How do you sleep when you are aware of the horrors of reality?

[luc]

@FRV One thought that might help and that you could try to internalize is that while shutting your eyes completely to the horrors of the world means denying reality, so does shutting out the joy, love, goodness and laughter in the world. It's part of reality too, and not participating in it means to deny the best parts of creation!

I found the best remedy against ego-addiction, guilt tripping, dark thoughts and the rest is getting playful and silly. Laugh and be silly!

 

[Ben]

I agree with all the suggestions so far and I only wanted to add one, although I appreciate that it's probably something you already do. Pay close attention to the evidence, which surrounds us, of the inherent order and beauty in Creation. It's the antidote to the perspective of perceiving everything in darkness. Spend time in nature if you can, get out and look at the stars when they are visible. At least study it in pictures or the forms of living things in your environment. Get some plants!

 

[PopHistorian]

To raise the FRV we do need to experience the love and joy inside. And we all deserve it since it is a part of our true nature.

As the suffering experience of individuals informs the collective, so does the joy. Ra explained that it is equally important to understand the negative as it is to understand the positive, so we mustn't be ignorant of either. In this light, @FRV, your caring is catalytic for evolution personally and collectively.

As for sleeping, you're aware of the wealth of information and advice out there on this topic and have tried many things. What I found most fundamental when needing to correct sleep cycle is not to eat, drink, exercise, or experience bright light in the evenings before bedtime, so that many bodily processes may settle and remain undisturbed overnight.

 

[Breo]

A little bit of fun before sleep :)

 

[bozadi]

Lots of valuable advices, mental and material, were made by all, and I'm benefiting from them thankfully.

I want to add a potential elucidation on one of the points in my suggestion:

It's beautiful and valuble to empathize with the sufferings of others. I think this will potentially create a bridge between us and them. Then it becomes important what we send or share through this bridge. Suffering implies a potential or likely "darkness" or negativity (a lack or loss of awareness and faith), which either might have caused the suffering and/or been caused by it. And in most cases, probably the best help to be made through the psychic bridge is to provide "light" to the darkness involved.

To be able to shed light to a certain darkness, we need to have that light as amply as possible.

Pessimism, especially when deep and persistent, which I observe in myself and try to heal, implies a lack of light/truth.

 

[bozadi]

When we create the psychic bridge through sympathy but are unable to project light through it due to our own blockages, there's the possibility that our own situation will worsen, because of both our failure and higher STS manipulations of the situation.

The darkness (lack of awareness) in us and the one in the sufferers that we sympathize with is the same, and we're primarily responsible to fight with the one in ourself. The more light we have (or are), the more we can share of ourself. I think that light/awareness/love is our very true "being" than an external "attribute" to be added to our being. Ego self is a diseased superimposition on our true self.

 

[Z...]

Sounds like you need to reprogram those beliefs. They're nonsense, and you can remind yourself of that every time they come up, and write down a few phrases that are the opposite. You don't need to be aware of the suffering of others all the time to be "aware enough", you already are aware enough. It is not selfish to be joyful, in fact, the exact opposite is true. The suffering of people on this planet is not your fault or responsibility. Your responsibility - if you chose to accept it (and you don't have to) - is to pay attention, to a reasonable extent, to what is going on on the planet, which involves a lot more than people suffering, and learn the valuable lessons that are there to learn from doing that.

That and also I think since none of us is impervious to the trauma (both personal and global) we have to regularly unload what is stored in the body along the way.
I find this short exercise very effective

 

[Fluffy]

You sleeping or not sleeping doesn't do anything to resolve the suffering of everyone on the planet if that is what your mind is worried about. ;)

Sleeping or not sleeping the world goes on, so let it go on.
I also used to do ‘head miles’ about things that I can’t affect right before going to bed, it’s really the silliest time to allow yourself rummage through your thoughts if you can’t control how you’ll react to them.
And yes, we can CHOOSE what we think about, it takes time and practice but being persistent it pays off.
I’ve learned to choose if I want to think about that right now and I’ve gotten really good at stopping it if it’s making me uncomfortable where I can’t do other things, it’s the wrong time or if it’s plain old irrelevant and useless mind meandering. I gently ask the thought to leave and keep repeating that until it does. Tell it to come back tomorrow when you’re awake and refreshed, allow the thought some time but you choose when that time is.

The world is suffering and it is so very painful to be witness to all the death and decay and I do think you have to witness it, we need to know. I still sometimes have to turn it all off and retreat to lalaland just for some relief.

I hope you find a way that works for you to bring you some peace of mind.

 

[Fluffy]

I found the best remedy against ego-addiction, guilt tripping, dark thoughts and the rest is getting playful and silly. Laugh and be silly!

That is some great advice, we don’t spend enough (if any) time having FUN.
If you, FRV, have family members who are still children (or may be you have your own?) play with the kids, play with their toys with them, dance with them (all kids loooove dancing) read to them, go outside together looking at natures creations, but most of all allow yourself to be an innocent child with them and see the world, a beautiful, wondrous, awesome world full of potential and opportunity, see it though their eyes. Children rarely disappoint when we need to be reminded of simplicity and beauty.

 

[Alejo]

I found the best remedy against ego-addiction, guilt tripping, dark thoughts and the rest is getting playful and silly. Laugh and be silly!

This is true, and as it happens it's an amazing way to gain self awareness, finding dark thoughts and tendencies in oneself is very useful in this direction, but finding what brings one joy and laughter is just as useful.

 

[Laura]

Hopefully you have read The Wave series and come to something of an understanding of the fact that the Universe knows what it is doing and our small, personal perspectives often do not take that of the Universe into account.

I know what it is like to be unable to sleep because of the horrors around, but then I decide to do what I can the next day to try to wake people up, and to truly love the Universe no matter what is happening. That usually helps.