A Kick Up The Arse

As I hinted a couple of days ago, I've been feeling a bit down since the start of the month. Throughout May I had to deal with two or three issues that I've been pushing to the back of my mind for several months. Having (mostly) addressed them, I was expecting to feel happier and more settled, whereas in fact everything unexpectedly went a bit flat and I've been struggling to muster any enthusiasm for anything at all.

I threw myself into my work for a quick fix of adrenaline, but I knew even as I did it that this wasn't a long-term solution. What I really need is to "pull myself together". As Mike recently commented, this is often the most spectacularly unhelpful advice that anyone can be given. However, I have to qualify that statement. You can't say it to your friends, family or loved ones, but you can say it to yourself if you say it with self-respect and believe that it is achievable.

When I consider the things that our friend had on her mind in comparison to the stuff that has troubled me recently, I am embarrassed. While I'm not exactly making a fuss about nothing, I am certainly viewing molehills as mountains, and mistaking the gentle undulations of the tea in my cup for a raging storm.

When I've finished typing this, my right hand will grasp my left arm firmly in a symbolic gesture of "getting a grip". Equally symbolically, I will go to the kitchen, pour a half-full glass of water and reflect on the fact that I am privileged to live an easy, comfortable life. Having done these two things, I will go about the business of getting on with it, remembering as I do that my happiness and contentment depend solely on me and it is wholly within my power to achieve them.

Positive affirmation: I am hydragenic. Confident in the face of adversity.

Posted by Hg on Thursday 20 June 2002 at 11:16.
Received 1 comments so far.

Well said that man. I feel positively inspired myself as well.

Comment by Gordon on Thursday 20 June 2002 at 11:13.

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