Julz is a very professional, organized, proactive personal growth advocate & a brand visibility / social media exposure mentor, serving conscious entrepreneurs. ...she has a free gift for our readers ! She invites you to "Grab your Free Visibility cheat sheet http://PRJulz.com & check out my show http://PositiveImpact.TV."
Why I Now Welcome Adversity
There is a good reason why I chose to be a Mental Health Advocate. Life has thrown me down, kicked me repeatedly, and every time I'd get up a new challenge would come my way. At one point I did collapse with depression and anxiety, mental fog, PTSD, a new ADHD diagnosis, you name it... I was forgetting a pot on the stove, locked keys inside the house, and did all sorts of careless things without thinking. It was a dark time. I took a lot of therapy, different kinds. I stayed away from meds as much as I could, trying to find natural alternatives to the ones being prescribed. During the depth of depression, nothing made me smile, I had no hope, no dreams, I took no joy in doing things I previously loved. I was disgusted with myself for being depressed. I hated the feeling, but couldn't do a thing about it.
I also gained weight and got out of shape. Sweets were my go-to stress
management and sleep was a way to escape the sad reality. I tried listening
to some motivational stuff, and at times it made me feel hopeful, but then I
slid back into the hopeless state of desperation for someone to come and
rescue me, because I had no energy to do it myself.
ONE DAY I WAS SICK OF BEING SICK
with self-pity and feeling like a victim, that I somehow snapped out of it and
started THINKING for a change.
- I stopped listening to sad and depressing music, and I started creating playlists that uplift my mood and playing that in the background all day.
- I started using essential oils in my house, citrus ones mainly, because they stimulate good mood. I put a little cotton ball soaked in orange oil by my laptop and sniffed it each time I had an impulse to sink back into the blues.
- I read somewhere the houseplants do miracles for our state of being, so I went and bought some more, and also cut flowers. Seeing green around me, and having more oxygen as a side benefit, had an amazing effect on me. Then I started an InstaGram page to share positive quotes. This meant I had to research them and find a good image to illustrate it. Eventually learnt to make videos and reels to make these quote come to life. I started looking forward to the next quote. I also started following a few similar pages.
- I forced myself to move, and to get out of the house. First, even to sit on a balcony for a few minutes, then to go for a brief walk, then do a 5-minute low intensity home workout. Before I knew it, I was doing longer, more consistent workouts at home, and my walks turned into jogging, and, eventually I returned to my past passion of running.
- Last but not least, I started learning new skills that would help me battle depression. I was surprised to learn that we can actually control our thoughts. This was a relief, such an empowering piece of knowledge that changed EVERYTHING. I began working on becoming more self-aware, to catch my negative thoughts and replace them with something positive or get distracted with one of the tips mentioned above.
Thank you Julia for sharing your expertise :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Julz!
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