I am writing this entry before 7 in the morning. I am not much of a morning person, but I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I have already experienced one disappointing email, plus I weighed myself this morning and the numbers went way up instead of down. Considering that I thought I had exercised a lot in the last week, I am wondering why that happened. Needless to say, I am already a little bummed about my day.
Here’s the good news for me. I will more than likely rebound from my disappointments of this early morning. I will figure out what needs to be learned and/or changed, and I will move on. While I’m bummed about it all now, I have confidence that it will pass. However, there is always the chance that the disappointments will keep rolling in, and it will get harder to let them pass. If my mood doesn’t improve in a few weeks, then I need to start thinking about something more serious, like depression.
I mentioned in a post not too long ago that I really have no idea what the experience of depression is like. No doubt it is different for different people, but I currently couldn’t tell you about it first hand. But, I imagine that for some, the scenario plays out in a way that I described above. Maybe you have a little disappointment. And then another. And then another. Those little disappointments start adding up, and you are struggling to deal with them all. Before you know it, it could become overwhelming. That is one of the scary things about depression in my mind – that it can seem to come out of nowhere.
While there are no surefire ways to prevent depression, I can tell you that for me I will be sharing my disappointments with others and possibly asking for their feedback and suggestions. That is helpful for me, and that may keep me from dwelling on it longer than needed.
How about you? When you face disappointments, how do you deal with them? Do you talk to a family member or friend? Do you find a way to process it on your own? While disappointments are inevitable, there are ways to help keep them from bringing you down for longer periods of time.