September. A change of seasons.
The days are getting shorter. Nature pulls the shade on daylight earlier each day preparing us for “our long winter’s nap.” This is the time for the depression-prone to monitor themselves more closely.
One particular type of depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is very prominent in my part of the world. You’ve got to be tough to live here in Michigan.
I am.
Because fall is the doorway to winter,
God gives us this beautiful season beforehand so we don’t become too disgruntled later on. If you live north of the equator and have experienced depression, you might be panicking a bit now.
As you know from my home page, I’ve been depression free for years now. But as I always remind my followers, that doesn’t mean I haven’t had some bad days and even some bad weeks. But I’ve worked hard to understand the part I personally played in my depression. Consequently, I developed my own set of tools that help me cope. Now if depression rears its ugly head, I just take out my tools and start the repair job.
I’ve learned to work my plan and to work it at the right time. Preventing a depressive episode is often about the timing. It helps to be proactive about your “dark winter’s nap”.
My plan simply means making good choices each step of the way. And, pay attention to this next phrase, we are always making choices.
For example, no one makes us sit on the sofa watching TV. We decide that. And sometimes, it’s perfectly ok to watch TV and munch on some non-healthy food. (No binges, though because then there’s that whole guilt thing you have to deal with later. For me, it’s not worth it.)
Sometimes I intentionally decide to indulge myself. I will eat junk food and catch up on my taped TV shows and love every minute of it. Sometimes it’s exactly what I need. But, and this is important, if I was having a bad day and I just park myself in front of the TV without thinking it through, it would not be therapeutic. Am I making all this clear?
Intentional choosing means we’re deciding for ourselves how to spend whatever discretionary time we have. When I make a deliberate choice to indulge myself, it seems to prevent me from just allowing it to happen in the future. It’s kind of like the old saying, “A little of what tickles your fancy is good.” Again, it’s because I’m the one calling the shots.
Enjoy these next couple of months of spectacular beauty but remember to begin now to prepare yourself for the long winter. (As I write this, I remember that not all of you who will read this, live in areas where you have long winters. but I don’t envy you/ I love fall in Michigan. It’s absolutely, indescribably, beautiful.
God bless and I hope you have a good day.
