Sleep Your Way to Success?       

By Tim Braff & Che'Lisa Corey

Published in the Lake Minnetonka Navigator   04-06

Sorry, this has nothing to do with a popular, perversion of power through fornicating for financial freedom. But it is fun to say out loud! Last month we explored the overwhelming programming our minds receive in our society without our consent or knowledge and how that programming operates and impacts our daily lives and our future. We will now look at an incredible and mostly overlooked opportunity… sleep.

The author 'Neville' once said, "Our understanding of and delight in what sleep has to bestow will cause us, night after night, to set out for it as though we were keeping an appointment with a lover." This is quite a bit different than going to sleep because we are tired. If you recall, last month we used the analogy of a computer's operating system and the state of consciousness that you occupy… such as healthy, or poor, etc.  Now, some more sophisticated computer systems usually do their maintenance at night… like backing up files and upgrading programs. At night your mind is very busy as well. During your sleep, the mind is reconciling the day's events, upgrading beliefs and values, as well as confirming our identity and preparing us for tomorrow's events, which will resemble the forms we have taken into our sleep. The impressions we take into sleep are the main fuel and information used for this subconscious work and the period just before sleep is the chance we have to edit that information. We are warned, "Do not let the sun set on your anger." This is true for any thought, feeling or belief that is not in line with what we desire… with what our ideal is.

If your day's events did not happen as you would have liked, you have an opportunity to edit this in your mind and fall asleep with a different set of 'upgrades' for tomorrow. Quietly review the day's events, take any that do not please you, bring them before your mind's eye and replay them as you would have liked them to have happened. Do not look at this revised scene as an observer looking at a stage. See yourself from the central role, from the actor's point of view, as if the scene were happening to you right now. Rehearse this scene until it feels real, using all your senses and then drift off 'to keep that appointment with your lover'. This is the art of revision and it is a powerful tool. Test this for yourself. It costs you nothing. Start with something small if you like, but continue imagining until it feels real. Then see what happens.

The importance of your state of mind as you fall asleep cannot be overstated. Probably the least beneficial thing you can do is fall asleep watching TV, especially the news. With the programming impact of all those images right before you sleep, you will be meeting your lover as a drunkard and a fool. But the thing that makes you look forward to this nightly appointment is its infinite possibilities. You no longer have to be a passive participant in the one-third of your life that occurs at night. By focusing on desirable states of mind and outcomes that please you before you drift off to sleep, you are participating in your own creation. Your dreams can become a construction zone for the material of your future. In sleep, you are rehearsed, coached and prepped for your role in tomorrow's drama. You can choose that role. Choose wisely.