2 A.M. Laser Tag

Last night, well, this morning I got to play an exciting game of laser tag!  The game went on for a couple of hours and it should have been exhausting, but instead, it just got my mind racing!

Have you ever had the uniquely fun joy of a game a laser-tag? Since I have a nine-year old son, I have been fortunate to have had a recent experience with the game. And, it’s amazing how it so closely can be compared with insomnia, or at the very least, a restless night’s sleep, or really, a lack of sleep

Let’s back up a bit, shall we?

9:45pm:  Chapter read. Book closed. Kiddo tucked in.

10:00pm:  Lunches ready. Uniform ready. Backpack packed.

10:45pm: Pillows fluffed.  Alarm set. Messages checked.

11:00pm:  Lights out.  Close eyes. Sleeping begins.

2:00am:   Wake up! Wonder Why.

2:10am: Turn over. Fluff pillows.

2:17am: Still wondering. Turn again.

2:24am:  Check messages. Cruise Facebook. Ponder posting. Hold back.

3:10am: Get water.  Go potty [yes, I said potty]

3:47am: Get mad. Worry more. Take melatonin.

6:15am: Buzzer buzzes. Sandpaper Eyes. Need coffee.

As I lay there, wide awake, becoming quite familiar with my ceiling (it’s a nice ceiling…), I had this thought (actually, I had about 472 thoughts, I think – I lost count); about how a sleepless night can be compared to a game of laser tag.

See, you race down these dark alleyways, trying to dodge your opponent and earn points as you go.  You choose a path, and make a run for it, only to get zapped, tagged, hit! Oh no, turn and go another way, sure that your enemy will never find you down that pathway.

As my mind raced from worrying about one thing or another, I kept trying to redirect my thoughts to something else, something at least positive. With each attempt, the re-direct would simply bring me to a new shadowy and worry-filled corner.

Down one road were the unpleasant tasks I have put off for too long; the sharp right turn was the project at work waiting for me on Monday morning. Trying to dodge that bullet, I made a left turn and a mad-dash into regret over something I had said- and wished I hadn’t – earlier in a conversation.  Desperate to get off that channel, I backed up, and landed right in a heap of unfinished business. I stumbled, tripped and fell, sitting in that mess for far too long, and then managed to find my footing and keep running, only to run into remembering that I had forgotten to pay a bill that is due NOW!  Oh, and I remembered that I have CA Dreamin’ Travel Trivia results and winners to post.

The mind is a dangerous place!

You’d think that all that running and thinking and dodging and worrying would wear me out; instead it just seemed to add some fuel to the mental fire and the game just went on and on and on. And on. Some would say I got my money’s worth out that game!  I knew when I drifted off in my melatonin-induced sorta-kind sleep, at last, that morning would arrive with a vengeance.  And it did.  Two visits to Starbucks today and I am inching – ever so slowly – closer and closer to 5pm.

I have just one thought for tonight.

Sweet dreams…