Tag Archives: sleep

Raining Again

The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was, the rain.
The first thing I heard when I woke up today, was the rain.

The room, was still so dark at 7AM. I thought, I woke up in the middle of the night rather than a few minutes before my alarm went off.

I love the rain, when it’s not accompanied by wind… As such I was happy with a rainy Monday morning. I thought to myself, better the rain than a sweaty summer’s day.

Now, it’s almost bed time again, and I wonder if I will hear the rain again… or whether it was the last rain before summer hits our islands… I hope there will be more rain, even if not abundant.

I miss you already XOXO

The Struggle to Sleep

Last night I went to Sliema and I had two things planned, all done within 6 hours. I won’t bore you with this, however I made it home at around midnight, which to me is quite a late night for a Sunday. More so, since I wake up around 6am during the week.

I was beyond exhausted, stomach full and happy. I was not worried, and I had no particular thought on my mind; except a smile. It felt good to have a great Sunday. When I switched off the light, turned on the fan and went into bed, I tried to sleep… Despite being tired and eyes were red and hurting, for some reason I couldn’t get to sleep.

I was turning around in the bed, accidently falling asleep… Then I am back up… and the saga repeats itself. 5 or so hours later, I was still pretty much wide awake.  I might have slept a maximum of 2 hours last night.

My question here is, why does this happen? I had no reason not to be able to fall asleep!

Any tips or tricks? I had tea right before I went to sleep, I was not stressed but actually happy, exhausted beyond belief and ready for a new week!

Maltese houses heating problem

Maltese houses lack insulation as they are solely made out of concrete. Just to give you a brief idea, the houses absorb a lot of heat during summer. Being inside a house in summer is overall hotter than being outside. Due to the concrete’s heat capacity, the house remains hot during summer nights and makes it impossible to sleep comfortably without a fan or air-conditioning. Exactly the opposite happens in winter. The heat in the house is absorbed by the concrete wall and roof and is emitted outside, because we all know that hot air likes to travel to cold areas. As such, during the night the temperature inside our houses are almost the same as the temperature outside.

insulation

Now the bummer is, that in Malta we do not have a proper heating system in our houses. We buy gas by the cylinder which makes it impossible and unaffordable to have a good amount of heaters around the house, unless we use electrical heating. Let’s face it, no one really has this, unless you are extravagantly rich.

Because of this, every morning I struggle to come out of my cosy, warm bed to the cold reality that is my bedroom and the rest of the house. Especially when you can hear the wind and the rain outside, fighting against one another on who is making the most sound… And then there’s the dreadful traffic… Oh, how I wish I could hibernate during winter and wake up in a more convenient summer spot that is not on the Maltese Islands 🙂

Self-Control

Lately I have been discussing this with a number of people, and some people seem to be in awe with regards to my will power. I still have some more to go, but I think I am almost there, on most aself_control_posterspects.

Self-control is a form of restraining yourself. Like everything else, restraining yourself in an exagerated way is wrong. Stopping eating altogether is bad, hiding entirely your feelings and emotions is also bad. One needs to learn to say no, when it’s enough. One bar of chocolate a day, is good enough. Stop letting people treating you like crap, or taking advantage of you.

Controlling your own behaviour would help you in both your personal life as well as at work.When you discipline yourself, you can plan better and finish within your deadline. Self-control helps you focus on your life and goals. On your journey.

These are a few tips I have learned along the way:

1. Look at the big picture – What do you want to achieve? How are you going to get there?
2. Remember the basics – Take it one step at a time, you will get there.
3. Don’t procrastinate – Focus
4. Love yourself – Respect yourself and it doesn’t hurt to reward yourself from time to time too!
5. Be confident – This i where I still struggle.
6. Rest – Don’t over do it. Make sure you get a good night sleep, so you can work harder the next day!