#11 Awake and Alert

Today, I felt very awake and alert. I feel this way most days, so why is this particular instance a miracle?

Last night - I didn't sleep well. I went to bed on time, but just couldn't seem to get to sleep. I tried falling asleep to NCIS, which normally helps me fall asleep pretty quick. But when I made it through 2 episodes, I made myself turn it off and go to sleep...except I didn't sleep. As soon as NCIS was off, my brain was on. Running through things I had to do this week and things I didn't do this weekend and one of those annoy Christmas songs was stuck in my head, the kind where they just repeat the same 6 words over and over.  I tried laying on my back, I tried rolling over on my stomach, I tried counting sheep. Nothing was working.

Around 1 AM I gave up and turned NCIS back on.  It worked this time, I only got through half an episode or so before I was asleep. But it wasn't very restful sleep. I tossed and turned. I kicked all the covers off then woke up freezing and had to find them and put them back on (and turn off NCIS which was 2 episodes past where I had fallen asleep by this point). Then I fell back asleep and had the oddest dream where I had to elope in order to save the world from hyper-intelligent two-headed snakes. My minds comes up with the most bizarre dreams; that isn't even the strangest. I woke up from that with the dreaded wide-awake-I-must-have-slept-through-my-alarm sensation, only to realize it was 5 AM. I somehow managed to fall back asleep because the two-headed snakes were back and trying to get on the pirate ship before we could set sail. Then my alarm went off at 6.

I got out of bed, gave myself an F for "Ability to Sleep," and got ready for work certain that today would be as miserable as the night was...but hopefully without the snakes...or the eloping. My miracle today was that I was dead wrong (about the miserable day, I was right about the lack of snakes and eloping).  I wasn't tired. I wasn't exhausted. I was just fine.  And sometimes, being just fine is all you can ask for.