This is a great way to write blogs — having intense insomnia and getting up in the middle of the night to take a walk on the beach. It’s almost 4:00am, and that’s what I’m doing right now.

I have walked probably a mile so far (in my flip-flops of course since the beach is cold in December). It’s beautiful at night here on the beach. I never do this.

I’ve never really gotten up in the middle of the night to take a walk on the beach. I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to have sex, but never to get out of bed and take a walk on the beach.

As I’m walking, I’m wondering how many other people suffer from insomnia like this. How many of you suffer from insomnia?

For those of you who do, what do you do in the middle of the night when you are suffering from really bad insomnia? What do you do to try and get rid of it? What are the cures for insomnia that really work?

I know tonight I was laying in bed, and I was freaking out. I could not fall back asleep. My body was racing, my mind was racing, everything was racing.

I took some Valerian Root and thought to myself, “I’m going to fall back asleep no problem.” I did . . . for about an hour. Then when I woke up again I was wide awake.

Then I started thinking. I thought about a couple of blogs I wanted to write. I thought about a blog I was going to write for the Huffington Post. If you guys don’t know, I actually write regularly for the Huffington Post.

I thought of something I wanted to tell my wife, but I didn’t really want to tell her at 4:00 in the morning. There was no reason for both of us to be up.

So after laying in bed doing all this thinking — and after a long time debating with myself — I finally decided I was going to get up. It’s like you think to yourself, “Well, I might as well get up because I’m just not going to be able to get back to sleep.”

So I did. As I sat up in bed, I realized why they call dogs “man’s best friend.”
Daphne, my black English Labrador, came walking right over to me.

She knew I was up. She came over the second I got up. I got up and she came over to soothe me. The funny thing about how dogs soothe you, though, is that they do it by having you pet them. It is actually very soothing to pet her though.

So I got up and started this beach walk I’m doing now. I walked and I walked, and I’m still walking.

What do you guys do when you have really bad insomnia? I hate insomnia. You get up and pee 14 or 15 different times. It’s the worst.

As I walk this beach with Daphne, though, I realize what a beautiful experience I’m having right now. I’m experiencing and listening to the ocean. I’m watching the fog and looking at the lights from the buildings. It’s all beautiful.

Realizing this is far better than laying in bed, tossing and turning and desperately wishing for sleep. I would like to be asleep in my bed, but I’m just going to enjoy this moment.

Maybe I have just found a cure for my insomnia — to get up, walk the beach, get some air, and then crawl back into a warm bed. What do you guys do when you have insomnia?