I'm on Lesson 10 and I'm supposed to write my obsessive thought and then turn the paragraph into something humorous. The obsessive thought I chose is "What if I don't sleep tonight?" It's an obsessive thought I've had for years and a big trigger in my anxiety. In trying to make it humorous, I wrote this.."I'll take my pillow to school (I'm a teacher). If I get tired, I'll just tell my students it's naptime and we'll go to sleep." That's not even really funny and honestly just makes me worry more. And I'm supposed to read it 10 times a day? Won't that make me obsess? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!
Annie

TRY THIS " WHAT IF I DO SLEEP TONIGHT AND I DREAM THAT I JUST CANT STOP LAUGHING CAUSE IM SO DARN HAPPY." THIS SOUNDS DUMB BUT IT REALLY WORKS. DONT TRY TOO HARD TO PICTURE IT, JUST SAY IT AS SOON AS YOU SAY THE NEGATIVE THOUGHT. GOOD LUCK LC

I never thought of that being an obsessive thought so thanks for bringing that to my attention ....I was doing the same thing to an extent!

**Try this:

1) "So what if I don't go to sleep tonight, when my body is tired....then it will sleep."
2) Say "I have plenty of energy to make it through my day. I am good at taking care of myself and sleeping well. My body sleeps well and I wake up energized in the morning ready for my new day!"
3)Make of list of three things you will do tomorrow to better influence a healthy night's sleep. For example:
~I wll not eat 3 hours before bed
~I will drink warm milk shortly before bed (makes body sleepy) and do a relaxation session while I am in bed.
~I will exercise today to alleviate the leftover stress for the day this afternoon.

**AND SO ON.

Remember that it takes about three weeks to create a habit and don't you dare punish yourself for not sleeping....as if you can help it. Also, think about what you might be getting out of not getting enough sleep.

I have found that I go to bed late so that I don't have to deal with morning anxiety and it gives me time to obsess more about my condition......very unhealthy habits!

Also, to make it funny try these:

*Imagine yourself being awake like the "UPS coffee guy on Saturday Night Live.
*Imagine for a moment that you are super human and you never need sleep. You make the nightly news and become a crime fighter by day and mom and teacher by night.......so much for sleep!
*Imagine being so awake that you go for 12 mile runs every night until one day you are so healthy people ask you the secret and you say....."Who needs sleep?" as they gawk at you.
*Imagine yourself turning into a vampire and hanging upside down on your street light post! "No wonder I couldn't sleep....I was right side up!"

I hope you can use these or they at least give you some ideas. You will be sleeping like a champ in no time. Have you tried sleeping pills for a few weeks? They work like a charm!

Good luck my friend,
Chuckster

Great ideas! Annie, I actually thought your idea about bringing the pillow to school was funny. I certainly got a good laugh.

Nikki

Thanks for the ideas. I feared I would have problems sleeping last night, so of course I did. I do this about every 3 weeks or so. It's been a habit for about 12 years, so it's hard to break.
But I know it won't last. It never does.

I know when you hear about obsessive scary thoughts, not being able to sleep doesn't seem too major. But it's my big anxiety trigger. Thanks for the ideas!

Annie