Are Your Financial Worries Keeping You Awake at Night? Try Wiggling These

When I close my eyes at night, I sometimes start to relive our latest financial happenings. Did we spend too much money? How can we lower our gas bill? What utility company is going to raise their rates next? The list can go on and on. Some nights it would take me hours to fall asleep at night.

By chance, I stumbled upon a story about useless body parts. Did you know that all of us have three muscles that enable us to move our ears like dogs and cats can? Itâ€™s not a practical thing that we need to do anymore, but some people can still learn how to wiggle their ears.

While laying awake one night, I thought about that story. For giggles, I gave it a shot. Nothing. I tried again with a little more â€œoomph.â€ I could feel every muscle in my face tightening and it almost felt like I was trying to move an object using telekinesis. That ear wasnâ€™t budging. I donâ€™t remember trying for too long. Why? I fell asleep.

You have to be kidding me. I usually spend over an hour falling asleep at night yet it only took me at most twenty minutes. Maybe I was onto something.

The next night, I started back up with my ear-wiggling quest. Wouldnâ€™t you know it? When I lifted my eyebrows a certain way, I could feel a slight move of my ear on my pillow. Bingo. I was getting somewhere, but that was all for that night because again I fell asleep way ahead of schedule.

I kept trying to wiggle my ears night after night. To my amazement, Iâ€™ve been falling asleep in record time and I am proud to say that I can now move my right ear on command and I’m getting pretty good at it. I’ve been trying to move my left ear, but I haven’t been able to budge that one yet. I’m still trying, though.

Now, this new-found talent will not bring us more money for our debt, but it does help keep things a little light-hearted. Sometimes, I get so focused on money that I forget about satisfying the inner child in me. She’s someone that doesn’t come out very often anymore.

Next time you are having trouble getting to sleep, instead of counting sheep (which has never worked for me) give ear wiggling a try. Just donâ€™t get discouraged and keep your attempts light-hearted. I smile every time, thinking of how Iâ€™ll be a 30-something year old female who will soon be able to share her ear wiggling talent with the world. Itâ€™s silly, itâ€™s a challenge, and itâ€™s helping me to forget my financial worries and to fall asleep at night.

Posted by Tricia on February 6, 2008 at 10:17 PM in General Debt | 19 Comments »
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Sherri responded:
Posted: February 6th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Hehe I’m going to try it! I have terrible trouble falling asleep at night worrying about all the work I need to get done (I’m a grad student). When I am desperate I usually just chant SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP in my head in an effort to block out all the school thoughts, but I will try this tonight!
Becky@FamilyandFinances responded:
Posted: February 6th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Lol! That’s pretty funny I’m glad it works for you. I’ve been very blessed in that I almost never have trouble falling asleep. I’ll have to remember this, though, for the one or two times a year that sleep eludes me!
Jeremy responded:
Posted: February 6th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I’m certainly going to have to try this. I have a terrible time falling asleep, and it is driving me to insanity. If it isn’t thinking about money, I’m thinking about work, or thinking about writing deadlines, or upcoming events… whatever the issue is, I will lie in bed and fester over it for 1-2 hours.

In all honesty, I’d pay good money each day if I could just plop into bed and fall asleep in under 20 minutes. If trying to wiggle my ears is the secret to falling asleep, I’ll send you money.
Jagular responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 2:32 am
I’ve been trying for years to learn how to wiggle my ears. And you did it in just a few nights?
I hate you.
Tricia responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Well, everyone trying it is going to have to report back and let me know if it worked!

Jagular – well, I can only move my right and it’s been a slow process. The key is to keep practicing it. I’ve been trying for the past few months to move my left but I still haven’t yet. It could be that I can’t move that one, but if it’s helping me to fall asleep at night – it’s all good
Georgia@SaneAtHomeMom responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Heh! My dad told me once something my wise grandfather told him “It’s not YOU who should be worrying about how you’re going to pay that bill. The bank is the one who should be worrying!”

I thought that was SO great. Yes, THEY should worry about if I’m going to pay THEM!!
Dani responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 9:18 am
I’ve also fallen asleep quickly by tightening all the muscles in my body – start at your toes and work your way up, squeezing for a few seconds before moving on to the next. It’s very relaxing!

If i’m really anxious even after that, I pick a color in my head and think of relaxing things (ie: yellow — the handknit cardigan i wore for Easter when I was six, ducklings, stuff like that.) For some reason, focusing on a color really help me to think about nice things. Weird, i know, but it works for me.
gh responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Tremendous post. I am amazed that you can post a wiggling ears item the day after one about folks in desperate financial situations… and they both provide valuable insight and suggestions!
Thanks for keeping it real.
arduous responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
What a great post. I too have a really hard time falling asleep at night. I am going to try to ear wiggle, or at the very least, I should try to end each night thinking of one thing good about my day to get me calm and relaxed!
little_earth responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
My brother has always been able to wiggle both ears. Glad you got it to work for you, I still can’t do it.
boomer responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I too stay up some nights worrying about money. Not current money but FUTURE money. Ugh.
I usually do deep breathing exercises and focus my mind on that, then I eventually fall asleep.

I’m going to try the ear wiggling tonight.
Chief Family Officer responded:
Posted: February 7th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
This is so funny! I usually don’t have trouble falling asleep but I am going to try this because I want to be able to wiggle my ears – my son would get such a kick out of it!
Money Man responded:
Posted: February 8th, 2008 at 4:53 am
thanks for post!
Matt responded:
Posted: February 8th, 2008 at 8:50 am
That’s very cute and an amazing way to distract yourself. When my brain gets going as I lie in bed it could take me hours to fall asleep – its frustrating. I try concentrating on my breathing. I’ve never been one for meditation but wherever you hear someone mentioning it this is what they suggest. Bah to that if you can pull it off its a great way to put yourself to sleep!

How’s the left ear wiggling coming along?
Eva in TX responded:
Posted: February 10th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Thanks for a lovely light-hearted post! Now I’ll have to try it.
$12,000 Paid Off, Finding Peace, an Interview and a Comeback » Blogging Away Debt responded:
Posted: March 21st, 2008 at 8:02 am
[...] DebtKid gives some tips on how to find peace during financial turmoil. Sometimes it is tough to ease your mind when things are tough financially (I’m still an ear wiggler!) [...]
Lulugal11 responded:
Posted: March 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Oh I can wiggle both ears at the same time and independently. I taught myself how to do it when I was twelve and saw my best friend do it.

I was so jealous and really wanted to do it. She had pointy ears and said only people with pointy ears could do it because they were related to elves.

I could do the eyebrow thing so I worked EVERY day for about twenty minutes in the mirror. My trick was to smile really wide until I felt my ears move. One week later I could move my ears without smiling. I teach elementary school now and show it to my kids as a reward for doing well on tests!
Say It Again « natedavidscott.com|working to be debt free responded:
Posted: August 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] Away Debt gives us a great tip for conquering our sleeping troubles. I think I will pass this along to my [...]
Vinh responded:
Posted: January 6th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Hi I can wiggle left or right ear. It goes back and then up. I can hold it back and then raise and hold. Same with eyebrows raise or lower one or the other. It’s a funny look when you can do it all at once.