To the Extremes
Today I am grateful for my job and the paycheck. This time of the school year can get challenging, so I needed to bring in some gratitude.
I am also grateful for the green that is finally surrounding us, for trees that have filled in with leaves, for the yard beautification my husband Darcy did yesterday, and for the cardinal on our front porch when I pulled in to the driveway yesterday afternoon.
Two weeks ago we were waking up to 8 inches of snow. Yesterday there were record highs. We got up to 98 degrees. Crazy! It brings to mind that common Minnesota joke: "Don't like the weather? Stick around 5 minutes, it will change."
Weather extremes can offer challenges, but the extremes I find most challenging are emotional ones.I used to spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and down about life, my life. Alcohol allowed for some escape, and a false "feeling better." But it didn't last. I spent more time hanging around the negative extremes and it painted a rather bleak picture of the world through my eyes.
Enter recovery, growing faith, gratitude practice. My emotional bottoms don't drop as low and don't last as long. I feel good, on the upswing, more than I feel caught in a downward spiral. I even feel joy and recognize it. Alcohol-induced highs have been replaced by natural ones fed by things like endorphins and regularly making note of my blessings.
The slippery slope for me now is getting overly tired. That will get me running to extremes, and I was in that place last night. I was not pleasant to be around by the end of the day. Tiredness does what self-pity used to do-send me down the negative thinking path. So I had my moments last night, and then I got some sleep.
Self-care prevents the negative extremes. For me that includes enough rest, proper fuel, exercise, and actively practicing gratitude.
I am extremely grateful today for the lessons I continue to learn.
I am also grateful for the green that is finally surrounding us, for trees that have filled in with leaves, for the yard beautification my husband Darcy did yesterday, and for the cardinal on our front porch when I pulled in to the driveway yesterday afternoon.
Two weeks ago we were waking up to 8 inches of snow. Yesterday there were record highs. We got up to 98 degrees. Crazy! It brings to mind that common Minnesota joke: "Don't like the weather? Stick around 5 minutes, it will change."
Weather extremes can offer challenges, but the extremes I find most challenging are emotional ones.I used to spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and down about life, my life. Alcohol allowed for some escape, and a false "feeling better." But it didn't last. I spent more time hanging around the negative extremes and it painted a rather bleak picture of the world through my eyes.
Enter recovery, growing faith, gratitude practice. My emotional bottoms don't drop as low and don't last as long. I feel good, on the upswing, more than I feel caught in a downward spiral. I even feel joy and recognize it. Alcohol-induced highs have been replaced by natural ones fed by things like endorphins and regularly making note of my blessings.
The slippery slope for me now is getting overly tired. That will get me running to extremes, and I was in that place last night. I was not pleasant to be around by the end of the day. Tiredness does what self-pity used to do-send me down the negative thinking path. So I had my moments last night, and then I got some sleep.
Self-care prevents the negative extremes. For me that includes enough rest, proper fuel, exercise, and actively practicing gratitude.
I am extremely grateful today for the lessons I continue to learn.
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