Awake in the middle of the night

Happy New Year! I hope that 2010 is a year of prosperity, renewal and peace for you.

What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night? Assuming you are not a new parent and nothing has alarmed you out of your slumber, I would guess you use the bathroom, get something to drink or eat and work hard at getting back to sleep fast. But what if you toss and turn and can not quiet your mind?

My husband and I exchange our results of last night's sleep first thing when we wake up. We celebrate each others night of sound sleeping or sometimes groan over stories of being awake off and on all night. I have even found that this is my first question to my 6 year old "Did you sleep good, hun?"

Okay, so you're awake. Really awake. You feel like you could get up a run a marathon! Consider your options: lay in bed with your eyes shut tight, awake. lay in bed this way so long you start to get stressed that you are awake. turn on the tv and give up the idea of ever having a good nights sleep.

OR...try this: Get up. Go into a quiet room. Turn on the lights. Grab a pen and paper. Watch some great thoughts spill out on paper. I'm serious. You never know what kind of creative energy or thoughts will reveal themselves during these wee hours.

The BEST part of this middle-of-the-night rendezvous with yourself... you will not be interrupted! No one will need you. If you can relax about the fact that you are awake - and enjoy that you may be awake for a reason, it can be a wonderful piece of your day. It is possible that you will have enough good energy to get through your day if you can embrace this time.

So the next time you find yourself awake in the middle of the night - embrace it!