Depression Getaway with Wendy Love

Last time I promised I would share the inspiring story I mentioned to you which resulted in me hearing from some old friends. I found this story in the book "The Finishing Touch" by Charles Swindoll. Here it is: "Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish pianist and statesman, was once scheduled to perform at a great concert hall in America. It was a black tie affair – high society extravaganza.

It's a good day for a memory post where I indulge in reminiscing about something pleasant. Too often when I am depressed I will dwell on negative memories. Not a helpful way to think. Reminiscing about some good things is a super depression getaway. Recently I came across an old story (which I will share next time) that inspired me so much I decided to share it on facebook. As a result I had some nice chats with a few old friends.

Faith is a hard thing to understand for a lot of people, it is a hard thing to get for some people, but for me it has always been easy. Life has not been easy but faith has. Once I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of my life I always believed. I never wavered. Have I seen a bunch of great miracles? No, not really. But I have seen many little miracles and to me any miracle is great.

Okay, okay, maybe I am just using my blog as a soapbox to talk about my grandchildren, especially my newest one, number four. But today for a sharing memories post I would like to remember when I became a grandmother for the first time. It was the fall of 2007. Nothing could have prepared me for the thrill, the joy, the physical excitement, the emotional high and the peace to my heart each time I held that little one. Even if I wasn't having a good day, seeing that little one would make it into a good day, a great day. It even got to the point that if I WAS having a bad day, I would make arrangements to visit just to boost my spirits.

There is a story about a sparrow which I love. It is found in the bible in the book of Matthew 10:29 when Jesus is instructing the people to NOT BE AFRAID . He says "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." I love that image, not only the image of God caring for the sparrows but caring for me too. This is a comfort to me when I am depressed.  I do not think 'if God really cared for me I wouldn't even have this old depression' .  Instead I think 'what a comfort it is to know that God cares for me. It helps me deal with this old depression.' There is a lovely song that explains this idea better than I can. Here are the lyrics:

It's a good day to remember something happy for a depression getaway. Good memories are healing. Interesting that when I googled for a picture of a 'little girl shopping with her dad' there were few choices. I guess girls and dads don't typically shop together. Not so in my family. My dad liked shopping. My mom didn't. I liked doing just about anything with my dad and so if he was going shopping, so was I!

If I said 'that's not worth crowing about' I would be suggesting that what you are saying has very little value. I think to most of us we would feel that way about the crow. In contrast to so many other beautiful birds who make beautiful sounds, the crow is visually unappealing and makes a sound that is interrupting, not uplifting. And you can't ignore the sight or the sound of them, they are too big and too noisy. But God sees them in a much higher light and I thought I would share that with you today. The first time a crow, or 'raven' is mentioned in the bible is early on in Genesis 8:6 after Noah and his ark of animals have been floating around in flooded waters for 40 days. "After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven...." Wow, the raven (crow) was the first creature to exit the ark! He had an important job!

We have birdfeeders at our house. They provide such enjoyment for my husband and I. We are retired, we have time to appreciate the little things and we love the birds. We only have two regular birdfeeders in the back and two hummingbird feeders in the front but they keep both us and the birds quite busy. Bird watching can be a wonderful depression getaway!

God really does help me deal with depression. I can't imagine facing this insidious illness without faith in him.  I didn't always believe in God. As big a step as becoming a believer was, as life changing as this was, it is a really simple short story.

Last time I shared a little story from my own very sheltered childhood. I cannot complain about much of my childhood, it was almost idyllic, but I decided when I became a parent that I did not want to shelter my children as much as I was sheltered. I wanted them to be more prepared for the realities of life. This decision kind of backfired in one instance. Let me tell you about it. Having never been to a funeral until I was 19 years old, I decided that I would expose my children to that experience at the first appropriate opportunity.

What did my 8th birthday party have to do with a sheltered childhood? Everything! This particular memory is a bit less of a depression getaway and you will learn why as you read. My 8th party looms in my memories only because we have family movies of it. Otherwise I would not have such a vivid memory of it at all. As a matter of fact, I can't really remember it, I just know the movie version. What is interesting about this party is that my mother is not there. She was in a 'home' having a nervous breakdown at the time. But this was 1958 and people didn't discuss such things with children.

Winning! It's more fun than losing. Last time I shared a story about winning a door prize. This time I am going to talk about a different kind of prize, the prize that comes with choosing to have faith in God. From the first day I accepted Jesus into my heart I have been a winner with God . It was like entering a free draw that day but there was more than one prize. Now the prizes are not concrete prizes such as a car or a book, but rather abstract prizes such as love, forgiveness, hope, joy, healing... you get the idea. When I first entered into a relationship with God, I will be honest, I was looking for something, I had an agenda. I wanted to be healed from a chronic pinched sciatic nerve problem which caused me a lot of pain and frankly still does. I wasn't so much interested in God himself, but in what I could get out of him. Well, I wasn't all wrong. I got a lot out of him and I still do. I pray often and get answers to most of my prayers, most of the time.

That's right, I'm a winner! Recently at a trade show in the small town where I live, I talked to a physiotherapist who had walking sticks for sale. I was intrigued.  I am a walker as you will know if you are a regular reader. I see people using these sticks and kind of wondered about it. So I asked. She gave me a neat rundown of the added benefits of adding these tools to your daily walk. I was taken with the idea but they were $45 for the pair and I didn't feel like splurging that day. She suggested I go to the prize table and put my ticket stub in there for the walking sticks, since she had donated a pair for the door prize.

