By Nancy Virden (c)2024

It feels better to feel better.

When emotional struggle is our familiar reality, we may get used to it and even feel comfortable in our discomfort. Someone once said, “Better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don’t know.” In the same way, we may not see or believe in a positive future. Staying with the unhappy status quo we have learned to somewhat manage is tempting.

Here is some good news. There are (at least) three actions we can choose that raise our happy endorphin levels naturally.

1. Organize your space. Our disorganized thinking reflects the disorganization in our space. For most of us, it is a boon to our well-being to clean up, put things away, and create something that reflects the best of us. Using boxes and drawers, perhaps labeling them, and putting everything in place will raise your spirits at a job well done. Coming home to a clean space feels like coming home to a safe place. Hopping into a made bed feels more comforting than needing to straighten the sheets before crawling in.
2. Help someone else. It feels good to help because it takes our minds off our troubles, and we witness the joy we can bring. Volunteering to sort clothes at a thrift store, passing out food at a distribution center, shoveling the snow of an elderly neighbor – all these things and many more offer a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. It is kind to open doors for people, to smile and say hi, or to pick up a fallen item off the floor in a store. These small yet important endeavors are starting points and will give you a sense of pride.
3. Accomplish 1 thing you have been putting off. We procrastinate what we do not want to do or are fearful of doing. Big or small, take one step toward achieving that task that has been weighing heavy on your mind. Moving forward even a little bit may be challenging, but when it is over you will feel new energy. A sense of, wow, look what I did, will lift your spirits enough to recognize that meeting this goal is doable. You can win the day! The plus is feeling the stress lift.

If you live with a disorder that makes organizing obsessive or people-pleasing a means of denying your needs or are driven to accomplish much at the cost of your health, then these three ideas are not solutions for you. Be aware of your specific needs.

For everyone else, get moving!

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

2 Corinthians 12: 7b-9

So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.  Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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