We’re going to take a walk on the Dark Side today. Sorry, but it’s what I have to do. I’m late getting this article written because I honestly couldn’t motivate myself to write. It happens. I started several times, but it just wouldn’t come out. I didn’t feel like it. Then it dawned on me: follow that thread. So, here goes.
The holidays are upon us, and I’m just not “feeling” it. I’m trying. I promise I am. I usually love when the days of family get-togethers and copious amounts of food come knocking at my door. The dark clouds of depression and foreboding have, unfortunately, parked over my bald head of late. Nothing out of the ordinary. The holidays do that to everyone sometimes. I’m not special. Maybe hemet-wearing, lick the windows on the short bus special, yes. Usually, I’m not the Debbie-downer, woe is me, here come the holidays and the end of the world kind of special. Yet here I sit.
Depression hits everyone. We look out at the world and take in all of the dreadful stuff happening, and it’s hard to be up-beat. Volcanoes erupting in Iceland, war-torn swaths of land full of dying children, droughts and famine, spy balloons from China, and politicians doing their mean and spiteful work abounds all over the news. The hatefulness of people is there on the screen for all to see and examine. It’s hard to find a glimmer of hope in it all. So, sometimes, our brains just say, “the heck with it” and we let the cloud settle on our minds. Granted, it’s the easiest solution. Everything is going to Hell in a hand basket, so why not me? I’ll just sit here until the fire consumes me, and we’ll be done with it. Ouch. I told you. The Dark Side.
I have real world, adult type problems. Money is tighter than ever, my body is falling apart as I hurtle down the other side of that “over the hill” thing, and even food doesn’t taste as good as it used to. I seem, lately, to be walking a tight rope over the Pit of Despair, and my balance just ain’t what it used to be. I just want to crawl back into bed, pull the covers over my head, and dream it all away. Don’t we all feel this way, sometimes? Yup. We do. What can we do to get out of that feeling?
The sun came out today. Again. The cool morning starts another day of work, chores, and a gaggle of people to deal with. It brings much of the same stuff from yesterday, with a few different twists and variations. It’ll also bring some different feelings, if you look hard at them. That’s the great thing about feelings. If you don’t like the one you have right now, you can change them. Or they’ll change on their own. Or you can take a pill and make them change until you figure out how to change them yourself. They’re just a construct of your mind. Just know that, like the weather, they will change. Take heart, gird up thy loins, and look on the bright side. Where there’s life, there’s hope. We started the day with life, let’s try to breathe some fun fairy dust on it and enjoy it. I promise I will. You do the same. I’ll see you on the sunny side, dear reader!
Rolling Stones 