Happy Mother's Day to me! I am going to tell you about my two favourite depression getaways and brag about my children at the same time. My daughters are the women who made me a mother and a grandmother! They bring joy to my life and I am seldom depressed when I am with them. They have brought me no shame, much love and continue to be a positive part of my life, a pivotal part, the part which gives my life meaning.

As I share another personal memory I hope you are enjoying getting to know me a little better. Remembering and/or recording happy personal memories can be a great depression getaway. This one is about the kitchen in the house where I grew up. Why? Well, I am reading a book called "Writing Through the Darkness" which is all about writing to help depression. I am not ready to recommend this book yet as I am still working through it. However, one of the first assignments in the book is to describe the kitchen where I grew up.  I do remember it but not vividly even though it was our family kitchen for 11 years. But, when I turned 17 we remodeled the house and built a much bigger nicer kitchen and that is the one I have the vivid memories of.

As I continue along for awhile writing about things that are not totally focused on depression I felt it wouldn't be right if I didn't share the most important part of my life - my faith. My faith in God inspires me, helps me, fortifies me and gives me courage to keep going. Having faith when you have a chronic illness is a challenge. After all, the One I have faith in, God almighty himself, is the very one who could deliver me from my circumstances, if only He would!

Red Green is going to be the first of my whimsical posts where I write about some little thing just for the fun of it. Writing this way is a real depression getaway for me and maybe for you too. Yup! Red Green is my kind of guy. He is always cheerful, often funny, not too busy to chat, can forever find the bright side of any situation and just an all round great guy. For those of you who don't know who I am talking about you might want to check out this Red Green website for yourself. It was a Canadian show that hit the american airwaves as well and is still available in repeats. Anyways, you can see all 300 episodes if you want to, on that same website.

I am trying out a new little posting routine. Instead of writing about depression all the time I am going to take a little side trips now and then and write some fun little personal memories.  So, for today's memory I am taking you to a dock in Bobcaygeon, Ontario in 1956. My bachelor uncle, my favourite uncle, had a small houseboat on the river there. It was a neat little floating cottage and he used it strictly for fishing. To me it was a dollhouse on the water. I found the place quite magical. Once you parked your car you had to walk along a couple of floating walkways to get over the water to the boathouse. Those walkways were rickety and wiggly and fun to navigate. Bulrush reeds surrounded the walkway and the water was shallow but black and mysterious. The joy of wondering what lie beneath tickled my imagination.

Last time I shared with all of you my new found joy in an old hobby - sewing. Can you picture me having fun like this gal? Do you have a hobby? Do you need one? Why are hobbies so beneficial?

I have been chatting about doing the things we enjoy as part of our depression getaway therapy . Just about this time last year I decided that I desperately needed something to do, something that I could do even if I wasn't feel well. I prayed about it and the thought came to me to pull out a quilt I started 13 years ago and finish it, which I did! Here it is! Not the best picture (remember I am a sewer not a photographer) but what a great accomplishment it was, finishing something I had started so long ago.

I was chatting last time about doing things we are good at and doing things that we enjoy. I was remembering how  I seldom do the things I enjoy (such as swimming) . And that is so stupid really because they bring joy to me and maybe that would help my depression. Are any of us doing ENOUGH of the things we enjoy? I remember one of my first coaching sessions. The coach had me pick out activities that were very important to me. When I made my choices she said 'so, are you getting ENOUGH of those activities in your life?'

Swimming! Yes, this is something I love to do and I am good at! I was chatting with you last time about what you are good at. Now, just because we are good at something, doesn't necessarily mean we enjoy it or that we even want to do it all the time. But when it comes to me and swimming, it is ALL POSITIVE! For starters, I grew up with a pool in my backyard and have so many totally happy memories spent in that pool, alone, with my sister, with neighbourhood kids, with cousins. All happy times for me.

One of my fond memories is watching our cats take care of their kittens. We lived in the country and the cats stayed outdoors but when they had kittens we would retrieve the mother and her babies and bring them into our sun porch, put them in a cozy box and enjoy! It was a beautiful thing to watch. Of course the kittens themselves are absolutely adorable, but what I loved most was watching the mother care for them. She was so good at it! She was so natural. She looked like she was made  just for those kittens. It was a beautiful thing.

What could I possibly be talking about? This might sound kind of silly and maybe it's just me but part of my bipolar causes me to do too much of things I enjoy, especially when I am manic . The result is that when I first started blogging I got so into it and I spent so much uninterrupted time on the computer that I developed terrible headaches and had to quit for awhile. Then I needed a hobby to replace blogging and I started sewing - with a passion! Hours and hours of pleasure, it was so good to do something creative again. The result? A spasm in my sewing arm that massage, acupuncture and pain killers could not erase. I had to quit sewing for awhile!

Have you heard about this best seller? My sister gave me a copy and she thinks it is terrific and I trust my sister and so, here I am, attempting to read this book that everyone is raving about. But I am not feeling my best and so it is hard for me to glean any good out of anything. I don't know whether it is 1. the rebellious side of my character or 2. my bipolar but... I tend not to like some things that 'everyone'   thinks so highly of. I seldom get caught up in trends. Sometimes I am convinced there is something wrong with me (even more than the bipolar) and I have spent most of my life feeling that I am not like most people.