I've learned to check my "list" when I'm feeling down, listless, hopeless, exhausted, angry, etc., rather than leaping right to Life Stinks. Here's the things I do and take, in order to feel good-to-great. If I don't do them, the consequences are my responsibility. If I DO do them and still feel lousy, then I know there's something bigger to address:
--30 minutes of some kind of physical activity every day, even if it's just walking around the block three times slowly with my iPod.
--10 minutes of sunshine or bright light
--A good B-vitamin complex. Stress, alcohol, prescription drugs, they all suck the B's right out of your body, and B's are the things most responsible for making you feel good. You do the math!
--At least 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. I guard that jealously, like a lion guards a kill.
--15 minutes of nothing...just sitting, thinking, writing, all by myself.
--Laughing at least 10 times each day, even if it means putting on a funny audiobook in the car or looking on the joke sites on the web or reading the Onion.
--At least three tall glasses of water, usually lots more
--The right number of calories for my body and my activity level that day...something between 1500 and 2500 on an average day. Any more than that and I feel like cr@p no matter what other people are doing. Any less, and I start to shiver and get headaches.
--Physical contact with at least one other human being. This can be a hug, a handshake, a kiss, a massage, a haircut, a pedicure, trip to the doctor, whatever. Science shows that people deprived of physical contact with other humans suffer physical symptoms from it.
--I ask myself Martha Beck-type questions while I'm in the shower: What hurts today? What's the painful story I'm telling myself? Can I be sure my painful story is 100% true? What's my heart's desire today? What's one teeny-tiny step I can take toward it? (If anyone wants a cool long-term learning experience, go to the library and get the audio version of Martha Beck's "The Joy Diet: Ten Daily Practices for a Happier Life.....I
swear this changed my whole life)
From that position of strength, I can solve almost anything that life, or people, or addiction throws at me. It doesn't make pain or fear go away. It just makes me able to cope with it, feel alright about being alive, and sleep well at night.
I'm writing down everything above me, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
