Let's Get Started!

I started posting notes on my Facebook page and now I think it would be fun to have a blog page where everyone can add to the fun. I have found that being positive - actually writing or saying things that are good about yourself, your day, your family - has a profound effect on the way you see everything and the way you react. When I was depressed after having my last baby I had a tough time being cheerful. After taking some medicine to get my brain on track again, I realized that my attitude played a big role in what I was feeling. While it may sound like that means it was all in my head, that's not entirely correct. Clinical depression is as much a disease as the flu or a cold and should be treated with caution and care. When you have reached the debts of that kind of depression, it becomes a physical ailment that must be treated like any other physical illness (i.e. with medicine, a doctor's care, etc.) But to keep ourselves from slipping away to that point again takes some brain training. Luckily when I was depressed I had friends who convinced me to see a doctor. I was under the old-fashioned impression that "depression" just meant I was sad. It was all in my head. All I had to do was think it away. I was wrong. I went to a psychologist who let me talk things out and gave me anti-depressants to help me out, but that was only part of the problem, I learned. Once I controlled my physical symptoms, I needed to exercise my brain, my mental attitude so to speak, by working at becoming positive again. Later I went to a therapist who actually had me do some mental exercises and that's when I learned the power of positive thinking. Your brain is stimulated by physical and mental input and the mental part I had power over. A couple years later as I dealt with a middle-ear infection, I re-learned the power my brain had over my body. The infection was just not going away and it was very painful. One day, sick of dealing with it, I looked at myself in the mirror and said aloud "you WILL get better! This ear infection is going away NOW!" To my surprise and delight, the infection was gone within two days. If only I had realized this three weeks earlier! A couple years ago as I teetered on the edge of depression once again, I knew I still had time to drive it away before it became clinical. I had recently been involved in a leadership group and followed the advice of those people: read positive self-help books and listen to CDs of speakers with positive advice. I also got a "Grateful Journal" from my daughter with instructions to write down three positive things that I was thankful for each day. I did this and soon I was feeling much better.
As I live each day with a positive attitude, I am able to cope with my daily life much better. Hearing from my friends makes me even more happy and helping others feel good again gives me pleasure in my heart. This site is dedicated to that kind of positive reinforcement and soul-building opportunities that we as women can give to each other. If we keep each other buoyed, no one will drown. So, let's get started!