Keep Moving!
Posted on October 26th, 2007 in Uncategorized
One of the keys to successful recovery from a period of depression is to Keep Moving.
I learned this from an spiritual teacher I had in Illinois… and I hated it while he was teaching me the lesson. There was a period of time in my life when I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do anything. It was an accomplishment when I could move from the couch to go to the bathroom.
Lately, the darkness has been nipping at my heels again. I haven’t let it take over, but it’s there in the back of my mind.
I know that if I continue to do the things that help to keep the darkness at bay, it will stay there.
Keep Moving doesn’t mean blind action. But it does mean doing the things that I know help during times like this.
One of the biggest things, as I’ve mentioned before, is simply showing up for life - keeping the commitments I’ve made, both to myself and to others. And if I’ve overcommited, admitting it, accepting it, and moving on.
It’s also ok to rest. But those of us with depressive tendencies are in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to this - am I resting, or am I wallowing? It can honestly be hard to tell sometimes. Since our minds love to beat ourselves up so much, even “I’m tired” can become “Wow, look at you, you piece of shit… laying around again.”
Related to this - we need to drop what we consider to be the judgments of others. We do enough of that ourselves. Most of the time, people mean well when they try to give us direction in our lives, and often the advice may be sound. But when we turn them into judgments of our worth as a person, we are once again on the road to the blackness.
Some days we fly, some days we walk, some days we crawl, and some days we need to rest.
And all are OK.
This post has 7 comments
October 27th, 2007
Hi Lyman,
As much as I agree with you that we need to keep moving, I agree even more that we should not beat ourselves up for resting.
I guess the challenge is knowing if we are truly resting or are we just lazing around or wasting time. Well, only the individual can answer this for him/herself; look to your heart and it’ll tell. It always does.
October 27th, 2007
I agree Lyman
I think it’s important to listen to what your body needs. To your point about being able to make the distiction between wallowing and resting. That’s why I’m such an advocate of getting to know yourself well so that you can distinguish between “hiding out” and nurturing yourself so that you can show up in your life!
BTW - thanks so much for telling me how to add video on my site. I found an old email a friend sent me with a link to a great video. If you’re a Beatles fan (I am!), Chriss Bliss does an amazing juggling act in sync with the music. Take a peek: http://www.powerfull-living.biz/blog/2007/10/27/are-you-a-beatles-fan-watch-this-amazing-juggling-act/
Cheers,
Lorraine
October 28th, 2007
Hi Lyman, knowing a bit about what you’re going through, I’d say that you’re doing pretty good. You need time to recoup and rejuvenate. It is tough sometimes to know whether you’re slipping into the abyss or you’re generally relaxing, but you can give yourself the benefit of the doubt.
Take care of yourself
Cheers,
Nneka
October 31st, 2007
My favorite quote from Bob Proctor is “Start doing the thing to have energy to do the thing.” I have it written on a piece of paper taped on my wall, so that I see it everyday as a reminder to keep moving.
Thanks for the post Lyman!
Love & Gratitude,
Tina
Think Simple. Be Decisive
~ Productivity, Motivation, & Happiness
November 2nd, 2007
I like what you’re doing with your blog. Keep up the awesome work. Great Post!
Love & Gratitude,
Tina
Think Simple. Be Decisive.
~ Productivity, Motivation & Happiness
November 5th, 2007
Hi Lyman
I’ve been there in the past and it can be a dark and lonely place but moving toward light (go to the light!!!!) by keeping yourself active and living life instead of dropping out is a great way to keep living. Finding your purpose in life is another great way to keep on living, by trying to find your purpose you keep moving, you might never find your purpose but you quickly forget about not moving.
However I think you have found your purpose and you have already helped a few people along the way.
November 6th, 2007
A very interesting post. From this post, I take it that ‘keep moving’ does not simply mean in the physical sense but also in the mental sense? That is to say to keep learning, keep asking questions and keep looking for the next thing to think about.
This sounds like a mental way of counter-acting the tendency to stop and dwell on things that might take one back into the depression.
Doug
http://www.dougwoods.com
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