It seems to get the best of me every year – April. I’ve written about it before here, here, and here. To sum it up I’ve lost 5 immediate family members during the month of April, years apart, but all in that month.
So each year as April rolls around depression covers me like a deep fog.
I thought I’d try a new tactic this year. I decided to go easy on myself and not try to focus on my feelings or “fixing” them – I needed to just be.
I needed to be ok with the fact that I was sad and I needed to come to terms with the fact that there are both joys and sorrows in life. One wouldn’t make such an impact on our lives without the other.
Self-care became my main focus. I read a bit more and watched tv a bit more. I stayed off social media as much as possible – only getting on for my blog-related accounts and not my personal accounts. I spent time listening to podcasts of sermons and uplifting praise and worship music.
As the month dragged on I realized how much I needed to focus my thoughts on things that were positives.
I meditated on Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Whenever negative thoughts crept in I quoted the verse and would direct my thinking to something I knew to be true, then noble, then right, and so on. It helped. A lot. Even on the days when I had to start with the truth as basic as, “I’m alive and breathing.”
I also decided I needed a new exciting venture. I had been praying for quite a while about a particular idea I had in mind and I thought God was letting me know that now was a good time to being. This is where my special project comes in!
I think too often we can lose our identity in our illness. We feel more like a patient and less like a woman, mom, wife, friend, etc. I love this blog and I’m going to continue writing here, but I knew I needed something else that didn’t leave me constantly focusing on my illness and the impact it has on my life. I need to be spending time on the others aspects of my life too.
Next Saturday, the 13th of May, I’m kicking off another blog. That’s right! I may be crazy but who knows, it may be a blast!
My new project is FullHeartEmptyNest.com. I guess the name kinda speaks for itself. In this new blog, I’m going to be talking about all things empty nest-related. Faith, marriage, adult kids, grandbabies, and more. If you happen to be an empty nester, or you’re approaching that season of life, I’d love for you to join me over there too! It’ll be nice to spend time on something other than our illnesses, right?!?!
I’ll still be writing here. You can’t get rid of me that easily. I just think this new outlet will bring a bit of balance to my life that’s been missing. The preparation I’ve been doing for Full Heart Empty Nest has rekindled my creativity and I have some awesome things in the works for this blog too!
So that’s what I’ve been up to and why I’ve been a bit quiet. Self-care isn’t a luxury my friends, it’s a necessity! And it might be exactly what you need to get through the difficult times in your life.
