Bad case of the glums
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Under the Rainbow
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Bad case of the glums
I seem to be going through a bad case of the glums recently. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons, most having to do with stressors I can't really control (read: other people and medical issues).
I'm wondering what you all do when you find yourself in your own personal little pit of glumnosity (I just made that word up!)? anything different, or do you just ride it out? Usually I just ride it out, because if there's one constant in life, it's change, but I'm thinking I'd like to try a more active role in my own state of happiness and I'm looking for ideas.
I'm wondering what you all do when you find yourself in your own personal little pit of glumnosity (I just made that word up!)? anything different, or do you just ride it out? Usually I just ride it out, because if there's one constant in life, it's change, but I'm thinking I'd like to try a more active role in my own state of happiness and I'm looking for ideas.
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Starting over all over again
Posts: 4,426
Hey there Ginger, and have a big ol (((((( hug ))))))
I dunno about you, but I think the ocassional bout of gluminosity is pretty normal. ( btw, I _love_ that word !!! ) Life _does_ throw all kinds of yukk at people, and if I were permanently and perfectly happy.... well then there would be something _seriously_ wrong with me.
What I do to keep the gluminosities short and shallow is to spend a little time every day with my "inner child". When I get home from work and park my car in my garage I step out into the alley behind my place. I look at the trees that line the street, the little patch of grass across the way (that's a big deal in Vegas
) I look at my garage, and my car, and then I ask myself how this kid from an alkie home _ever_ made it this far?
When I get in the house and drop off my stuff on my desk.... ok, it's a folding table in the corner.... anyway, on my desk I have a little corner with a few toys. Yup. Real toys. A couple of little toy cars, a Mr. Potato Head, a stuffed duck, a beautiful little dragon made of wire and pieces of broken glass (many thanx to Cynay for that treasure). Every day I take a moment to look at those toys an wonder, how did a kid from an alkie home who _never_ had the peace to be able to play with toys _ever_ make it this far?
Before I go to bed I walk around my condo. I check the windows, make sure they're closed so the A/C won't leak out, check the front door is locked. I wonder how a kid who lived on the streets, who slept in a pile with junkyard dogs, _ever_ made it to having a condo?
What these little activities do is build up a "savings account" of perspective, and gratitude. That way, when life tosses it's yukk at me, I can just look at it and chuckle. Not only am I still alive, I'm _sane_. Compared to the horrors of my childhood, there isn't anything the world can throw at me that would even get my attention. It's tried, oh boy, I've had my share of troubles. But compared to what my life _could_ have been, there is nothing in the world that even comes close.
That and getting a lot of hugs from my friends in meetings
Mike
I dunno about you, but I think the ocassional bout of gluminosity is pretty normal. ( btw, I _love_ that word !!! ) Life _does_ throw all kinds of yukk at people, and if I were permanently and perfectly happy.... well then there would be something _seriously_ wrong with me.
What I do to keep the gluminosities short and shallow is to spend a little time every day with my "inner child". When I get home from work and park my car in my garage I step out into the alley behind my place. I look at the trees that line the street, the little patch of grass across the way (that's a big deal in Vegas
) I look at my garage, and my car, and then I ask myself how this kid from an alkie home _ever_ made it this far? When I get in the house and drop off my stuff on my desk.... ok, it's a folding table in the corner.... anyway, on my desk I have a little corner with a few toys. Yup. Real toys. A couple of little toy cars, a Mr. Potato Head, a stuffed duck, a beautiful little dragon made of wire and pieces of broken glass (many thanx to Cynay for that treasure). Every day I take a moment to look at those toys an wonder, how did a kid from an alkie home who _never_ had the peace to be able to play with toys _ever_ make it this far?
Before I go to bed I walk around my condo. I check the windows, make sure they're closed so the A/C won't leak out, check the front door is locked. I wonder how a kid who lived on the streets, who slept in a pile with junkyard dogs, _ever_ made it to having a condo?
What these little activities do is build up a "savings account" of perspective, and gratitude. That way, when life tosses it's yukk at me, I can just look at it and chuckle. Not only am I still alive, I'm _sane_. Compared to the horrors of my childhood, there isn't anything the world can throw at me that would even get my attention. It's tried, oh boy, I've had my share of troubles. But compared to what my life _could_ have been, there is nothing in the world that even comes close.
