It’s just another Saturday afternoon. Checking and answering emails; perusing the internet; playing with my 4-legged boy Selby. Nothing special.
But today is also World Mental Health Day. And this week has been FULL of opportunities to check and notice where I’ve been regarding depression and my well-being.
I’ve been busy this week, negotiating fees and setting up online interviews with book clubs all across the U.S. that want to feature my book You Aren’t Depression’s Victim. It’s an exciting time, with LOTS of organizations reaching out to me. What I’ve been discovering how to separate the fake ones from the legitimate ones. It’s been a thorny and a tiring process – and I’m learning a lot from it.
One of the many lessons has been a critical one – that I must manage my energy and my frustration if I’m to stay centered and focused on moving forward. It’s not an easy task these days. I seem to be going rounds with so many stakeholders (legit or not) and it’s been draining, I can tell you. And periodically when it seems that things have finally fallen into place, suddenly another thorn shows up to throw it off again!
This would try the patience and heart of the prophet Job!
There have definitely been times where I was almost brought to tears. But I was smart enough at those points to reach out to someone for support (or to just take a few minutes to vent!). None of us goes through life alone, even if we think we can or should. We all need to have strong support in our lives, people we can count on to be there to listen when we need them to, to tell us we’re up to the task when we don’t think so, and to let us know if we’re about to go in a dark or unproductive direction and then to point us forward again.
I’m blessed to have such folks in my life – years-long friends that I can call and talk to at almost any time. I can count on them to “true me up”, as it were, when I’m busy barreling ahead on a not-so-great trajectory. And the good news is that barreling or not, the more I reach out to these wonderful people, the shorter the timeframe when I’m off-track and the sooner I get headed towards the right path again.
So here’s a question for you. Are you using your support system to help you when you get stuck or when you too need to vent or to check your direction? And, if you’re not, are you clear just who your support system includes? Take a look; you might be really surprised to discover you have folks around you who would gladly be there for you if you only asked.
And here’s something else to recognize. We’re not weak or ill-equipped when we ask for support. All the top corporate executives have a team they can call on for ideas, to brainstorm with. Why not the rest of us? We deserve that kind of support in our lives. And I’ll bet if you look hard enough, you’ll find the folks you can count on for that kind of back-up. You just need to be willing – and then you’ll want to start reaching out. You might be pleasantly amazed at the result!
So I say “Go for it!” Set yourself up to win! Why not?!
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