panicking about not sleeping. Its one big vicious cycle. There's nothing you can do. Your body has decided it wants to stay up and that's that.

Ultimately, it's a loosing battle. There's nothing you can do about it. You're just going to have to lie there and wait until you eventually drift off. You will fall asleep eventually and somehow you will make it through work the next day.

That is sleep panic! Im sure I'm not the only one who has it!

This whole incident last night got me thinking. It's funny how the littlest things can panic us. Even when really there's nothing we can do about it. Even more, how often do we panic about things that really, in the long run, won't affect us. We panic about panicking!

And so I end with this thought.

In life there are many things that cause us to panic, worry or stress. But how often are those things that worry and stress us small, insignificant things?

Yes, there are times when we face things that naturally bring us concern. That's just life. But very often the things we panic about in the day to day are usually small insignificant things which we can't do anything about. And usually, they are things that won't really have any long lasting impact.

Think back to a time when you worried in the past. Does that time still affect you? Has it had a lasting affect on your life today? Answer is - probably not. It's probably a distant memory that you look back on and think "Why did I Panic/worry so much?"

In life, there will be times when concern and worry will be a natural reaction. Times like facing a new job, attending an interview etc. That's normal. But very often we can end up panicking about small things that we have no control over, and really, things that don't have any major impact on us.

Yes, I lost sleep, but it was hardly worth stressing about. I made it through the day, I'm off to the gym and guess what, I'll do it again all over tomorrow.

In life don't panic over the little things. Don't be concerned about the things you can't change, but focus on those things that you can change; those things that can influence your life for good.

Life happens - Bywyd yn digwydd

Ryan :)