Mental Health

Mindfulness

Recently, I had begun to lose joy in many things. I found that I was no longer as joyful as I used to be and while I put all of this down to exhaustion from work, there was something else at play happening in my life. I was struggling with my mental health.

There were days when I found it increasingly difficult to get out of bed and even simple things like writing, which is something that I absolutely enjoy doing, seemed like such a big ask.

I spent all my time re-reading the same books, watching the same tv shows and just going around in a daze.

I spoke to my doctor, my friends, my family and my confessor. My doctor diagnosed me with depression and prescribed medication. Most of my friends and family commiserated with me and my confessor prayed with me.

The medication helped me for a time, but then I went back to ground zero. So of course my doctor increases the medication. I still felt a bit out of whack and just not myself. So I turned to my therapist who told me that sometimes we have to figure out for ourselves just what is causing our ennui. Now there is a word that I never thought would describe me.

Ennui

Ennui is a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction. This is exactly how I was feeling. And so my therapist, being the smart woman that she is, gave me some tips to overcome my ennui and to continue on a path of healthfulness. I am going to share some of those ideas with you here:

Get up - even when you don't feel like doing it. Just get up and go for a walk. It doesn't have to be a long walk. You just need to move.

Going Outside

Learn a new skill - it doesn't matter what it is, just think about all the things that you have always wanted to do and if you have the time and the money, just do it.

Connect with Others - now this was one of the hardest things for me to do because in order to connect with others I would actually have to go outside or actually pick up the phone and call and talk to someone. Can I tell you that I would look at the phone all weekend long and pray that it does not ring. When it didn't I was mad. When it did I was also mad. Go figure. Socialise though. It does make a world of difference.

Volunteer - now this is something that I had to laugh about because I am a huge volunteer person and I am always encouraging folks to sign up for some activity. These days I don't even read the emails about volunteering any more, but if you have time on your hands, and not much else happening, volunteer. Its an amazing feeling to just be among like minded individuals.

Silence - This really didn't work for me because whenever I practice meditation my thoughts always seem to get in the way, but for those of you who are more disciplined than I am it is a perfect opportunity to bask in mindfulness and in silence.

In closing, I did not plan to write today as I was just updating our website and planning for the latter half of our year but sometimes the Lord takes your hand and leads you to where He wants you to go.

The Lord showing you His purpose