As I talked about last week, I am going through a 21 day devotional on depression in which I found some interesting tidbits.  As promised, I will share what she suggests and how it is working for me.

Some of the things she suggests to do are things I’ve done in the past, but to be honest in my frazzled and overwhelmed state, I just didn’t do them very often.  I felt I didn’t have time to do them.  As real estate investors, we are busy 24/7 trying to find and flip properties.  People call at all hours and we may need to run out to see a property or get a cashier’s check or do some calculations.  Sometimes I just didn’t remember to do them.  My brain is so fogged, I almost forget who I am!  And, frankly, I didn’t want to do some of them and I’ll explain why in a minute.

Here are some of the things she suggests:

1. Keep a prayer journal to pray for others–take your mind off yourself

Now this I could do. I just didn’t, but I made a point to pray for my readers, my Facebook friends, my family, my children and anyone I happened to see on the news or on the street who I felt could use prayer.  This was easy to do once I resolved to make time and it made me feel useful and took my eyes off my own issues for a while.  Feels good to do for others rather than spending all my waking hours trying to make in income and fix stupid stuff that goes awry.

2. Speak thankfulness over three things each day

This was pretty easy for me as well.  I am, and always have been, thankful for many things in my life that God has given me: my children, my dh, my family…but even things like green grass we didn’t have to water (it rains a lot here in NW Indiana) and birds chirping outside my window.  Though I have pain, I am thankful it isn’t as bad as some I know who have fibro.  Though I have fatigue, I am thankful I CAN do things I need to do.  I’m thankful for friends who check up on me and pray for me.  And I’m thankful for the opportunities God provides that can bring us an income to feed our family.

3. Listen to something funny or watch a funny show

This was not met with any resistance in my home!  We all love humor and a prescription for humor is most welcome.  It doesn’t solve any of our immediate problems, but it does help to ease the stress!  We take the time at the end of the day to watch a funny sit com or movie.  We enlist the aid of sarcasm when appropriate…or anytime we can muster a joke!  Feels soo good to laugh after having such struggles, stress and strain to deal with every day for two months since my dh lost his job.

4. Smile

Now this one was harder.  The devotional said to smile when you don’t feel like it.  Well, that I have to tell you, didn’t feel very natural.  Anyone remember the I Love Lucy episode where they made a movie and Ethel says to Lucy, “Smile when you say that!” and Lucy puts on a forced smile and says, “I’m accusin’ you a cheaten!”  Well, that’s pretty much how I felt doing it.  But the more I watched funny shows and engaged in humor as I discussed homeschooling or business, the more naturally it came.

5. Listen to praise music for at least 10-15min per day

THIS one was the hardest one for me!  I actually waited a long time into the 21 day devotional to begin doing this.  Why?  It made me cry.  I was crying all the time before…several times a day…out of frustration or overwhelm or sadness or loss or hormones or because the toilet paper commercials are just soooooo sad!  Listening to praise music just makes me cry and I felt like if I started to cry, I just might not be able to stop.  But, you know what I found?  Crying helped.  Sometimes I had to cry 7 or 10 times a day.  I cried in the shower. I cried as I was making dinner. I cried while making the bed.  Everything set me off.  And then there were those darned toilet paper commercials!  ROFL  Only kidding, but tv commercials did set me off sometimes.  Odd things would make me cry. Things I never would have expected.  I cried and cried.  Then I picked myself up, wiped off what was left of my mascara and moved on.

I still cry during the day.  I don’t always know why. Sometimes I am frustrated or overwhelmed.  Sometimes I’m stressed.  And sometimes I just cry.  My life is complicated, chaotic and a lot of it is up in the air.  Doesn’t feel very secure.  I don’t often feel God’s peace, but I am learning to choose joy and I can see it from where I am.  I see it through my chronic illnesses. I see it through the loss of a steady income.  I can see it through the struggles of a real estate investment business.  I can see it through all the things that will have to change in the next two months.  But I can see it.  I hope you can too.

I shared a meme on my Facebook wall the other day that said, “Every day is a new beginning.  Take a deep breath and start again.”  I can’t remember where I found it or who the author is, but he is right.  A new day holds many possibilities–even for someone with multiple chronic illnesses who is struggling to overcome a job loss, who has a dd getting married and whose lease is up a month later.  It’s not easy to choose joy.  It takes determination and patience but, the author of this devotional says it can be done.  I can have joy, if I work at it.  I think I’ll try.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace¹ as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” -Romans 15:13