When All Else Fails…

This country is so insanely divided right now and filled with alot of anger.  It’s hard to see a lot of the positive when so much of what you see in the news and on social media is negativity.  Sometimes, you have to take it upon yourself to take a step back for a moment and allow your mental health to breathe.  Even when you can’t find anything positive in the present time, you have to reach in a little deeper and think of a time in your life when times were good or a situation that made you happy.  Now, if you’re one of those “I never had one of those” type of people or one of the “I will always find a way to overrun a positive thought with a negative one.”  Just take a moment to just close your eyes and forget where you are at the moment and what’s going on and think of a time in your life that made you smile.  It could be a big moment involving family or it could be a small moment where maybe YOU made someone’s day or someone gave you gratitude for something or even a funny moment that had you cracking up laughing.  If you can’t find ANYTHING at all, then mayne you should check out some of my earlier blogs discussing “depression and anxiety”.  For those of you who can unlock those memories or moments for a minute, just focus in on that time and how you felt.  Does it put a smile on your face? Does it make you laugh? That was an amazing time wasn’t it? Even in my toughest moments where I want to give up, cry, or just fall into a depression, I take a moment to myself, close my eyes and think of some of the most beautiful moments in my life involving my kids, my family, my friends, and even moments as far back in high school where my friends and I were part of some

seriously wild adventures (that I may or may not share one day).  I’ve since lost alot of friends and family members over the years that still leave me with a huge void in my heart, but man, the memories I still have of them are more precious than anything in this world to me. One of the greatest blessings I have is my ability to retain those memories so vividly and keeping their spirit alive in me.  Even if you have friends who you know can help lift you up or make you laugh, call them.  You don’t have to tell them how you’re feeling or what’s going on, just act natural and be in the moment.  If they can’t talk or answer, that’s ok, try another friend or if you really need that person to talk to then let them know what’s going on.  I’ve had moments where I’ve called or reached out to friends I haven’t spoke to in years just to check in on them while at the same time just wanting to take my mind off of things and I will tell you, after some of those convos, I forgot all about what had me bothered because I was either laughing too hard or just taking trips down memory lane.

Life is tough.  There is no rule book on how to navigate through it, but there are little things we can do on a daily basis to help ease our way through it.  Let’s face it, the world we’re living in won’t get any better overnight, so with this one life we have to live, we have to do the best we can with this short amount of time given to us.