The tree blowing in the wind made a scratching noise as it bumped the side of the house and the bedroom window.

“Honey, I can’t sleep.  I hear a noise.”

“That’s just the wind blowing the tree,” replied the husband.  “It’s nothing.”

“Well, do you think tomorrow you can trim those branches?  It’s keeping me awake.”

“Sure.”

The next morning was a Saturday and the man was home from work.  He was sitting at the kitchen table drinking his morning coffee and reading the paper.

“Are you going to trim that tree today?”

“Yah, I’ll get to it later today.”

“Just don’t forget, it keeps me awake.”

The day progressed and it was almost dark.

“Did you trim that tree?”

“Oh yah, I forgot.  I’ll go do it now.”

The man assembled the tools he expected he would need and walked to the back yard.  He identified the branch spreading toward the house.

“I can’t get up that high,”  the man muttered.  “I’ll need a ladder.”

He borrowed an extension ladder from his neighbor as the sun set and daylight began to dwindle.  With the ladder against the tree the man climbed carefully up to the branch and began to saw it from the trunk.  As he was cutting, darkness grew and he was concerned what was going to happen when the fairly large branch broke away from the tree.

His wife looked out the bedroom window seeing her husband in such a precarious position.

“Be careful, honey.”

As she said those words, the branch cracked and hinged at the tree falling right next to the man as it hung from the bark and some broken wood.  The man cut the rest of the branch as it fell gently to the ground.

“Thank you,”  yelled the wife.

However, the man did not hear her for he was busy thinking about his next task.  The darkness grew and he had a mess to clean up.  He thought it would be better to tackle that task the next day.

That night, the wind was blowing and the branches swayed safely away from the house.  The woman laid in bed wondering why she couldn’t sleep.

“I don’t get it.  The noise that was keeping me awake is gone, but now I still cannot sleep.”

The next morning the man asked his wife how she slept.  She reported that she still was awake for most of the night.

Confused the man realized the problem.

“Honey, the branch was a symptom of the problem, but was not the problem.  You only thought it was the problem.  The branch needed to come down anyway, it was damaging the house.”

The wife considered her husband’s words all of that day.  “I wonder why I cannot sleep?”

That night, she decided to do a few things differently.  She quit eating two hours before she was going to bed.   She had a cup of hot tea and read a pleasant book one hour before she went to bed.

That night, she slept the best she had slept in what seemed like months.

The next day she thought about what had changed.  She realized that normally she would watch television until she would fall asleep.  Sometimes she would do research on the Internet.  Sometimes she would play a game on her phone.  However, the night prior, she did none of those things and slept well.

“I think I discovered the problem.”

“Yah, what was it?”

“Electronics keep me awake.”

“Can you get rid of all of them?”

The man laughed as he hugged his wife.

“If that’s what you need, that’s what I’ll do.”

Ω

Electronics before retiring for the night can provide enough mental distraction that your mind is still racing when you fall asleep.  That is sometimes all it takes for you to “rethink” those thoughts in the middle of the night when something awakens you.

Rather than being able to fall back asleep, you might get caught up in your mind, and have difficulties sleeping.  Let go of the electronics, and find a “bedtime ritual” that works for you.  Experiment with different things, and then always do what works.

InspiraCard

If you do find yourself awake when you would rather be sleeping, you might take that opportunity to meditate while lying in bed.  That can help “reset” the mind so that it is free to rest.

Written Fri, Jun 13, 2014 7:46 – 8:03 AM MT