Just Face It…

I read a passage in a wonderful book I’m reading (that I also highly recommend) called “Anam Cara, A book of Celtic Wisdom,” by John Donohue. It resonated with me so much that I want to make sure it sticks. SO, I’m putting it here to do that!

“SPONTANEITY AND BLOCKAGE”

The story is about how the author had insomnia when he was in graduate school in Germany. He points out that it is relatively easy to do physical work with very little sleep, but not when you are doing precise and difficult mental work. He tried everything, including “furious attempts to get to sleep,” and just getting frustrated from being so tired during the day.

One night after being really exhausted, he said to himself, “Face it, now you will never sleep properly again. You will never have a night of complete rest. You are going to have this problem for the rest of your life.”

He claims that after he said this and admitted it to himself (accepted it), he fell asleep within five minutes! And over the following days/nights, his normal sleeping pattern came back.

He says,

What prevented me from sleeping was the deliberate commitment to try to get to sleep. As soon as I let go of the desire to sleep, sleep came naturally.”

Amazing. The basic premise here is, when you try to force it, you will never succeed!  –And acceptance is often what helps us let go of the thing that is preventing us from achieving what we want.