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Unrealistic Thoughts That Jam Your Brain When You Try to Sleep
Here’s how to oust them
It’s 2 AM, the time owl’s screech and badgers scamper in the woods, and you’re tucked under the blankets when a percussion of short, sharp, thump, thump, thumps pound in your chest. A wave of anxiety threatens to overwhelm.
And the cause? A thought with the power to create inner mayhem. But it’s an unrealistic thought. It makes little sense. Not in daylight, anyway.
At night though, when everyone is asleep, there are no footsteps on the pavements or engines to roar along the roads. It’s just you and your unrealistic inner voice in the dark that grips your attention like a vice.
Fearful thoughts
Does anxiety create fearful thoughts? Or is it the other way around, and fearful thoughts create anxiety? We don’t always know where the imaginings that threaten to drown us in the night come from, only that they grow. Thought feeds fear and fear feeds thought.
The voice recalls you didn’t post that letter. Thump, thump, thump. The one you left by the door three days ago after you pressed a stamp onto its corner, so it was ready to go. Thump, thump, thump. What was it? What was it about? Something important? Thump, thump, thump.
“You are an embarrassment too,” affirms the voice. “You forgot cousin Richard’s name when introducing him to an acquaintance yesterday.” Thump, thump, thump. “He thinks you don’t care now. You don’t like him.” Thump, thump, thump.
“And your jeans are too small. You’re fat. What will you wear now? Nothing will fit you.” Thump, thump, thump.
“And while I have your attention, let me remind you…”
The voice continues until…
“Make it stop. Make it stop!” Now there are two voices in the dark. The one with exaggerated assertions, and another a witness to the first.
Voice two: “It’s the middle of the night. And you always pour verbiage into the bedroom when the moon shines.”
Thump, thump, thump.
Voice one: “What! How could you accuse me so! I am helpful, wise, and necessary.”
Voice two: “But you suck the peace out like a vampire drinks blood.”
Voice one: “You’re not as smart as me. I can outwit you with ease.”
Thump, thump, thump.
Voice two: “Ignore voice one. Take a deep breath. That’s right. Down to your belly.”
Voice one: “Your garden’s overgrown. Your neighbors will complain. The dog’s claws need trimming.”
Thump. Thump.
Voice two: “Slow, deep, breaths. Good. Let your shoulders drop.”
Voice one: “There’s a pile of ironing under the stairs…”
Thump.
Voice two: “Picture the sky. So vast. Spread out in your mind. Become the great blue expanse. Relax.”
Peace returns, and voice one drifts out of sight on a cloud.
Copyright © 2020 Bridget Webber. All rights reserved