Great Is Thy Faithfulness & I Get By with a Little Help From My Friends

Lamentations 3:21-23 (NLT)
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Dunno, maybe I should commit this one to memory, too. :)

Thank you for your emails, prayers, and comments. I do get by with a little help from my friends; and He leads me to my friends, so I'm doubly grateful.

So...yesterday, I sorta took a half day of unpaid vacation *grin* and just gave in a wee bit. As you know, I did the movie thang with David. I also managed to get the 3 of us to the gym-yay me!-to work off some of my popcorn frustration, blahs, angst, whatever. It seemed to help.

When we pulled out of the driveway to go to the gym, the most amazing thing happened: we saw a sunset. Yes, a sunset at 4:25, but a sunset nonetheless. Not just grey upon grey, but a little blue, orange, pink, and yellow crept in. Today? Grey. But we had a glimpse, and that did wonders for my psyche. I can see that it's time to pull out the sun lamp. I don't like sitting with a b.r.i.g.h.t. light in my face each morning, but it does release a few endorphins my way.

After we got home, I made us nachos/burritoes for dinner and lazed a bit longer. Then, after bedding down the chirrun, I stayed downstairs. I watched Grey's Anatomy, but at each commercial, I got back up, wiped down a counter, filled the dishwasher, changed laundry, swept...you get the idea. I m.a.d.e. myself be productive so that I wouldn't wake up to a severely cruddy looking house. Normally, when the kids go up to bed, I go up, but since I had given myself the day off, I decided to work a bit.

Why do I share this? Well, for several reasons, I guess. I think it's important to know that many of us struggle with various levels of depression, anxiety, and/or low self esteem. I am not the poster child for any of these, but I have had to deal with them in my life, sometimes more than others, and definitely more-so in the winter time. But I don't just want to let you know all my dirty little secrets w/o telling how I cope. :)

A good friend reminded me last night that you just have to put your feet on the floor, get dressed, and get moving. And she's right. It's such a win for Satan if we pull the covers over our heads and give in to his lies. I believe it's okay to feel overwhelmed, and to regroup and find your bearings by resting, but we cannot give in by giving up, whether by self-isolation or by diving into the nearest bottle, cheesecake, or shopping spree. Am I all better from yesterday? Mostly. I realize that, unlike true depression--which I've had before, and which I am always on guard against--this was just a down day. All of us have them. But really, the treatment is the same. I'm not saying what I do is a guaranteed cure all, but I want to share some tips that have helped me whether just being down or having a depression...

1. Pray. Tell Him all about it. Tell some more. Ask Him to wrap His arms around you and be your strength.
2. Repent of any self-bashing, e.g. "I'm a terrible________; I can't do anything right...,etc."
3. Get outside for at least 15-20 minutes a day, especially in the winter time. If it's cold or rainy, put on a coat.
4. Exercise. I know...this can be akin to a swear word for some of us. But unfortunately exercise really does cure most ails. Can be combined with #3. :)
5. Reach out. On the phone, on line, at work, at a play date, at church, even at the grocery store. This one is particularly hard for me, but it's imperative. Also, your friends can't help you if they don't know you're having a hard time. If having a meal brought over or having someone take the kids for a couple hours would help you, don't be afraid to ask. As I say again; not easy for me, or for any of us, I imagine, in our hellbent on independence culture...
6. Clean your kitchen (shine your sink) as Flylady would say. Truly, this is one of the silliest things I've ever heard of, but it works. I think it's a clean slate mentality. If you go to bed with a full sink of dirty dishes, you're never gonna want to get up. And you're sure as heck not gonna want to make breakfast for yourself or your kids.
7. Lastly, get dressed. I know for some of you it's okay to stay in your jammies, but for those of us depressies, we need that boost of purpose (IMO) that clothes provide.

That's it. Obviously, see your doctor if your blue days turn into weeks or months. And remember that there is no shame in feeling lousy. It is what it is.

Hugs all around...SDG!