Sometimes the Sadness Demon Attacks Photo
by Xavier Sotomayor
Sometimes, when things get ugly in my life. I feel sad. If I let the sadness rule, I will sink into depression which, of course doesn’t help anything plus depression for me is a lot harder to deal with than simple sadness.
I used to think sadness was the definition of depression, but I have learned over the years that, for me, that isn’t true. Sadness is the first rung of a ladder descending into depression. In the past, I discovered when I was depressed, I wasn’t sad at all. I just didn’t give a crap about anything. For example:
- If someone said, “Hey, Vic, want to go out for coffee?”
- Me: “No. Thanks anyway, I’m too busy today.” (A lie)
- If someone said, “Want to watch (name any good movie)?”
- Me: “I don’t care.”
- If someone said, “Let’s go out to eat tonight. What are you hungry for?”
- Me: “Doesn’t matter where we go. I’m not very hungry. In fact, I’m not feeling very well, let’s get together later.”
These are just a few examples and not super good ones at that, but hopefully you get the idea. I learned years ago to not let my sadness sink into full blown depression. When I’m depressed I I am neither interested nor motivated to do anything except curl up in a little ball alone or binge watch TV.
I have also discovered that when I’m sad or depressed, my creativity comes to a screeching halt. A writer without creativity is like a day without the sun. I sit down to write. I stare at the computer. Nothing comes, not a single idea. If I do manage to choke out something on my keyboard, it’s going to be worthless trite.
Fortunately, I discovered a few tricks that work for me. Maybe they will help some of you kids out there who battle the sadness/depression demons.
When I’m sad, I’ve discovered it really helps to do some small brainless task that shows real improvement after I’m done. Some of those tasks include washing dishes or windows or cleaning a cabinet or organizing my closet. Even brushing Misty (my pup) or flea combing Gracie (my kitty) helps. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and for me that is uplifting.
If I have allowed myself to sink into a deep depression, I have to keep the task very small or I won’t do it because I just don’t care about much of anything.
The other thing I do is read one of my get-rid-of-sadness books. One of my favorite books is PsychoPictography by Vernon Howard. Others include books by Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra. For some reason, watching videos don’t work as well for me. They might work for you though.
My life’s work has evolved over the years into trying to help my kids (that would be you) in any way that I can. That is my happy place. However, there are so many troubles facing our world today, I must take care not to dwell on those things. Instead, I do whatever I can to make things better. My reasoning is that something, even if it’s ever so small, is better than doing nothing.