That and getting a lot of hugs from my friends in meetings
Mike
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Join Date: Feb 2007
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Honestly, Ginger, SR is my outlet.
Riding it out seems to work, and I have recognized that nothing stays the same all the time.
I also notice I get Glummy when it rains or is cloudy, and wouldn't you know, its raining to day.
The ebb and flow of daily living can be stressful enough.
I FINALLY got every single negative account off all my credit reports. I was sick over this for over a year as I did serious battle with the collectors. My x husband blessed me with his mess. But the day has finally come this very month where I have a 724 FICO score.
I was beyond elated. I applied for mortgages and was prequalled. That inflated my balloon even more.
Then, today it rains. Ho hum. I have had a serious sinus headache for over a week which has had me at wits end to be careful and not take my pain out on anyone else.
Know what? tomorrow the sun shines!! Yay! I look forward to those beautiful days. It sorta gives me hope just to know it is not going to rain every day for the rest of my life. Just once in a while.
Riding it out seems to work, and I have recognized that nothing stays the same all the time.
I also notice I get Glummy when it rains or is cloudy, and wouldn't you know, its raining to day.
The ebb and flow of daily living can be stressful enough.
I FINALLY got every single negative account off all my credit reports. I was sick over this for over a year as I did serious battle with the collectors. My x husband blessed me with his mess. But the day has finally come this very month where I have a 724 FICO score.
I was beyond elated. I applied for mortgages and was prequalled. That inflated my balloon even more.
Then, today it rains. Ho hum. I have had a serious sinus headache for over a week which has had me at wits end to be careful and not take my pain out on anyone else.
Know what? tomorrow the sun shines!! Yay! I look forward to those beautiful days. It sorta gives me hope just to know it is not going to rain every day for the rest of my life. Just once in a while.
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Stumbling toward happiness
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I used to have a lot of glum days, and so I have lots of strategies depending on the day.
--Make an appointment with my counselor, and talk it out 'til I'm blue in the face
--Rent the funniest movie(s) I know and watch them alone
--Plug my iPod into my head and play -- loudly -- the most uplifting music I can find, with major keys, big sweeping symphonic sounds, lots of voices singing hopeful words (not bittersweet romantic top-40 cr@p). The Polyphonic Spree works for me. This creates a purely chemical lift in me, like taking a drug only better.
--Hibernate with MY favorite tea, MY favorite candles, MY favorite music, and immerse myself in a healing book I haven't read before. That's how I found Martha Beck's book "The Joy Diet," which I think permanently altered my brain chemistry for the good
--Take a long, long, long walk, and talk to myself, cry, laugh.
--Force myself, bodily, to get out with other people having fun, like a class, a sport, or a drop-in thing like yoga, tai chi, or exercise.
--Figure out why I'm glum, and fix the Why. Not enough quality sleep? Eating way out of balance? Put on an extra 20 pounds? Not building enough time into my day for Me? Am I taking something that is interfering with B-vitamin (mood vitamin) absorption in my body? Do I need a supplement? Has it been days since I've gotten my fifteen minutes of natural sunshine? Is there some decision I'm resisting making, wearing me out? Am I spending big chunks of time focusing on the negatives I've been through, keeping my thoughts there?
These kinds of things have scientifically measurable effects on me and on everybody alive, even though they make me feel like nothing good has ever happened to me, it's just out-of-balance chemistry that's focusing my thoughts on the bad side. Taking steps to fix them brings me back into the neutral zone again, where I can see things clearly.
I hope your glumnosity is healed by now, Ginger
--Make an appointment with my counselor, and talk it out 'til I'm blue in the face
--Rent the funniest movie(s) I know and watch them alone
--Plug my iPod into my head and play -- loudly -- the most uplifting music I can find, with major keys, big sweeping symphonic sounds, lots of voices singing hopeful words (not bittersweet romantic top-40 cr@p). The Polyphonic Spree works for me. This creates a purely chemical lift in me, like taking a drug only better.
