Fighting This Spiral!
Scissortail Hospice Chaplain Bristow, Oklahoma ONHL Hospice Chaplain Drumright, Oklahoma
Are you or someone you know spiraling downward toward the bottom of life due to uncontrolled sadness and depression? Maybe you have turned to drugs or alcohol to seek happiness or just to escape from the Black Hole of depression. Or maybe you have even started to consider just ending it all because you feel there is no hope! You are NOT alone.
In fact, a very large and growing portion of the population feels this way. Look at some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the America. Money and notoriety are not the answers to their woes. Many movie stars and music artists are in the news for drug-and alcohol- related issues almost daily. Here is some good news in your search to fight this spiral. There are simple ways to start changing how you feel. Pleasenote: Isaid simple, not easy!!! I have listed below simple steps that you can start taking immediately, today, to start your path toward a joyous, fulfilling life. Take these steps one step at a time! Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to take on too much too fast— or else you will get frustrated that things don't seem to be happening. Also keep in mind that this is not a magic pill that can cause you to wake up tomorrow feeling 100%. These steps build on each other. If you continue to work on them daily, you will feel a little better. And one last piece of advice; go easy on yourself. Do not beat yourself up if you occasionally have a bad day or two. Just recognize when that happens, you wake up the next day, and start again where you left off. Self-improvement is a lifelong process, wnich comes with ups and downs just like everything else in life. So let's begin... Seek support! If you have found comfort or joy in drugs or alcohol, or even unsafe sexual practices, you need to find a support group of your peers to support you begin to break these destructive habits. This will likely be the hardest thing you have ever had to do, but the benefits to your health and happiness are lifelong. However, even if you do not have any destructive habits to break, you need to find someone with whom you can share your darkest thoughts. Tell them that as you seek to change your life and become healthier, you need their support. Ask them to commit to being there for you when you are at the bottom and need a friend. Ask them to be someone that you can talk to often and hear positive, supportive comments. This is the key... you need to be positive and supportive back to them as well. These relationships are two-way streets. By helping others, you will feel better about yourself.
Develop healthy habits! Eating junk food and processed foods is bad for our mental states, as well as our physical health. Just changing your eating habits to healthier choices--like fresh fruits (not juices) and vegetables, low-fat meats, and cutting dairy--can make huge differences in how you feel. Don't believe me? Try it for just one week and see if I am right. If you think you can't afford it, keep this in mind. We eat too much as Americans, and talking about eating or not eating certain foods is a sacred cow to many people in the world. If you cut back on the quantity of what you eat, fill up on healthy veggies like organic carrots, and also drink lots of water, you will feel full longer and also save money. The other healthy habit that you need to add to your life is exercise!!! A sedentary lifestyle creates depression. You need to exercise or increase activity five-six days a week. That does not mean that you have to go to the gym. Go for a bike ride or take a walk. Build something or clean up a park. Just get moving and stay active for a couple of hours a day. Especially in the winter because it is the hardest time to stay active. However, it is especially important at this time to keep the blues away. Exercise produces endorphins, which are the body's natural feelgood drug.
Help others! This is a critical piece to this puzzle of helping yourself feel better. Even when you feel horrible, helping someone else that is less fortunate than you are will make you feel amazing. If you think that there is no one less fortunate than you, then this is when you need to talk to your support person. Think about someone that is lying in bed in a nursing home, unable to get out of bed to eat, use the bathroom, or even change the television channel on their own. Whose shoes would you rather be in now? Go to a nursing home and volunteer to help someone. Go to Habitat for Humanity and volunteer for a project. If you are able, take a bicycle or new clothes and food to a less fortunate family. There are so many things that can be done to help others. Remember, if you are wealthy, just donating money is not enough to make you feel better. You have to see the effects of what you are doing for others for it to affect you. Get out there and get 'dirty.' Help people as often as you can.
Learn something new! This is the final piece of this puzzle. Always strive for self-improvement. Read or listen to a book at least thirty minutes a day, but more is better. I am not talking about the latest John Grisham best seller or romantic novel. Find things that improve your ability to interact with others. Please read books like this: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, and The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. Those are just a few good books to start with, and you can easily find them at the library near you for free. As you start feeling better about your life, move on to learning other new things. Find a topic on science, health, math, economics, or whatever tickles your insides, and keep your brain healthy by keeping it active as well. The more you know, the better you can feel about yourself.
I hope that you have already started to think about ways to introduce these tips into your life so that you can start living happier and healthier today!!! Remember to never give up. Forgive yourself and those around you and move forward, improving every day just a little bit. Trust me on this one simple fact... Life is worth living if you are living it right.
'Live long and prosper' -Spock, Star Trek. John T. Catrett, III Scissortail Hospice Chaplain 306 North Main St., Suite E Bristow, Ok. 74010 918.352.3080