Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Another day, another task, another freebie

Another day begun with good intentions. I went to the bank to get more papers notarized to get Dad's affairs in order, then went to post office to send them off registered mail. On the way I began to feel a migraine coming on. The skies were getting terribly dark and wind picking up as a big storm headed our way. My plan was to leave the post office, head over to check on Dad, then stop in at grocery store on way home. But the storm was getting closer and my headache getting worse. The grocery store was closer to home so I stopped there to pick up supplies. As I was putting groceries in the car, it began to rain. Got home with pounding head and also symptoms of low blood sugar. Tabled plans to go back out. Put groceries away, got some protein and something for pain and waited a little to see if storm and/or headache would let up. Storm did, headache did not. I laid down for awhile. And that was the extent of my day. Had left-over chicken Parmesan and spaghetti for dinner and have just rested up since.

Not going to get on my soapbox today but did want to add another tip about dealing with depression. It's also helpful to people who have problems with anxiety or are just going through a stressful time. Write! It has been scientifically proven that journaling has both physical and mental benefits. Find a quiet place you won't be disturbed and write for a minimum of 20 minutes. Put pen or pencil to paper, start writing and don't stop. Don't worry about neatness, spelling and punctuation. Don't stop and read what you've written. Keep that pen moving and just write whatever comes to mind. The idea is to overcome your inner censor, that little voice that says, "Don't write that, don't tell that, what will people think?" and so on. This is for you! Look up freewriting or ask me about it. If you just go with the flow of your thoughts, you will be surprised at what you may discover. When you hit a snag and can't think of what to say next just write something like "I don't know what to say" or any other thing that keeps your pen moving. At the end of whatever time you have selected, put the piece away. Get up, make yourself a cup of tea, move about. Whatever. You should feel some relief if you have allowed yourself to write about whatever is bothering you. Wait maybe 15 minutes then go back and read what you wrote. You will likely find surprises. Perhaps you will find you wrote about something you didn't even know was bothering you. Or you might see where your thinking shows cognitive distortions that you can correct. You might even find an answer to a question. Seriously, this works! If you take up journaling on a regular basis (a great notion) don't fall into the trap of just noting what you did that day. Tackle your thoughts, problems or even just an issue that interests you. And if you decide to only keep a gratitude journal, don't go overboard and write generally about everything you are, or think you should be, grateful for. I believe it works best to just choose one or two things each day to make note of. And be specific. Generalities like, "I'm grateful for my husband" don't really mean much. Why are you grateful for him? Today? Example, "I'm so grateful my husband did the laundry today because I was exhausted." Big difference. Final note on this (at least for today lol) my thanks to Molly for her comments and understanding. And if anyone would like to comment with things that help them through rough spots, that would be great.

Little Sailors 19:
You will note there is another cap and it was left fairly large. Thought maybe someone would want these as photo props.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnmoneynqypuips/ws_LittleSailors_19.zip?dl=0

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