--Hibernate with MY favorite tea, MY favorite candles, MY favorite music, and immerse myself in a healing book I haven't read before. That's how I found Martha Beck's book "The Joy Diet," which I think permanently altered my brain chemistry for the good
--Take a long, long, long walk, and talk to myself, cry, laugh.
--Force myself, bodily, to get out with other people having fun, like a class, a sport, or a drop-in thing like yoga, tai chi, or exercise.
--Figure out why I'm glum, and fix the Why. Not enough quality sleep? Eating way out of balance? Put on an extra 20 pounds? Not building enough time into my day for Me? Am I taking something that is interfering with B-vitamin (mood vitamin) absorption in my body? Do I need a supplement? Has it been days since I've gotten my fifteen minutes of natural sunshine? Is there some decision I'm resisting making, wearing me out? Am I spending big chunks of time focusing on the negatives I've been through, keeping my thoughts there?
These kinds of things have scientifically measurable effects on me and on everybody alive, even though they make me feel like nothing good has ever happened to me, it's just out-of-balance chemistry that's focusing my thoughts on the bad side. Taking steps to fix them brings me back into the neutral zone again, where I can see things clearly.
I hope your glumnosity is healed by now, Ginger
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Under the Rainbow
Posts: 1,086
Figure out why I'm glum, and fix the Why. Not enough quality sleep?
Concomitant with that, I can't/don't sleep very well as the pain wakes me up (if the dog doesn't), then I can't get back to sleep. Ibuprofin chews on my stomach (and barely takes the edge off anyway), tylenol won't touch it, and heavier duty things make me dopey and non-functional the rest of the day.
So yes, my sleep is not so hot and I am in perpetual pretty bad pain. I think those two combined is enough to sap the happy right out of me. Throw in a dog who is about to enter remedial training with a different type of trainer because I'm going to kill him if something doesn't change (as background, I've had more animals in my life than I can count, and I've never had a dog I couldn't train). Every day is a battle of wills with this dog.
To that add two jobs who both want me full time but can't have me that much.
But mostly the pain/lack of sleep/dog irritation is really wearing me down. I talk to my doctor on Thursday about the back/pain thing and hopefully we can find something to make this stop. Or at least take some pictures to see if there's anything more serious than soft tissue injuries going on (like a ruptured disc or sciatica). Meanwhile, grit my teeth and move forward.
Thanks for your reply Mike. I do "take positive inventory" of my life pretty regularly. I can't believe the a codie who got involved in so many horrid damaging relationships managed to pull her head out of her orifice and make real changes. I live in a house I love, with a man I think is near to sainthood for some of the things he puts up with (and says "that's just who you are" and believes me when I say "that's not who I want to be, I'm going to change it"). How on earth things conspired to take me from living in section 8 housing areas, paycheck to paycheck, badly in debt due to various relationships to being completely out of debt, with no debts owed with a nice house in a nice neighborhood is baffling to me sometimes. But here I am and I am grateful for every bit of it.
Most of my glumnosity seems to have passed, although I get tired quickly due to the back thing and other medical things, and that's a little harder to work with.
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Stumbling toward happiness
Posts: 4,706
:ghug3
......well, gentler than that........
Oh heavens me....I sure hope you can solve your sleep problem. I know that lack of sleep can make me feel (as I read verbatim, here in my trusty journal) "....like I've never done one thing good or right in my life....." despite at least a little evidence to the contrary.
For my part, I am suffering from perimenopausal insomnia, and sleep with a snoring little kicking machine in my bed (my dog, not my husband) Though logic says I should crate him or something, nowadays I can't sleep if he ISN'T in the bed. But even I can't imagine going through that for months, Ginger. Sending you good vibes for a quick solution from your doc.
......well, gentler than that........
Oh heavens me....I sure hope you can solve your sleep problem. I know that lack of sleep can make me feel (as I read verbatim, here in my trusty journal) "....like I've never done one thing good or right in my life....." despite at least a little evidence to the contrary.
For my part, I am suffering from perimenopausal insomnia, and sleep with a snoring little kicking machine in my bed (my dog, not my husband) Though logic says I should crate him or something, nowadays I can't sleep if he ISN'T in the bed. But even I can't imagine going through that for months, Ginger. Sending you good vibes for a quick solution from your doc.
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