What To Do When You Wake Up Full Of Doubt

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night full of doubt and fear? Doubts can be insidious, especially in the early morning hours.

During the day you may be feeling really positive about your future and having the marriage of your dreams, but then you find yourself awake at 3:00 AM and your thoughts about the future suddenly seem scary and overwhelming.

You lose your sense of hope and worry and fear takes over. Your positive beliefs about having the relationship you want have disappeared and you're left feeling very much alone.

The peace you had yesterday is gone and all you can see is the depressing dark unknown ahead. You are left tossing and turning with worry.

Why do we have these early morning negative thoughts? Why do we wake up full of doubt?

Well, the answer is simple; it’s the time when your subconscious comes to the forefront and it can bring up old fears and associations from the past. Sometimes your bad feelings will have been triggered by a dream you were having just before you woke up. The negative feelings that flood over you have nothing to do with your present situation, but they will attach themselves to it. This causes you to feel worry, doubt and anxiety. Late at night your defenses are down and you're vulnerable.

Full of doubt? Here's what you can do.

Recognize that these thoughts are not real, and you will feel differently when the sun shines. You can then direct your thoughts to things you choose to think about.

One of the best ways to distract yourself and fall back asleep is toimagine yourself in a beautiful place in nature. That image will come from your subconscious which is the imagination at work. It will crowd out your other thoughts.

I like to picture myself lying in the sun on a large warm rock in the center of a forest clearing. I pay attention to the colors, sounds and textures of this special place. Pretty soon the effort of picturing all the small details of what I'm seeing makes my mind just “give up” with all the effort. In no time I fall back asleep feeling peaceful.

If that fails when you try it, because sometimes the mind will just not be tamed, reach for a book and let someone else's words fill your mind rather than focusing on your own. Instead of being full of doubt your mind will focus on other thoughts and you can't think of two things at once.

But here's a warning I can share with you from my own experience. Don't turn on the TV! You may end up buying make-up, jewelry or a piece of exercise equipment you will never use. The creators of infomercials count on how vulnerable you are in the early morning hours and how easily you can be influenced by your negative thoughts to buy so you'll feel better.

Early morning doubts are a product of the subconscious mind. When you learn to work with your thoughts late at night when you are most susceptible to doubt, you strengthen your ability to manage your thinking at all times.

Now you can take control and look forward to waking up in the morning with positive expectations for your future.