Saturday, September 12, 2009

Beating the Blues

For the first time in a long time, I am home on a Saturday. Schedule-less. Mind you, that is after emailing out reports and other official what-nots just a moment ago. My prayer partner has family duties to fulfill, so here I am at home, in front of the laptop, listening to online radio. Not one bone in my body desires to go out in this wet rainy day. My stomach is grumbling and I have no inclination to forage my cupboard for food to feed myself.

The past two weeks had been unbelievable and the fact that I managed to get through it with mildly flying colors—according to objective evaluations—surprises me quite a bit. I guess this is just another proof that the One who is at work within me continues to do so, quietly and almost unnoticed until I find time to enjoy the luxury of hindsight, which is today.

Those words from that much-used-to-the-point-of-roll-my-eyes-cliché “Footprints in the Sand” find their reality in my life, especially in the past half year, a difficult season to put it mildly.

This is one reason for the infrequent blog posts. No use spreading negativity as there’s already much of that floating around in the real and the web world. I have mentioned to Beng that I am probably better off going on a semi-hiatus with the season I am in.

But will all of my “issues”, I am thankful for lots of stuff that help me cope---oh yeah, and friends, too—can’t leave them out now, can I? :)

So aside from God and friends, how am I managing the blues?

1. Tennis – it’s a great metaphor for life. The best thing is learning from the fighting spirit of my tennis hero and also from all the mini-sagas that the world of tennis churns out.

2. Music – I usually am not into plugging my ears for the sake of music but the past couple of months, this way of commuting has helped me get into a better mood when I go to work.

3. Movies – how great is it to forget your own issues even for a while, laugh at all the zany stuff that happens on screen, have your heart moved by characters on screen who have chosen to redeem their lives in creative inspiring ways or even get yourself all horrified at seeing how life could’ve been much worse than your present situation!

3. Sleep – need I say more?

5. Thai Massage - nothing like it!

6. Sense of Humor – I am truly grateful to God for gifting me with a slightly irreverent, off-the-wall humor which has saved many a blue day for me.

…and many more, how about you, how do you beat the blues?

7 comments:

Olive Tree said...

Hi, it's a great blog.
I could tell how much efforts you've taken on it.
Keep doing!

carlotta1924 said...

i'm thankful i can beat the blues coz of Him (been rediscovering His love for little old me in the past months after soooo long.). also thankful that He gave me music, friends and gardening. these tangible and intagible things, they're all like angels sent to me.

Abaniko said...

Why don't I see travel in your list? Oh well, I hope you're okay and you're not in so much physical pain anymore. Ayo-ayo!

Forever59er said...

With that list, how can you be down for long, ha?

As for me, I take long, brisk walks. The physical effort, the wind on my face, the passing scenes, the opportunity to think and make sense of whatever is bugging me -- these are often enough to recharge me.

Great post, Gypsy!!

curacha said...

how do i beat the blues?
with Him by my side....
shopping....
going out with friends....
work, work & work....
traveling....
night out....

though somehow, i still feel empty inside... but hell, "this too shall pass"...

bing said...

humor, and best of all, God by my side. it is a great feeling to feel that you are not alone in the midst of chaos.

your inner strength from God surely helps you to cope with anything this world has to offer.

Toe said...

Hope you're beating the funk! Are you still in the UK? I was in London last August for 11 days. I love that city. Definitely lots of things to do there to beat the blues.