Have you ever had a week where you get to the end of it and cannot for the life of you think of one good thing about it? Depressing isn’t it. I recently went through, not a week, but a literally long and sh*tty weekend (my dog was sick). I found myself taking each little hiccup in stride. Deep breaths helped me focus on individuals problems I needed to tackle, clean up the car, make the back yard safe, locate what might have made her sick, clean her up, make sure she got plenty of water, monitor how long and how much she was keeping down, follower her around and clean up whatever she got sick on. I got to the end of it, car cleaned, dog well again, house vomit and other nasty things free….and promptly burst into tears.

 I, like many woman I know, am an after fact freaker-outer. So the problem gets solved but look out recovery period! I often feel very down and slightly comatose after ordeals like this. Whether in the throes of whirl wind attack mode or the downward spiral of my emotional recovery, I often find myself repeating the mantra “nothing lasts forever, nothing lasts forever”. But I realized over this weekend, that this mantra is mildly depressing, and it has a slight negative connotation. Sure it helps you deal with the really really bad stuff, but it doesn’t really make you sit up and realize when really good things are happening in your life.

In college some friends and I used to get together during finals week and play a little game of “name three good things about today”, or even more fun, “name one thing you like about yourself and each person in the room”. Both are pretty silly, but it’s amazing what being reminded of good things can do for your moral. It is often a lot easier to take problems in stride when you can remember all the little wonderful things that make life worth living, though admittedly this can be pretty impossible when you are in the thick of things. Being able to calm yourself during emotional and stressful times also does wonder for you health (naturally there was a health message somewhere in here). Being able to keep calm, helps keep your blood pressure low, which keeps your heart at an even pace which in turn keeps your endocrine and adrenal systems at a normal level. Keeping these systems in check have huge overreaching health effects, all the way from superficial worries like aging to extremely important things like immunity.

I heard a French saying a while back “À la lumière de reflux de la mare”, I am not sure if this is an actual saying or something someone made up, I am not even sure if the grammar is correct. But I do know enough French to know it means “in light of ebbing tides”. And this saying I really like. Tides ebb and flow, rise and fall, they are constantly moving, though sometimes  imperceptibility  slow. Just like life, full of highs and lows. Our joys and hurdles are constantly changing so while tides are high look around you and enjoy the things that make you happy. Use these memories and hold on to them because when tides are low, you might need a whole-lotta happy to help pull yourself through it. And on the other hand these lows will help you really appreciate the highs. A cycle, just like ebbing tides.

So what makes you happy? Know what it is, embrace it and hold on. Life can be a rocky ride and the quality of life and the quality of your health will depend on how you live the journey.

 

Thats all for now. On vacation untill Monday! Have a great week.