Sleepless

Dear Dr. Ruth,

It's been a long day. Actually, it's been a lot of long days. My muscles are so tense I can't sleep! When I do sleep, it's fitful and I wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts. What's going on with me?!
~Sleepless in Simsbury

Dear Sleepless,

Remember when you were a kid and your mom tucked you in at night? Maybe you brushed your teeth, got into some comfy pj's, she rubbed your back, and you read stories or sang songs until your eyes got heavy.

What are you doing these days in the hour or two before you want to be asleep? Is it stimulating or soothing? Between social media, mobile devices, and simply being so busy running around, it's easy to spend every waking hour doing something stimulating. This can put you into high alert and keep you keyed up even when you want to sleep. 

Try to cut back on stimulating activities near bedtime. What are some more soothing activities that take your mind completely off anything else? Give yourself the gift of unwinding before bed.

~Dr. Ruth

Disclaimer: I am not an actual doctor. Any connection to real or fictional characters is purely coincidental. Did you know there is a character called an interrobang that is basically the same as the following characters?!

It’s OK... to Disagree

When someone asks me to contribute or help or do or believe or think this or that, my initial gut reaction is to do it because I want to please them (Yes, I'm human). When it comes to something I have already made up my mind not to do, it causes me a very real stress/worry/anxiety to have to decline/disagree. I do not like to cause or be around conflict, who does?

The thought occurred to me recently to put myself in the other person's shoes. If you have ever been in sales, it's a salesperson's job to try to persuade others to do/buy something. It makes me feel better to think about how many times a salesperson might propose something and the other person was not convinced. (If you're getting one yes out of every ten, that's about average. That means there were 9 "No"s.) If I think about it that way, it's not a make or break conflict - disagreement happens all the time - in fact possibly even the majority of the time. I have to tell myself it's okay for the differences to exist - it's what makes humans beautiful.

What would you do next? What are some phrases you use when you know the only possible outcome is to agree to disagree? On the other hand, have you ever disagreed initially only to later come to a different way of looking at something?

Enjoy these youtube videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7YyHnG4a50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrPYflfLjno