#56 - Sleeping Siamese Twins

Having great trouble staying asleep is a huge problem of mine. One of my solutions to help me fall asleep has been for me to read myself back to sleep. Since I am courteous of my husband who most often sleeps very soundly next to me, when I wake at 2:30am, I quietly reach over to my stash next to my bed to gather my book of the week and my little LED round light.

Part of my lullaby routine is to prop the night light under my chin, place the book on my chest and read. Now, I know you are thinking that there are specially designed "book" lights out there and I've tried them and don't like them. First of all, I read pretty fast and don't like having to constantly move the light out of the way to turn a page. Irritating. My under-the-chin light works pretty darn well. Plus, it keeps me still.

My taste in reading goes far and wide. I don't have a particular genre or category...I like pretty much everything. Old books, new books, academic books, fluff and stuff books, yep, pretty much everything. But, right now I am reading a little hardback book by Dr. Henry Cloud titled, "The Law of Happiness." If you've read this book, let me know what you think about it as well in the comment section below this entry.

The only kicker with my reading choice is that it must be somewhat enjoyable because once I read a few pages I am hard-ball committed, for better or for worse. I stick with it, even if I find it deplorable because I must find the reason it was published in the first place! Sometimes, the reason is lost, and I can't find it. For sure, I have made some dreadful choices that kept me hostage for too many pages. I guess that's the tad bit of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder side of me, gotta finish it! I'm working on that angle. Of course, I am my own book critic as an ordinary woman who reads frequently and uses her books as a natural sedative. Great combination.

Of course, when you get to those books that you can't stop reading, then I am in some trouble, but reading does have a calming, distracting and luring effect upon me. Each page is like watching the swinging pendulum as I slip into book hypnosis. Eventually, I can feel my eyelids drooping, perhaps my chin-propped light will slide out of place or my book will suddenly jump in my hands to startle me back into full consciousness. Then, I know it's time to sluggishly put my goodies back on top of my over-stuffed nightstand. Usually, it works and I am fast asleep very quickly.

Occasionally, after waking and in too much pain to fall asleep, I'd get up and go to the living room so I'd not bother my husband. Wrong move. He has this super internal radar that is wirelessly connected to me and he somehow detects when I have left the room and he usually comes looking for me, telling me to come back to bed so HE can sleep! It is adorable. After near 25 years of marriage, my husband and I are truly like sleeping Siamese twins.

Now, I don't know if this book, "The Law of Happiness" will necessarily make me a happier person, but it surely is creating more awareness and confirmation in the things of this world that do bring happiness. Better yet, it's reiterating how it's not really the "things" of this world that make us happy, it's the kind of life we live. Happiness comes from what we focus on and what we care about enough to put energy into. For me, part of my happiness is this blog which helps me release long pent-up, fresh pent-up, no right and no wrong feelings about health wars. Yes, there have been wars. So, I guess I'm on track with the Happiness factor. Getting in touch with others who are battling their own wars has been cathartic. I'll keep reading this little book, but it seems I am already on a difficult, but rewarding track toward continued deep contentedness. This means, I'll probably keep blogging, until...I don't.