Being Happy

Photo by Sarah

Today has not been a good day. I spent all day staring at my computer trying, really trying, to get homework done, and failing miserably. I went back and forth feeling hopeless, and depressed, and blah, and mad at myself. Then I went to yoga (I'm taking prenatal yoga- which is wonderful) and everything the instructor reflected on made me weepy and emotional.

 Yes, I know, part of these emotions are due to my hormones being crazy and out of whack- but some of them are because of my depression. Depression is something I have coped with for the past ten years of my life. One of my close friends asked me how I "got better". I don't think I really got better- I learned my own ways to keep going and keep smiling. Depression may be a part of you, but you cannot let it define you.

Martha Stewart has a magazine called Whole Living (which I stumbled across while doing research for my homework assignment). I picked one up while I was at the grocery store- the March 2011 "Happiness Issue".   The whole issue discusses way to live happier, I haven't finished reading the issue yet, but it made me think about my "happy things". 

Every day there are some things I try to do, I take a shower with my husband in the morning, I make sure I play with my cats, and I focus on the pretty things in life. Some days I need a little extra help being happy and I use little things to help me cheer up- painting my nails, wearing happy colors, making the bed, actually putting on makeup. 

Today I am having my hubby paint my toe nails (they are getting hard to reach), I'm catching up on this week's episode of NCIS, watching my cats play fight, and focusing on the happy things by writing this blog. Its helping. 

Whether or not you deal with depression, everyone has down days; what do you do to cheer you up on your down days?