I have been depressed, sad and overwhelmed, and not just because of Co-vid 19. I've had my ups and downs throughout my life...haven't we all? The only reason I'm bringing it up now is because I'm hoping that one or more of my tricks to get me beyond the negative emotions might help someone else, at least for a day.
First let's start with a very brief outline of my life: You know that "Monday's child is fair of face" nursery rhyme? I was born on a Wednesday. "Wednesday's child is full of woe." I also relate to Thursday's child because I still feel I have far to go. As a kid, I distinctly remember wishing to die. Sad but true. College was intense. I really liked it but there were many days I felt like crying and did. Marriage-love it. Motherhood-that is a great way to discover personal flaws in depth. ENOUGH! I'm not going to whine all day and I really don't want to re-live every sorrowful moment.
A few years ago, Chris (dh) and I discussed the "tools" that we have used dealing with our own little "pit[s] of despair" [name that movie]. I sketched the ideas and then we put them in a frame and hung it on the wall where we can see them on a regular basis. Just as reminders, when needed.
For the next 11 days, I'm going to add those tools and sketches on this blog. I'm posting them one day at a time to give people a chance to think about and try out the concept. Eleven might be too much at once to remember and might be overwhelming. And if any of these tools can help anyone at all, I'm glad.
Let's start:
First let's start with a very brief outline of my life: You know that "Monday's child is fair of face" nursery rhyme? I was born on a Wednesday. "Wednesday's child is full of woe." I also relate to Thursday's child because I still feel I have far to go. As a kid, I distinctly remember wishing to die. Sad but true. College was intense. I really liked it but there were many days I felt like crying and did. Marriage-love it. Motherhood-that is a great way to discover personal flaws in depth. ENOUGH! I'm not going to whine all day and I really don't want to re-live every sorrowful moment.
A few years ago, Chris (dh) and I discussed the "tools" that we have used dealing with our own little "pit[s] of despair" [name that movie]. I sketched the ideas and then we put them in a frame and hung it on the wall where we can see them on a regular basis. Just as reminders, when needed.
For the next 11 days, I'm going to add those tools and sketches on this blog. I'm posting them one day at a time to give people a chance to think about and try out the concept. Eleven might be too much at once to remember and might be overwhelming. And if any of these tools can help anyone at all, I'm glad.
Let's start:
The first tool is DO SOMETHING. Anything. I try to do something physical that gets me to stop ruminating on the negative thoughts. I discovered this technique in college. I was so distraught and had no desire to do anything but I needed to finish some homework. I draaaggggeddd myself away from the stairs I had plopped down on and plooooddddded solemnly into my apartment and forced open the book and sloooowly finished the homework. After I was done, I wasn't quite so depressed any more. It was like my brain had re-booted, like having an electric shock to make me forget about the negative thoughts...but without the pain of actually having an electric shock.
I'm not in college any more...yay...so when I made the sketch, I put some other ideas in little pics so I could easily pick out something if/when needed. I can barely read my sketching so those ideas are: bike, read, cook, hike, send a letter, phone someone (that's an old-fashioned phone because I didn't think I could draw a cell phone well enough to get the concept across. I'd be asking myself, "Why do I have a rectangle in the drawing?"), write, exercise, sing or dance or play music, color, sweep or mop or do a chore (I'm pretty sure I wasn't trying to draw a hockey stick since I don't play hockey; it could be a paint brush), play a game (those pair of dice are not to tell me to go out and gamble; I do not need to bring in a bad habit to replace a negative emotion), plant something, take a nap. (sometimes sleeping is helpful but not all day, everyday).
I didn't add hours of TV watching, internet surfing, or cell phone app playing because those types of things just make me feel worse.
So that's it: Tool #1 is DO SOMETHING.
If you have an activity that helps you that's not in the sketch, please mention it. Every little bit helps.
*"pit of despair" that's from the movie The Princess Bride. We like movie quotes. Some of them amuse us and sometimes they help us.
I'm not in college any more...yay...so when I made the sketch, I put some other ideas in little pics so I could easily pick out something if/when needed. I can barely read my sketching so those ideas are: bike, read, cook, hike, send a letter, phone someone (that's an old-fashioned phone because I didn't think I could draw a cell phone well enough to get the concept across. I'd be asking myself, "Why do I have a rectangle in the drawing?"), write, exercise, sing or dance or play music, color, sweep or mop or do a chore (I'm pretty sure I wasn't trying to draw a hockey stick since I don't play hockey; it could be a paint brush), play a game (those pair of dice are not to tell me to go out and gamble; I do not need to bring in a bad habit to replace a negative emotion), plant something, take a nap. (sometimes sleeping is helpful but not all day, everyday).
I didn't add hours of TV watching, internet surfing, or cell phone app playing because those types of things just make me feel worse.
So that's it: Tool #1 is DO SOMETHING.
If you have an activity that helps you that's not in the sketch, please mention it. Every little bit helps.
*"pit of despair" that's from the movie The Princess Bride. We like movie quotes. Some of them amuse us and sometimes they help us.
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