You are not interested in knowing what sleep is; you want to learn how to go to sleep and rest peacefully.

 

A fault discovered is half overcome, it has been said, and I agree. So, let’s begin by meditating on a few of the reasons for sleeplessness:

 

1. Worry. This is probably the Number-1 enemy of sleep. We worry about finances; about our health and that of our family; about our jobs or businesses. We worry about wars and rumors of wars. We translate sounds into burglars. We worry about the impression we did or did not make on those with whom we have had recent contact.

 

If you reflect over the worries which have kept you awake in the past, you’ll be able to add many more worries to this list.

 

Solution. Be logical! Realize that worry cannot in any way help the condition about which you are worrying. A sleepless night—with a troubled mind—will rob you of the stamina which could help you to combat the causes of your worry.

 

“Most worry is a lie,” wrote a great philosopher. “Seldom do the things you worry about materialize,” he added. Recall to mind the many things you have worried about in the past and you will agree with this wise man.

 

You will learn, as you mentally digest the magic formulas given in this book, that the things one worries about are not reasons for worry at all. They are challenges; opportunities for us to grow as we easily find solutions to our problems.

 

Tonight, and every night hereafter, instead of worrying, go to sleep with the thought: “While asleep, my subconscious mind will find a solution to my problem, and tomorrow it will guide me to do the things which will eliminate the condition which might otherwise cause worry.”

 

When you worry, you are holding mental pictures of things you do not want, instead of things you do want. So, as you go to sleep, visualize the ideal condition you are seeking, instead of the one existing, and realize that not until you are asleep, will your subconscious mind have an opportunity to work on the problem.

Insomnia