Turning the tide

As I’ve been doing my daily checks of blogs I love to read, I’m struck by the impression that many of my fellow bloggers appear to be in a slump. Some are overworked. Some are encountering some big stressors in the home. And some are just caught in this dreary, cold February fug that makes everything feel crappy. And I know a bit of all of the above has started to fray my edges a bit. So this post is all about shaking off some of this, even for a few seconds. Try this:

* Nothing helps break through your own sense of sorrow than to reach out and help another. In a very selfish way, it lifts your own spirits while doing someone else some good. So put a dollar in the vending machine and walk away. Every morning, visit thebreastcancersite.com and its fellow sites and click away--providing meals, mammograms, books, and much, much more for free. Surprise a friend with a funny e-mail or card. Reaching out can mean so much to help the turmoil inside.

* For one hour, view life from a dog’s perspective. Get on the floor, roll about with a furry friend, and feed off each other’s joy in the simple pleasures. Life should be about this. Livin’. Lovin’. Eatin’. Playin’. And then after this fun, a good old nap never hurt anyone.

* Eat chocolate. Or whatever your favorite food is, diets and healthiness be damned--at least for a few minutes. The Banker and I gorged ourselves on Butterburgers, fries, and custard shakes last night. Will this help when I weigh in every month? Hell, no. But for once I was truly savoring what I was eating.

* Hot showers or baths can never be overrated. I do my best thinking in the shower and sometimes visualizing all my stresses and problems swirling down the drain helps more than you could guess.

* Take a favorite comforter or blanket, draw it tightly around yourself, pop some popcorn, make some hot chocolate and curl up to a good book or movie. Escapism can be like a breath of fresh air.

* Visit a nursery and breathe in, savoring the earth and all the plants growing. Go to a bookstore and watch the children careen about the children's section. Or visit a pet store and play with some puppies. Good vibes are contagious.

* Put on your favorite CD and dance around the room like a fool. My best friend and I, as roommates in college, would play “Turning Japanese” on top volume, bounce about on chairs and couches and look like idiots. We’d breathlessly laugh hysterically and, having had our break, go back to the papers we were scrambling to complete for classes.

* Gather those you love around you. Realize you have a huge foundation of those who are there to understand, support, and love you--through the good times and bad.

These all work for me. But everyone has something different that helps pull them out of the abyss. Maybe it’s time we all did that thing--whatever it is--to help us find the peace, happiness, and joy that's all around, if only we look for it.