Coffee With Maddie




Is winter almost over? This time of year I ask myself that question about as often as my kids ask, “Are we there yet?” on a road trip. My suggestion is if we aren’t going to have a real winter, let’s move right on into spring. When the big storm hit out east recently, I could hardly watch the news. Why couldn’t it have been us? A lot of people would have been happy to get 18-24+ inches of snow - including my kids and me. More importantly, we know how to deal with that much snow. People were shoveling their driveways out with cake pans. Hello! Can you imagine someone doing that here? They’d get laughed right out of the neighborhood!

Okay . . . enough whining! But, for me, the winter blues or cabin fever - whatever you want to call it - has come to call. It began to dawn on me when I found myself parked in my La-Z-Boy for hours on end reading novels. I now have a choice. I can keep doing what I’m doing or I can choose to move on. And it’s time to move on!

I’ve struggled with depression at different times in my life. Now, once I realize what’s going on, I start using “tools” I’ve learned in counseling to help send it on its way! One question I ask myself is “What am I not doing to take care of myself?” It usually boils down to the fact that I’ve slacked off in some key areas of my life. Once I start doing the “maintenance” work to get back on track, I’m okay.

It was time to go back to my bookshelf - this time not for a novel, but for a non-fiction book to help jog my memory on ways to help myself move on. The book I finally settled on was Do Plastic Surgeons Take VISA? And Other Confessions of a Desperate Woman, by Kathy Peel. What an awesome book! It definitely gave me some ideas to get back on track. If you’re feeling down at all, maybe they’d be helpful to you too.

Get up off the couch (or out of the La-Z-Boy in my case). Do something active. Go for a walk or clean out a closet. Volunteer your time and talents at a school, nursing home, food shelf or shelter. Do something different. It may help to lift your mood.

Smile. I consciously try to remember to smile. Even when I don’t feel like smiling, I find I feel better when I do. I especially like the smiles I receive in return!

Hang around positive people. When I’m feeling down, I choose not to be around the negative people I know. I choose to be with my friends who are positive. Open up the shades or curtains. Let as much light into your house as you can. Turn on more lights if you need to. Darkness can be depressing. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. My son who’s in college had been feeling down lately and he put this suggestion to the test. He and a friend of his gave each other Mohawks! It was something he’d always wanted to try. He and I talked about it and he commented how surprised he was that his mood has improved significantly just by doing something different. Very different if you ask me!

Talk to someone! If you need more help than just making some lifestyle changes, please seek it out. I procrastinated going to a counselor for many years and suffered in silence, not knowing I had a choice in the matter. Today I know I have a choice. Thanks to counseling there are very few days when I’m depressed. It can work for you too!

Are you ready for spring? I know I am. Do you have a choice to make today? Is it time to make some changes and move on? Good luck to you.

Until next week . . . God bless you and yours! -Maddie

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Coffee With Maddie: Archive;
Blessings
Magazine Junkie!
Maddie Goes to College
Changes
Let the season begin!
Getting Older!
I'm Getting Fat!
I Love a good book!
Family Games
Manners!
Someone to Love
A Special Anniversary
New Year Goals
My Spinal Tap!
The Book Store
I Salute Our Men in Uniform
Valentine's Day
My Birthday Choices
Current Events and Politics

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About the Author;
Maddie is a dear friend from the Midwest who will touch your heart with her gentle stories of home of family. You can just picture yourself at the kitchen table any early morning with Maddie, a fresh cup of coffee, maybe the smell of bacon in the air, and a log on the fire to take out the chill.

Talk to Maddie at ...
Maddie@boomerjournals.com