What life deals us.

Last week and some of this week I was hit with one of the worst blasts of depression I had had for awhile. It mostly made me stay in my room, not want to talk to anyone and sleep for the majority of the day. I knew I had to get myself out of this for a couple of reason. Most important being my work would suffer. I can't just sleep all the day while my animation goes unfinished. I plan to have it finished by the end of April.

I generally fight my depression patches like I fight a cold. I do anything necessary to make it past or at least dull it for a few hours. I watch things that make me laugh, I go for walks, I eat and drink nice things (though that has been a little hard since I put myself on a diet) and I make sure I talk and socialise with friends. Tel helped me a lot through it and now it seems the worse has pasted and I can get on with things.

Yesterday Tel was telling me about an SL and RL friend who seems to be heading down a REALLY rough patch at the moment and at such a young age too. It made me feel sorry for the girl and generally bad that I was so mixed up in myself to realise it wasn't all that bad. My flat mates and I also talked about quiet kids at school and who usually it was because they had mentally unstable families to look after. My friend's current girlfriend suffers from this as she is only 17 and yet keeps being pulled away from school for a high maintenance mother. It puts life in perspective for all of us and how lucky we are sometimes.

Some would say with what I've been dealt with is hard and sometimes it is but I don't generally see it as a life hardship. I'm healthy and I have family and friends who care about it. I have a roof over my head and was lucky enough to study further education. I think we have a right to let life's overwhelming problems sometime get the better of us. We're only human and it's sometimes hard to see things in perspective when fear and doubt cloud our judgement. I'm also not denying that depression is a medical illness but lucky for us there is still help and there is still hope to live happier lives. I do find there's the attention seekers though who only believe that the sorrows in their life (even when not that big) are the only part of their life and crave the attention it brings. I would feel much more sorry and have more respect for my friend Lucy if she didn't make every little hurdle in her life a massive mountain filled with pain and woe and making sure EVERYONE knew about it. Life is too short.

My conclusion. Don't feel bad if you have down days. Don't feel bad if you feel life drew you the short straw. We all have those days. It may seem hopeless at the time like I felt those last few days ago but there are ways of dealing with it, there are ways of coping and there are ways of surviving. From seeking medical help to having a duvet day with a big tube of ice cream. Don't feel bad that some might have it worse then you but realise it and try to think how you would deal with their situation. I actually felt better after chatting with a friend on how to deal with her over protective parents. Don't hide away from people, talk to people you love and care for. Sometimes saying your problems out loud makes them more manageable.

I'm not pretending to have a clue on what some people have to deal with in their lifes. But I hope what I learn and how I cope with things will help others to put things in perspective. We can't be happy all the time but at least be free from sadness.

Check that for a post! Gonna end it with a picture of my official return as a dancer at CI. Awesome night last night with DJ Lainey and Ame as our host.

Edit - I wanted to add this on the end. Only found it but I liked it. Jeeze! They have these books for anything!