I've recently returned to my work as a therapist on the psych unit of a hospital, and I've really been missing reading/writing/blogging. I had way too much fun on maternity leave with all my time (my son's an angel and would take long naps, allowing me to write all I wanted). So I was dragging my feet a little at going back. Much to my surprise, one of my coworkers had a writing assignment for me! She's putting together a meditation book for the patients--daily readings for a whole month written by the therapists. I thought I'd share what I came up with, based on a Dr. Seuss quote someone tweeted recently.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.”
–Dr. Seuss
Sometimes when depression strikes, we have a hard time caring. About loved ones. About ourselves. About life. It’s a struggle just to get out of bed in the morning. We have to force ourselves to do everything, even the basics, like eating and showering. It seems like a black hole is constantly waiting to swallow us up. Worse, not caring about anything saps our motivation. So how do we beat it? We make changes. Small ones at first. We get up in the morning and make our beds. Maybe the next day we shower. Little by little, we fight back. We get involved—maybe through volunteer work. We start to care about others. We start to realize we’re part of a bigger picture, and we’re not alone. We talk to people—maybe a counselor. We begin to work on the things that contribute to our depression. We start to remember that we are good people. Depression doesn’t define us. But most of all, we begin to care again. About ourselves. About our life.
Thought for the day
Today I will remember that the best way to get better is to start caring about myself again.
