If anyone is still stopping by at my WP blogs, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year. We have all earned it, after the last two extremely difficult years, throughout the world.
I have been keeping busy with a variety of creative projects, including getting back to writing after a (too) long hiatus. Always my best, most positive and productive strategy when it comes to coping with stress.
You can read more about my latest Kindle eBook: “Regrets: I’ve Had (Quite) a Few” available in January and a couple of holiday treats to share with you at my other WP blog, Veggies, Yarns & Tails:click here.
I Wish You Peace, Prosperity and All the Good Things in 2022!
I’ve had (MORE THAN) my share of sleepless nights, over the years. 😦
Particularly annoying for me has been waking up in the middle of the night (around 3 AM…) which is also a time referred to as:
The Hour of the Wolf.
Tossing, turning, wide awake but tired…thinking all kinds of crazy, annoying and at times, very disturbing thoughts. Where some of them came from, I have no idea. But enough to keep me awake and to interrupt sleep in a most unpleasant way.
The sleepless night situation HAS improved in the past couple of years as I have been making a real effort to go to sleep in a calm, relaxed frame of mind and when I DO wake up, in the middle of the night now, there are a lot fewer negative thoughts that come to mind. But now, when it does happens, I replace these negative thoughts with positive ones, right away! Good things I choose and WANT to dwell on,…it’s worth the effort and it really has helped.
I “happened” to be browsing over at Amazon one day recently and did a search for “Hour of the Wolf” as I had seen the Ingmar Bergman movie of the same name, many years ago in Toronto and wondered if it was still available.
A strange, surreal and original story that I never completely forgot.
And the term “hour of the wolf” is one that has always stayed with me, particularly on sleepless nights when I wake up during the period between 3-5AM, AKA “the hour of the wolf”.
When I did the search at Amazon, this Kindle book: Taming the Hour of the Wolf, also came up and I am SOglad I checked it out too. It’s a wonderful book! 🙂
Written in a personable, engaging style and filled with 144 affirmations that readers can refer to, again and again, when the Hour of the Wolf strikes a discordant note.
I am a true believer in the power of positive thoughts and particularly affirmations.
The ones that author: H. R. Warren, shares in this book are divided into categories including:
Sleeplessness, Negativity & Doubt, Procrastination, Abundance… and several others.
By choosing a particular category, you are then given a list of useful and calming affirmations to help still the mind and replace negative, upsetting thoughts, particularly during the Hour of the Wolf.
I think most people at some time or other grapple with sleepless nights. It’s not fun, it’s frustrating and getting back to sleep can be so difficult at times.
By keeping this book: Taming the Hour of the Wolf, close at hand on a bedside table perhaps, there is help only a click or page turn away.
The Kindle version (which is the one I have) is nicely formatted, with full page nature photos to begin each new category.
And at less than a $1. for the Kindle version right now, a real bargain for a reference guide that I know I will be referring to, again and again. Especially when the “hour of the wolf” takes a turn for the worse and I need some positive thoughts to help to calm my mind and get back to sleep.
If you also struggle with ongoing or even occasional sleepless nights, check this one out.
Laughter not only makes us happy and makes us smile, it is also very good for us, health wise.
Many years ago when I was recovering from burn-out syndrome/ chronic fatigue syndrome caused by too much: worry, work, chronic stress…that eventually robbed me of my good health for almost 2 years, I read many stories about the healing powers of laughter.
I spent a lot of time on the sofa during that time of recovery. I wasn’t able to do much as my nervous system was virtually in tatters. Resting and re-thinking how I had been living to have ended up so weak and so ill.
I tried to read mainly inspiring and healing stories/ books about real people who had been through illnesses caused by stress who had recovered and lived to tell the tale. The story ofNorman Cousinsand his remarkable recovery from a life-threatening tissue disease described in his book:
is a story that has always stayed with me. Cousins and his doctors believed that his recovery was due in large part to daily doses of lots of laughs, watching Marx Brother’s movies where as drugs and other treatments had had little or no effect for weeks. Cousins had actually been getting worse as time had been going by in the hospital, until he added the funny movies to his daily routine. If you’ve never read his story, it is definitely worth the time.
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I also recently found thisinteresting sitethat lists many of the health benefits of laughter.
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When I’m having a bad, sad or mad day… a good laugh (or even better, lots of them) can go a long way towards turning things around and helping me to relax and reassess things. I love watching funny movies like: Take the Money and Run with Woody Allen and Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield, two of my all-time favorite, classic LOL movies.
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If you have a funny movie, book, DVD…to share, please do.
Here’s to a year filled with lots of laughter. It truly is good medicine, for so many reasons! 😉
Happy 2014!
PS: This post is one I shared at my “Take a Happy Break” blog, a long while ago. I no longer post there but thought this was a good way to “kick off” the new blogging year, here at My Poetic Path.
My apologies for a bit of wonky spacing above. WP does NOT like copy and paste, it seems!!!
This adorable (and definitely not Mr. Cheddar approved) photo courtesy ofFlickr
My Poetic Path 