In Smart Recovery, the 4-Point Program includes #4, Living a balanced life. As I recover from and learn how to live with depression, I am seeing what a balanced life looks like for me. And I know there is work to do to achieve it. I have written many blog posts about understanding that it…
Tag: SMART
What a week, and it’s only Tuesday
I know I should be thankful. I am alive, I am in good health, and my depression is not pushing me up against the wall. But boy do I feel rushed. Or maybe it’s a sense of urgency to get things done. It could be I am making a big deal out of what I…
Testing 1,2,3. Checking in to see if I am OK
Sometimes, I just need to check in with myself. Well, ever since I acknowledged that I have had depression for the past 43 years, I have felt the need to check in with myself, to see what is going on. My goal is to keep depression out in the open, where I can keep an…
I’m spinning a lot of plates today
Who doesn’t get caught up in things occasionally? I am not bemoaning being busy. I chose that over retirement. Well, I chose busy over feeling anxious. Busy over wallowing in the depths of depression, busy instead of not being here at all. When I think of it that way, I have no room to bitch…
How can you be in control and have depression?
Being in control is powerful. Feeling helpless, not having control can be debilitating and unhealthy. I have been on both sides of the aisle lately. Sometimes I have felt in control and at other times have allowed myself to feel helpless, to be the victim in the situation. Linking my control issues to depression has…
All I need is a couple of days off
The final cost of my trip to Chicago is almost paid. Today is the 7th day in a row of work before I have a day off. My days off for the SMART Conference wrapped around last week’s schedule and so I have worked straight through since last Wednesday. That’s 9 hours+ of actual work,…
It works for me so who cares what “they say”
Stigma is a funny thing. It is often subtle; you can’t quite put your finger on what you are feeling. Yet there it is. Sometimes, all you must do is say the word and feelings, emotions begin to form inside you. A switch is thrown, and your senses are activated and on alert. Affirmation. See?…
There’s an elephant in the room?
An elephant in the room? Boy, that’s news to me. What in the world would that be doing in my living room? Why would there be something like that in my life? And if it is there, why am I not addressing it? The elephant in the room is an American phrase with murky origins, the first reference being in…
I only do “drive-by” conversations
I realized yesterday that I have not been a conversationalist lately. Now that does not mean that I cannot talk to people, or I do not see the value in talking to people. I always learn something when I talk to people. Often, it is something I do not know, and it is something that…
I’m not the smartest person in the room
You’ve heard the saying; “If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” Well today, I was in the right room, with very smart people. All day, every session I went to, from the continental breakfast to the breakout sessions, I was listening and learning. The presenters were…
