Saturday, August 30, 2008
Today should be a good day!
We're out of town at a football game, father-son roadtrip. Good times, I hope.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Here's a slideshow I did this summer
We were in the interregnum period between the divorce filing and the divorce, while I was still home. I found myself feeling sad or pre-occupied even when I should have felt happy, doing things I like. So, I did this little slideshow to remind myself that you have to live now, not anytime else....peaceful moments are everywhere!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Maybe I should have exercised this morning, too!
You mean I can't just walk for 45 minutes when I feel sad?....I wish someone had told me!
Feeling down this morning and looking to the future with concerns...feeling better. You have to expect some downs, I guess. Just don't let the dips in the roller coaster hit the pavement.
Feeling down this morning and looking to the future with concerns...feeling better. You have to expect some downs, I guess. Just don't let the dips in the roller coaster hit the pavement.
The virtues of exercise
I have read that exercise can be as good for mild depression as a drug. When I was reading an insomnia book, it said to get some exercise. My anxiety and phobia book? Exercise right on the top of the list.
I have certainly had less depression and anxiety in the past year than I did for the 4-5 years before that. Of course, I am combining an Rx with exercise.....
So last night I threw some laundry into the dryer at the laundromat, and went off for my nightly walk. While I would have much preferred watching a ball game, if you're going to be active, you can't sit on the couch. Those are two opposite things....
I was feeling badly when I started. Depressed, isolated from my son, lonely, like I'm on a treadmill. Worried about the future. Finances....what will happen?
So, I went on a 45 minute walk. As I moved along, I started to feel better. As the blood began to flow and the cells took in oxygen, I began to cheer up. Realized I can only live today. Do what's on today's agenda, get some rest. Be at peace. Things were not better before. Every step is a step forward--and when you're walking, that's literally and figuratively true.
So, if you're depressed or anxious, I do recommend some exercise. Even a walk on an unseasonably cool August night can help.
I have certainly had less depression and anxiety in the past year than I did for the 4-5 years before that. Of course, I am combining an Rx with exercise.....
So last night I threw some laundry into the dryer at the laundromat, and went off for my nightly walk. While I would have much preferred watching a ball game, if you're going to be active, you can't sit on the couch. Those are two opposite things....
I was feeling badly when I started. Depressed, isolated from my son, lonely, like I'm on a treadmill. Worried about the future. Finances....what will happen?
So, I went on a 45 minute walk. As I moved along, I started to feel better. As the blood began to flow and the cells took in oxygen, I began to cheer up. Realized I can only live today. Do what's on today's agenda, get some rest. Be at peace. Things were not better before. Every step is a step forward--and when you're walking, that's literally and figuratively true.
So, if you're depressed or anxious, I do recommend some exercise. Even a walk on an unseasonably cool August night can help.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Laughs are Important
My sense of humor is important to me....laughing helps to keep me happy, and its even more important now that I am facing new challenges.
With that in mind, and as someone who is eating alone about half the time, I found this Merlin Mann post really funny....
And...I don't know if you will find this funny or not, but being in the business....OMG this made my side hurt. Damn funny, and true to life too.
With that in mind, and as someone who is eating alone about half the time, I found this Merlin Mann post really funny....
Five rejected names for a single-serving meal product
April 4th, 2008- Quiet Evenings
- Me & the Kitties
- Lonesome Bites
- Monomunches
- Singles…for Life!
And...I don't know if you will find this funny or not, but being in the business....OMG this made my side hurt. Damn funny, and true to life too.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Great Blog Post on Happiness
Here's a great blog post, from a blog called Get Rich Slowly. It concerns the topic that has bedeviled mankind since we began to conquer the issue of basic physical survival--ie, when we stopped living like animals. That topic is happiness.
I first came across the issue of happiness watching Dan Gilbert give a talk at TED. It was very powerful. He showed people who had lost everything, yet were happier than they were when they had everything. How could that be?
Gilbert says that we aren't good at knowing what makes us happy, and we underestimate our ability to adjust to changing times. Good times look better than they are going to be, and bad times look worse. There is something profound in that. When I was going through the worst year leading up to the divorce, I was motivated by reading Stumbling on Happiness, because I learned that you cannot predict how you will feel in a given situation.
In fact, Gilbert says you should talk to people who are going through that situation right now if you want to know how you feel. Because, we are not that different as we would like to think.
And I did that. I found a support group of people who were going through what I was, and for the same reasons, and I saw them surviving and thriving on the other side, and I began to realize I could to.
It was a key step to get me where I needed to be to make a change in as healthy a way as possible.
This post chronicles the recent thoughts on happiness, from how much of it we can control (40%), the "hedonic treadmill," Dan Gilbert and 13 steps to a happier life. Its an impressive post and I recommend it to you.
I first came across the issue of happiness watching Dan Gilbert give a talk at TED. It was very powerful. He showed people who had lost everything, yet were happier than they were when they had everything. How could that be?
Gilbert says that we aren't good at knowing what makes us happy, and we underestimate our ability to adjust to changing times. Good times look better than they are going to be, and bad times look worse. There is something profound in that. When I was going through the worst year leading up to the divorce, I was motivated by reading Stumbling on Happiness, because I learned that you cannot predict how you will feel in a given situation.
In fact, Gilbert says you should talk to people who are going through that situation right now if you want to know how you feel. Because, we are not that different as we would like to think.
And I did that. I found a support group of people who were going through what I was, and for the same reasons, and I saw them surviving and thriving on the other side, and I began to realize I could to.
It was a key step to get me where I needed to be to make a change in as healthy a way as possible.
This post chronicles the recent thoughts on happiness, from how much of it we can control (40%), the "hedonic treadmill," Dan Gilbert and 13 steps to a happier life. Its an impressive post and I recommend it to you.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
One good thing
We have a pool at the complex, which has made me the most popular Dad in my family, and gotten me outside in the sun on a hot day like today.....its all good.
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