It’s so easy to slip into depression right now.
Not necessarily clinical depression, of course, but that beaten-down kind of feeling that we all probably experience in varying degrees at times.
Many of us are feeling dragged down by big credit card bills, expensive groceries, health problems, scary news stories, and so much stress. Sometimes it seems like we are just bombarded with bad stuff.
I feel like life is too short and too precious to just slog through every day, even though sometimes that is what we have to do. How do we keep our heads up? How do we find our joy?
Many times, my Tuesday Tales (or whatever these newsletters are) have my attempts at some sort of answers or morals or lessons in them, but I’m not sure this one will today. This wasn’t what I thought I’d write about, but when I opened my laptop, these are the words that came out. So, I guess you’ll ride along with me.
One thing I am sure of is that there are still good things happening. There are lots of them, really. But bad things are so damn loud, they out-shout and overpower the quiet of good things. Maybe the trick to fight a whirlpool of depression is to actively look for the things that aren’t depressing. We could seek out things that are good and uplifting and beautiful. That sure is tiring, though. And depression makes you more tired than a lack of sleep. It’s hard to see the good things from the couch, right?
When I finished the paragraph above, I hopped off the walking pad and hurried around to get ready to go to my daughter’s school, where she was receiving an award. Of course, I walked until the last possible minute, so I rushed to wash off sweat and try to make myself as presentable as possible to reduce potential teen embarrassment. Driving to the school with the sun streaming, listening to music, and thinking about how fortunate I am to have such a great kid, it struck me that I no longer felt overwhelmed and depressed. I felt pretty good.
Hmm.
I can’t change the world. Hell, I can’t even pay my credit card bill. But maybe when I’m feeling down, the trick to finding up, at least for a little while, is a change of circumstances. Today I had to change things up because of my daughter’s event. If I didn’t have something scheduled, would I have stayed feeling down all day? Probably not, but only because my dogs, children, and friends often interrupt my train of thought and, if I’m having a down day, they make it better.
But I probably shouldn’t rely on the luck of an interruption. If changing tracks away from negative thoughts makes me feel better, perhaps I should plan on making that correction intentionally. Maybe I could recognize a negative spiral and step out of it before I suffer too much. It seems like that could work, right?
I’m not saying we should run from negative feelings. Burying emotions leads to problems, too. But when we’re in a funk and the world seems super dark, I don’t think going out to find some light is a bad thing.
Just some thoughts for today.
My daughter, who is graduating from high school in a few weeks, is making cute crocheted animals to try to raise some money to help pay for our trip to the Artistic Swimming Junior Olympics, which takes place this summer in Texas. She’s been heavily involved in two sports at different times while growing up - Artistic Swimming and Trampoline & Tumbling - and she and I have traveled to national events all over the country so she could test herself against the best athletes of her sports. This will be her last such event, although she plans to swim on the University of Florida’s club Artistic Swimming team when she goes to college.
If you’re interested in a cute stuffed critter like this cat, please email tegcreates13@gmail.com for more info. Custom orders and other items are available.
You can also visit my “site of my favorite things” and see their Amazon links. It’s here.
See you next week!
As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn from a purchase made through the links above.