The struggle with falling asleep is one climb everyone has taken. If you have never experienced the steep, tortuous process, well, you are definitely a lucky one. Getting to the top of that hill and then falling over into the land of dreams is not a fun task. That hill, looking easy at first, has a certain habit of growing taller, steeper, and bumpier as the sleeper continues the adventure.

This adventure starts out the same with everyone. It begins when an individual gets nice and cozy in bed, wrapped up in a blanket; the head lays on the soft pillow cover, ensuring a safe place for their head to rest. After the eyes close, the mind begins to wander down the path and toward the hill. Sometimes colorful circles or bursts of brightness appear across the insides of the lids, slowing down the floating mind. They are mesmerizing, but not entertaining enough for our minds to get distracted from the mission of sleep.

As we continue to float on the path, the hill begins to rise. We may think we are safely continuing the journey off the dreamland, but our brains have other plans. Our thought process often does not care how physically tired our bodies are or how mentally exhausted our brains have become. As the hill becomes steeper, we begin to toss and turn because every single position is just not as comfortable as we thought it was going to be. We kick off covers because it’s too hot, and then we put them back on because the monster under our bed is going to snatch us. We take the comforter off and leave only the sheet, but then it is too cold. We throw the pillows off our beds so our heads are on the same level as our bodies but that feels unnatural and weird and go to fetch the pillow. These little issues are simply bumps in the road up that steep hill we have to climb in order to get to the land of dreams.

There is a point in our path where the hill doubles in steepness. We are halfway up the hill, in that weird area between awake and sleep. It is in this place that bigger bumps in the road appear. Our thoughts turn to our regrets, awkward situations, and everything that we did wrong in our lives. Memories of embarrassing scenarios make us uncomfortable and furrow our brows as we lay in bed. Our tossing and turning increase as we continue the climb and struggle and fall and stumble over the bumps and rocks of that steep hill.

Finally, our minds slip deeper, getting over that last bump of awake-ness. We feel our heart beats slow, our breathing calms down, and a calmness comes over our minds as we gaze down the cliff. We take a few more deep breaths and make that final jump into that desired place. We jump into dreamland.