Lights ON

I have a major fear.
Its not one of those normal fears for a woman my age.
This is a fear that most children have/use to remain sleeping with their parents.

I HAVE A FEAR OF DARKNESS!

This is not normal at my age. I am 22 years old and I have a difficult time falling to sleep in complete darkness unless someone is next to me. A few other scenarios would allow me to fall asleep regardless of lighting in room

a) I am extremely exhausted

b) extremely tired from a night of partying

c) trying to be "a big girl" when staying at someone else's home

If none of the above is the present scenario then I set my tv timer and fall asleep to the light of the television. Reason I am writing this post, lately I have been good about just turning off the tv and going to sleep but........I came across a problem.

I get up at least once a night to go to the bathroom. Now when I get up, the house is completely dark and quiet. I even have the luxury of having a bathroom adjacent to my bedroom. Its two steps from my bed. The light is behind the bathroom door which causes an issue. While trying to push myself to get out the bed I don't have the time to try to find the tv remote and turn the tv on so I have to get to the light switch quick. Once I handle my business going back to bed in complete darkness SCARES the mess out of me. I refuse to!

The other night I found myself trying figure out a way to just go back to sleep without having to turn the tv on because I was still so tired, no luck. I decided to grab my night light from the bathroom and plug it next to my bed....bad idea. The light interrupted my sleep (I think) I didn't sleep well that night. I think for next time I will keep the night light in the bathroom and turned on just in case I have to use the bathroom again.

I have another fear associated with darkness. I think something is lurking and that scares me. I close all closet, bedroom and bathroom doors. Which isn't so smart to close bathroom door because moving about in the dark finding the bathroom is tough sometimes, ha. I think I will just put that light back in the bathroom and leave that door open long as the other door to the bathroom is shut!

I hope this solves my problem for the time being. I really need to get over this fear. Its growing old. I remember when in middle school and I would stay over at friends they knew to have some sort of light source for me. That's sad.

Any advice for me?