You pick yourself up.
It's much easier said than done, I know. This past weekend was one of those that you dread, the kind that make you question why you're even trying. Nothing particularly bad happened, I just spent the day sitting around not doing anything, and I let myself think too much.
That's why it's important to have hobbies, things to keep us busy. It's great to make plans with friends, but that doesn't always happen, especially when they're all studious college students.
But this isn't about how to avoid those weekends (I'll save that post for another day). This is about how to recover.
The most important thing is that you can't keep doing what you did over the weekend. If you spent the weekend munching on snacks and watching "Heroes" on Netflix (like me) you can't let yourself do that on Monday. Yes, I love "Heroes", and I want to watch the rest of it, but I can't sit all day and watch it. I have to give myself a one-episode-a-day rule, or maybe even less. And I can't keep buying snacks when I know I'll just end up eating them all in one sitting. Neither of these things help my depression--in fact, they hurt me.
The next most important thing (and very close to the first) is that you need to look at what you did right over the weekend. Even as I typed that, it was difficult for me to find something to talk about. It seemed like I did everything wrong. But that's not true--I kept myself from giving up, and I kept up with two of my goals: scripture reading and journal writing. And, from a spiritual perspective, I had one of the most spiritual prayers of my life Saturday night, so the Lord obviously doesn't think I'm a lost cause.
Third, make goals for this weekend. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to visit someone? Plan for the weekend ahead of time, and it will be easier to make it through without falling back into old habits and thoughts.
Obviously I'm not an expert on this, but just going through these steps has helped me not only recover but be hopeful. I feel more prepared to take on future challenges, whether or not they're on the weekend. There's a lot of mental power in doing something for yourself, no matter how small.
Best of luck! I know you all can do it!
Remember life is beautiful!
♥tg
Wow Tiffany! Great thoughts! I had one of those weekends. It started on Thursday! Depression tries to define me. I continue to fight. You are spot on every point. For scripture, Beth Moore has a book where she compiled Scriptures in categories w peoples personal struggles and specific scriptures, pertaining to that struggle. I bought it specifically for the section on depression and what God's Word says to get us through. It's called "Praying God's Word". It's saved me from falling into the pit more than once!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing, Amanda! And that sounds like a great book--I'll have to look it up.
DeleteProud of you for looking at the positive and picking yourself back up!
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