Screw This, I’m Thriving
The power of mind over matter
To say that the last few weeks have been an ordeal is an understatement. Work has been exceptionally chaotic all summer and things ramped up to a fever pitch last week. Since then, it’s been one thing after another and it’s taken a major toll on my mental health. While I love having a career and find that holding a job actually helps keep me stable, most of my triggers come from the job that I love. How’s that for a double-edged sword?
Because of the chaos, I haven’t been taking the greatest care of myself. Last week I was too fatigued to get in any exercise and definitely didn’t eat balanced, healthy meals. I was running on oat milk lattes, baby carrots and fumes, which is certainly not recommended for anybody and most certainly not for those with mood disorders. This week has been more of the same. I’ve been so stressed out and disorganized that I even showed up a week early to an event that I thought was that night and, for a minute, was confused as to why I was the only one at the venue.
This morning, I woke up feeling awful — exhausted, unbalanced and utterly uneasy. I didn’t know what to do with myself and considered staying in bed all day crocheting with YouTube on autoplay. Just as I was about to make myself comfortable I said ‘screw that, I’m thriving today.’
I put on some comfy leggings and my favorite kawai t-shirt and went to my ultimate form of self-care — a To Do List. I wrote down all the things I could and should do today. Instead of wallowing in my anxiety and uneasiness, I forced myself out of bed, did my morning skincare routine, made two pans of Halloween fudge for coworkers, went for a long run, ran errands, pickled onions, made a kickass salad dressing and had a nice evening with my husband and our pets.
Instead of being worn out from stewing in my mixed episode all day and fatigued in the weird way that comes from doing nothing, I was tired from being busy and feeling pretty proud of myself for taking control and doing something constructive.
I thought this was a story worth sharing because it demonstrates the power of our will and determination and that we often have more control than we realize. It’s also a reminder that staying active and busy can be a salve for our symptoms even when it’s hard to get started.
Keep calm and thrive on!
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