It was a bad night.

Intense, unexplained stomach pain meant I couldn’t sleep.

I tried sleeping on the easy chair but my awkward sleeping position added neck pain.

Finally, I went back to bed and was sleeping soundly until 5 a.m.

What is it about our subconscious mind that refuses to turn off? Mine often seems to jar me out of bed at 5 a.m. by conjuring up worries about something I must do.

Why won’t my mind sleep when I do?

If my mind wants to plague me about something, why must it be 5 a.m.?

I don’t have “big stuff” that keeps me awake. It’s little things that are waking me.

This time the worry was that I misplaced my car’s owner’s manual. I keep it in the glove compartment but carried it inside to read why the tire low pressure warning wouldn’t turn off.

I looked through the house in a panic but couldn’t find it. I prayed for help before going back to my car.

The owner’s manual was right there where it belonged. It was almost like I could hear God’s voice in my head saying, “Here it is. Now will you stop your incessant worrying?”

Then my inner voice reminded me of an important truism - It’s all good.

The new day is here.

Life is good.

It’s all good.

My runaway mind that woke me resorted to good advice: Don’t ruin a day by fretting about little problems.

I don’t know who came up with the expression, “It’s all good.”

By when my daughters and I are sharing a problem we often end it by saying, “It’s all good.”

Sure, we may have a problem we have to solve.

But it’s all good.

Life is good.

Most problems are trivial - not worth wasting time worrying about it. Reminding each other of that keeps it all in perspective.

Saying “life is good” also grounds us, reminding us to be grateful for life, for all we have and for any help sent our way.

By reminding ourself that life is good, it resets our mind off trivial concerns. It allows us to focus on what is important.

In my later years I’ve picked up a bad habit of letting trivial problems take up space in my mind, space that should be used for much better pursuits.

My worrying has gotten so bad that I have those 5 a.m. alarms in my subconscious, urging me up get up IMMEDIATELY and take action.

Worse yet, I realize the things I’ve been worrying about are basically inconsequential. If it were something big like worrying about having a serious illness, I could understand worrying.

This senseless worrying is something new to me. It’s a habit that has to go.

In the not too distant past I used to use any early morning wakeups with remembering something good. I like to think about good people and good times. Most of all I like to think about all the blessings that flow my way from a God who is always in control.

When I get up in the morning after thinking those good thoughts my day gets off to a great start.

I compare that to a morning like today when I started my day with needless worry. It’s tiresome and unproductive.

My computer guru told me when my computer is acting up, one of the first things to do is to try resetting it. Sometime that’s all it takes, he said.

The same thing is true with one’s attitude. Sometimes we just need to refocus by resetting our attitude to something better.

This morning I reset my mind by calling my friend Kay, the friend I call Miss Sunshine.

It’s one thing to be filled with sunshine when your life is glorious. But Kay stays calm and serene regardless of any problems.

She believes in the “it’s all good” theory.

She was that way this morning even after getting news that would have left me in a dither.

Her grandson, his wife, year-old baby, dog and two cats are unexpectantly arriving in 10 days to live with Kay and her adult son.

The house her grandson thought they were moving into didn’t work out. With rental property in short supply and the moving van on its way, they needed to find housing.

Kay said no problem. Move in with us until you find something.

Bear in mind they are arriving with a moving van filled with furniture.

To make room for their furniture, she looked around her own house to see what could go. She filled the curb with her furniture, free to anyone who wanted it.

She also moved out of her own bedroom to give it to her grandson.

“We’ll get by,” she said.

There was no panic. No worrying. Just action to solve the problem.

In the 15 years that I’ve known her, she overcomes so much with the same serenity.

I’ve never heard her express a worry, even when I think she should. COVID has hit our neighborhood and our friends, making me not want to visit anyone.

Kay isn’t worried and won’t let COVID imprison her, she says.

We both agree that every day of life is a precious gift.

Why waste it by worrying?

I’m trying to remember that whenever I start to worry too much.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.