You Deserve To Be Happy.

After writing all day at work, once I get home I long to have a delicious dinner, catch up with friends, and unwind while watching Frasier (my go-to show as of late). I'm sorry I have yet to create a proper schedule wherein I plan for work-related writing and blog/self-related writing.

And, to be honest, I have also been having a rather hard time with my anxiety and depression, which makes doing the slightest of tasks feel impossible. But, with my new lamp for some extra Vitamin D, time asking for help, learning to have more Faith, and taking myself off the hook**, day by day old joy comes back to me. (I love that line.) 

In the meantime, I have been referring to this list, most often opting for No.1--however, sending the notes I write. There's something about putting down your words in your handwriting, and knowing the letter will be found by the ones you love, their hands holding the same paper you held only a few days prior. However, I have done many of the other ideas listed, and they have helped immensely (as has that lamp!).

When you’re sad:
by thewastedgeneration

1. Write letters to the people you love. Don’t seal them; don’t send them. Instead, stick them between the pages of library books.

2. Eat raspberries off your fingertips.

3. Venture outside and observe natural life. Watch a honey bee suck the nectar from lavender plants. Watch a snail slowly make its way towards the shade of a tree. Watch a hummingbird innocently fly above your head. Realize how insignificant you are.

4. Smile at strangers; say hello. It will improve their day and your own.

5. Write lists. They can be about anything.

6. Read several pages of the dictionary. Learn new words. Write down the ones you wish to remember.

7. Never feel compelled to apologize when you don’t feel sorry. It’s okay that you’re honest. It’s okay that you have a different opinion from someone else.

8. Read books and watch movies from your childhood. A healthy dose of nostalgia is okay. Immerse yourself in your past innocence.

9. Walk to a park and get on a swing. Go as high as you can; feel limitless. The world is yours.

10. Eat if you’re hungry. Food is not the enemy. You are a human and need food to survive. You deserve to eat. Put those raspberries on your fingers and sprinkle sugar on your tongue. Taste the summer breeze and sweet aroma of jasmine flowers.

11. Don’t marinate in your sadness. You are not a steak. You are a person; you’re irreplaceable. Open yourself up to contentment. Bathe in the rivers of Glee. Go for hikes with Satisfaction. Sleep in a warm cocoon of blankets with Bliss. Let endless happiness overcome your hopeless sadness. You deserve to be happy. If life is a game and you are the referee, be biased for once and let happiness win.

 

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**I just finished Help Thanks Wow, and it was a much-needed boost. This quote really stood out to me: My priest friend Bill Rankin said that through prayer, we take ourselves off the hook and put God on the hook, where God belongs. When you’re on the hook, you’re thrashing, helpless, furious, like a smaller kid lifted by the seat of his pants by a mean big kid. Jesus, on the literal hook of the cross, says to God, “Help,” and God enters into every second of the Passion like a labor nurse.