I have a confession to make. I don’t always meditate every day, even though I tell everyone they should.

What happens to me is what happens to most of us. We have every intention to stop, to sit still for brief time, to just be. But life gets going, we get revved up, and the day slips by before we know it. We smack our foreheads on the way to bed and say “Oops, I forgot to meditate today!”

I wrote a book about learning to meditate, and I wrote an e-program about how to become a confident sleeper, so, for the most part, I practice what I preach. Not to be goody-two shoes perfect, but because I really do understand how I benefit from doing what I tell other people to do.

But I get sloppy. I convince myself that as an experienced meditator who knows the value of it, I will remember to sit every day – but this really isn’t true. I go on automatic pilot, get through the entire day, and smack my forehead on the way to bed, just like everyone else.

When I was talking with my coach about how I was having trouble with my spiritual connection, she asked me how often I was sitting. Big (huge) light bulb moment! There is a direct correlation between how often I meditate and how connected I feel to my spiritual source.

At her suggestion, I changed my practice from that of “I know I will remember to sit every day because I write about this and I’m a seasoned meditator and I’m really cool with this, thanks” to something really brilliant. I decided to set a time that I will meditate every day. Okay, snicker if you want. I’m just trying to be honest here, even if it makes me look like a bit of a doofus.

After I implemented this brilliant plan, I sat every day, usually for 45 mins to an hour. I did this for 10 days. Here is what happened during that time. I slept really well every night. I was open and creative, and completely concentrated and focused when I needed to be. I loved myself and those around me. I was inspired and inspiring. I was connected to my spiritual source. In short, life was great!

And then one day, I “forgot” to meditate. It wasn’t on purpose. I was out running errands and didn’t get back in time, and then it slipped my mind that day.  The next day, I managed to sit but not at the appointed time. Slippery slope. In an amazingly short period of time, I had reverted to my former hit and miss approach.

And guess what? Didn’t sleep as well. Not as creative. Not able to focus like before. Striving for spiritual connection, but feeling like it eluded me. Inspiration was a distant memory.

What have I learned from this fall from grace? Simply this, it really was a fall from grace.

Do I want grace? You bet. I love grace. I love the way it makes me feel. And I know how to get it. Every day, at the appointed hour, all I have to do is Sit.

And say to myself every day that what is most important is most important. Act on it. Every day. My life will work better, I promise.

Today I received invitations to two teleseminars — each one striking a responsive chord with my own thoughts about how to prosper in 2010. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

#1. How can we sustain our sense of calm energy when there is much in our lives to feel stressed about?

Our effectiveness goes down when our stress goes up.  We “telegraph” our stress in our messaging and our interactions with our market. We’re not as creative and in the “flow” when we’re stressed. Seems to me there might be  simple equation here:

Stress + Unrestorative Sleep + Mindless, Reactive Behavior = Poor impact on Our Business

#2. How do we rise above the “noise” in an overwhelming flood of emails, tweets, facebook, linked-in and dozens of other sometimes not-so-social media requests?

If we are overwhelmed by the sea of hands raised for our attention, even if some of it is nicely done, pertinent, well written and respectful, we can probably assume that our customers and prospective customers are also. Now is when we need to get really grounded, breathe deeply, and allow our minds to wander creatively. Something needs to change. We need to change. But we can’t do it until we calm down.

Quite a conundrum, eh?

My approach has been to work on #1 first. This is why I meditate daily, and it’s why I spent last year learning everything I could about how to be a Confident Sleeper in Stressful Times. I knew times were going to be tough, and unlike the old John Wayne days when we said things like “When times get tough, the tough get going” — I knew we needed to be able to stay calm, relax our minds, and let go of obsessive thinking.

I’ve been successful at #1 — and I love sharing what I’ve learned and the Sleep Program I’ve created with the world.

Ah, now comes #2. How do I rise above the noise? I’m going to sit in on this teleseminar today — stay tuned for what I learn. . .

Arriana Huffington and Cindi Leive have issued a 2010 Sleep Challenge for Women in The Huffington Post. I am estatic that they are drawing attention to the importance of Sleep!

I began my campaign in 2009 to help women take responsibility for learning how to become Confident Sleepers. What I know is that a big part of being able to do that is learning how sleep works. Sleep tips are fine, but we are each unique — what works for one person may not work for another. I find that most people are in the dark about the real facts, and lack the deeper understanding they need to get adequate, restorative sleep on a consistent basis.

I suggest you think of this as a business problem — that’s what I did when I created Insomnia Relief Recipes. What did I need to know in order to solve this problem, what were all my options, what worked best for my unique situation? You can learn more about about what I spent 2009 researching and developing at Insomnia Relief Recipes.

If women can get the restorative sleep we need no matter what the circumstances, imagine how we will feel, how well we will be able to think, how clearly we will see what is most important. My vision for 2010 is to empower women to become Confident Sleepers. Thanks Arianna and Cindi for making this serious issue visible!