Sleep deprivation has emerged as one of the major threats to our sense of wellbeing. Most adult Australians now get less than seven hours of sleep per night, whereas our great grandparents got nine. Cultural and economic forces have combined to create a twenty four /seven society with cities that never sleep. It’s no wonder that Time magazine described the United States as ‘drowsy America,’ with more than fifty million people suffering sleep disorders.
However, I’ve always found that the best thing to do when I can’t sleep is to get out of bed, make myself a hot milk drink, then lie back and think of all the good things I’ve got going for me and pray for those who are on my mind. I find my racing thoughts slow down, my anxieties ebb away and, as Psalm twenty seven says, ‘God gives me rest.’