Tuesday, January 6, 2015

After Christmas Blues? What can be done to help?

The last couple of days have been a blah!!  Christmas and new year's holidays have come and gone so what now?
Over Christmas there was anticipation of celebrations, family and friends getting together and all that brought a lot of excitement and joy.  Now that is all done and I think it is so easy to feel the blues coming on.
The passing of the celebrations is not the only cause of the blues.  The dark dreary winter days can also cause the feelings of depression.  For those who struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder,  these days are not fun.  To be honest all I want to do is eat and sleep.  I however have decided to push out and get out of bed , get dressed, do my hair put my jewelry on which helps me feel better.  I have also decided to  stay in God's word.  I wake up and read a chapter of God's Word and spend time meditating on it and what it is saying to me.  This morning I read Genesis 15 :1 "After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."  As I ponder these words I hear God saying the same thing to me to be not afraid of what lies ahead in this new year, not to be afraid when I feel depressed because He is my shield.  What a gift to have God as my shield against all evil and against all  that the enemy intends to harm me.   These words helped lift my spirit.
I also have decided it is important to spend time with God sharing honestly how I feel.  He already knows it anyway I might as well come on out and say it.  Since we are  having a conversation I need to listen for a response from Him and that is when the words "Do not be afraid" bring deep comfort.  My response to Him is also important.  I need to work at being fearless as I face the present moment and think about the future.
In these dark dreary days light is so important.  So I sit in front of a bright light as I have my devotions.  On a day like today when there is snow on the ground which makes everything so nice and bright I pull back  the curtains and enjoy the brightness of the snow.  The snow coming down is also so peaceful and gentle and I allow myself to enjoy that too.
I know I need to exercise and this is the one place where I am stuck.  I know exercise is good for me and it helps boost the levels of Serotonin and Beta-endorphin in my brain which helps me feel better and even happy.  I need to jump on the treadmill !
I also need to watch what I eat.  If I only eat sweet, fatty foods (which is what i crave) then I will soon be gaining weight which does not help in the way I feel about myself.  When I don't feel good about myself it doesn't matter what anyone else says I tend to stay down on myself which leads to more depression.
I will stop writing and follow my own advice and get some exercise why don't you join me?

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