Daily Prompt: Singing the Blues

We all feel down from time to time. How do you combat the blues? What’s one tip you can share with others that always helps to lift your spirits?

This is kinda tough – I find myself regularly feeling the blues, but I don’t actually talk about it. I know that most people will acknowledge it – call their girlfriends to talk about all their problems; or confront their issues immediately to rectify the situation etc etc. But I tend to do what most people do – eat their feelings.

Now, in saying that, I regularly make a point of telling people that I’m cold and dead on the inside – that I have no feelings… ‘Cold as ice’. But it’s not actually true. I do have feelings – I just don’t necessarily like to show them very often. I’m far too guarded.

Admittedly, I tend to be quite highly-sensitive to things that people do or say. As somebody who was bullied practically every day since I was a kid, and somebody who has been through more than their fair share of emotional shit… yes, I consider myself as being quite damaged from it all, and as a result, I generally tend to internalise everything and keep things to myself. But it has also led me to take more of a stand for those who are just like I was.

When I was younger, I suffered from depression, and that in-turn led to me suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I really struggled to get myself out of that funk and find my happy… Things that I enjoyed just seemed to be too much to handle. Even things like seeing my friends was just incredibly uncomfortable, because I always felt like I just shouldn’t be around them – and I felt as though they didn’t really know what to say or how to act around me… which made me not want to socialise with them very much.

As I got older, I began to just focus what little energy I had onto the one thing that truly made me happy – dancing. I’d run myself into the ground, to the point where I’d have to crawl home. I’d be so completely exhausted, but I’d still find comfort in happiness in being able to still dance. It’s always been my one true love in life.

Now that I’m older, I find comfort in happiness in all kinds of different scenarios. Being able to actually have some social time with friends can actually make a huge difference for me, and create a positive shift in my mood. I find that it’s generally the small gestures from others that make the biggest impact for me – I guess because it’s so unexpected, and sometimes quite thoughtful.

I remember last year when I had a surgical procedure, i was off work for 2 weeks whilst I was at home, bed-ridden and bored recovering. A friend of mine sent me a small care-package in the mail, and because I hadn’t actually spoken to her recently, it made it so much more of a surprise. I felt completely elated when I received the parcel in the mail, as I had no idea what was inside.

That was a pivotal point in my life – and ever since, whenever a friend of mine has something getting them down, I’ll do something for them as a nice gesture. For example, the same friend who sent me the care package was, one day, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and upset due to some issues with her husband. She was feeling quite sad and confused, and so out of the blue, I decided to send her some flowers. Just a simple bouquet with a small box of chocolates, and the impact that it made on her life was truly remarkable. Upon receiving the flowers, she called me to thank me, and we ended up speaking for almost two hours – allowing her to talk about everything that was upsetting her and getting her down… and immediately, she felt relieved, and didn’t feel (or sound) as upset as she previously was.

So for those of you reading this, and happen to come across somebody you  know who may be feeling a bit down in the dumps – try doing something to surprise them – do something spontaneous either with them or for them. Send them some flowers. Turn up at their house and whisk them away for an adventure somewhere. Get them out of the house, and distract them. Talk to them about what’s troubling them – show them that you care… just do SOMETHING. Even if it goes completely south and turns out to be a terrible idea, you can both at least take comfort in knowing that you tried to do something nice for them.

It’s better to try and fail, than to never try at all.

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/prompt-singing-the-blues/

Daily Prompt: Let’s Go Crazy

Sometimes, we act on impulse: it could be something as small as ordering that special dessert on the menu, maybe asking out that cute boy or girl, or as large quitting your job and selling everything you own to become a shepherd in New Zealand. What’s the most crazy, outrageously impulsive thing you’ve ever done? If you’ve never succumbed to temptation, dream a little. If you gave yourself permission to go a little crazy, what would you do?

I walk a conflicting path in life. Part of me wants to be impulsive and spontaneous, but the other part of me is the logical / rational part that considers all the ‘what-ifs’ of being impulsive and spontaneous; weighing up all the pros and cons. I’m my own contradiction, and it’s fucking exhausting.

I find that I tend to be more impulsive with Hulk, however he’s the one who usually says ‘No’. But to be fair, I also have my moments of saying no to things as well. I think when I was younger (and single) I was much more impulsive. I was only responsible for myself, and that worked for me.

I remember one of the most impulsive things I did was jump in a car with a mate of mine, and we drove around to pick up a couple of other friends and then went to go check out the Christmas Lights in a particular suburb. Then my friend (who was driving) simply decided to do a roadtrip. It was about 10:30pm and we decided to just go for a drive to Geelong.

Once we got to Geelong, we decided to go to Torquay, and then before we knew it, we were on the Great Ocean Road. It was the middle of the night and after a very, very long drive we found ourselves in Port Campbell. By this stage it was about 3am. I remember that it was cold and foggy. We drove past the Twelve Apostles, and we couldn’t see them because of the fog. We pulled up in Port Campbell for a toilet break, and because nothing was open, we turned around and came home – except we came home the inland way, as it was much quicker.

As we were driving, I remember we pulled over in the middle of nowhere (literally!) just so we could stop and watch the sunrise. We were deep in farming area, so all the ground was vast and flat, and the sunrise put an incredible glow on all the different coloured crops surrounding us. And for the first time the whole trip, everybody was completely silent. It was just a beautiful moment.

Breakfast was at a McDonalds at a service station on the highway back to Melbourne, and not long after that, we approached the outer suburbs of Melbourne. We then hit the morning traffic… (did I forget to mention that it was a weekday? I think it was a Thursday!) which meant dropping everybody off took soooo much longer than we had anticipated. By the time I got back to my place, it was about 10:30am… a full 24hrs after we’d set off on our journey.

I remember getting home, having a shower (and subsequently falling asleep temporarily in the bath under the running water!), then crawling into bed and completely crashing. When I woke up, it was almost midnight. I made myself some 2-minute noodles, checked all the messages on my phone (Sorry, no interest in going out tonight! too exhuasted!) then went back to bed, and slept for another eleven hours. I was wrecked, but it was a fun little adventure.

Now that I’m older, I don’t get to do anything like that anymore. However, my plans of being a bit impulsive have changed somewhat…

For about 18months now, I’ve been slowly building up my frequent flyer points. I realised a while ago that I could get a one-way ticket to L.A. or N.Y. and I’d just have to save up enough cash for accommodation etc, and all I’d need to do is pack a bag and go.

Granted, this was something I’ve decided that I’d do if I ever happened to breakup with my partner. It’s not something that I anticipate happening, but it was something that I brought to his attention last year around my birthday, when I said I would disappear overseas if he tried to throw me a surprise party…. that’s how much I dislike them!!

Now, my recent statement has shown me that I have accrued enough points for a return flight to either London, LA or NY… which I’m LOVING!! It’s not everyday somebody like me has an opportunity to travel overseas on a whim. I’d love to be able to do it, but I’d want to make sure that Hulk can come with me… so it might need some further planning. A holiday in New York… yaaaaasss!!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/daily-prompt-lets-go-crazy/