..what do you do?

Apart from some relative pockets of happiness, i think ive swallowed an entire banquet of them over a year..or two....or more...

...definately more.

The worst thing is when you actually drink in some happiness, and feel like all will be ok, only to be slapped back down again.

Despite that, was always a half-full kinda girl..but lately feeling half-empty.

What do you do to lift your spirits when you feel like the world is on your shoulder?

I watch great sporting moments.

I take my dogs for a walk

I listen to Springsteen, Mary Black and the Silver bullet band and on occasion put AIDA on the turntable

But most of all, if required I think of some of the good things I have done, achieved and performed, when I have put a smile to someone's face, give Ian a kick or just pour myself a fine Single Malt.

I watch great sporting moments.

I take my dogs for a walk

I listen to Springsteen, Mary Black and the Silver bullet band and on occasion put AIDA on the turntable

I can't imagine that she's particularly happy about that. Doesn't she get dizzy?

Physical and mental exercise....of a positive nature. Either a swim or a walk and chatting to friends or family.

Violent conduct involving an adversary and a couple of pillows is a good stress reliever as well.

Yep. i'm having one of those moments too..

According to Paulo Coelho " Warrior of Light " we should concentrate on daily activities, and let the bad times pass, although it may seem as difficult as climbing a waterfall.

Fight against injustice ! The brave die once, but the coward die everyday !

..Just saying.. In fact life is not easy..

Sorry to hear about that eek & hope things turn around for you soon.

They say day has no choice but to follow night

On a side note I do find it hard personally to feel like life is not going ok for me here.

I mean I have always felt lucky in my life & when looking back on life see that I never ever was hungry...

Have never been forced into fighting a war nor have had one come to me.

But most of all here in Thailand I have never seen such duality

I mean I see a guy going down a bumpy excuse of a sidewalk with no legs on a

sorry excuse for a skateboard....then I see a Mercedes go by...does make you wonder

So since we only ever know things by comparison...meaning we only know we feel good

because we have previously been sick at some point...I guess I am saying count your blessings

Chok Dee

What normally makes me feel better is...

To sit down and try and determine if the frequency of S. sandwiches can be linked to any of my actions or the actions of others in my life

Then either try to change my actions or reduce my interaction with the responsible parties

You will never be able to completely eliminate any problems occurring, but I find that doing the above makes me feel like I am making a plan an doing something, which helps

Also I find that in many cases it does end up in reducing the number of shit Samies flying my way...

Eek - sorry to hear that things have been tough

I went through a very difficult phase for almost three years, and looking back I guess some tips I can offer are:

sometime it helps to focus on the smaller things, rather than let the big picture overwhelm you

go about doing normal small things in your day to day life as much as you can

In my case I felt like I had way too much time on my hands, so I did the following:

I spent a fair bit of time volunteering - it can be anything - something that will either utilise your skills, or give you new skills, or new contacts

Helped friends with their uni assignments (again it was more about using my own skills to make me feel productive, I didnt do things on their behalf but spent time tutoring them I suppose....)

Helped family members with their work (on aspects that they couldnt cope - eg. English language)

went on daily exercise - jogging 5km every day - which was a big deal for me..considering I couldnt run past 600meters previously

music - especially when feeling a little bit depressed/low - I put classical music on at really loud volume - that lifts me up somehow

with some of the above, the underlying idea is that....Im sorta too depressed to spend time with friends, cos I dont want them worrying about my issues, but at the same time I know I shouldnt be wallowing in depression - so the volunteering is a good compromise. Im still with people, keeping busy, but they are strangers Im not about to discuss my personal issues with.

If stressed and overly busy at work - I take time out by organising and tidy my space. my logic is - I need time away from work, but I feel too busy to be walking out for a long extended lunch or a coffee, so tidying up is a compromise

If at home I clean and tidy.

it sounds cliche, but every now and then when I start to feel like everything is going wrong, and I cant deal with the challenges any more, I look around, and inevitably am reminded of how fortunate I still am compared to many.

all the best eek

For me a change of scenery always worked. Not running away from problems, but changing the view for a period.

Hope you are ok Eek!.

Eddie

A good think back to all the other crappy stuff that I have had to endure usually makes me realize that this too shall pass. Not very uplifting I am afraid but it usually works. Life can be shit but its generally better than the alternative.

And then, once I have had a good review of how awful it can be, I think of the positive things I have in my life; my friends family and the people who actually care about me.

Thanks for sharing guys. Sorry to read that some of you arent having such easy times either.

I did read this when you all first replied, but just didnt know yet how to respond.

I will work it out the stuff going on.. eventually.

Im not ungrateful for the good things i DO have, far from it. Just that im feeling the weight of many things that i cant even get into here.

There was a while there when i started realising i had almost forgotten what unburdened happiness felt like. That totally blissful lighthearted feeling where you feel good, things are good, and you arent expecting the next knock down. There was a moment where i felt that lighthearded feeling again, and then i suddenly realised how sad i have been.

But, im working through it.

For everyone here, i wish you good times. For those struggling with anything at this time, i wish it resolved for you.

Thanks again x

Unburdened happiness is, I suspect, really only felt fully by children.

make lemonade