Lightening Your Mood

MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY

Depression can easily push someone away from others & cause us to retreat into a pit of our own choosing. Can we "treat" our depressive baggage in ways that go beyond therapy & medication?

Serving others is a way to take the focus off ourselves & put the focus on others. This is not to say that serving others will cure our mental illness, but we can certainly alleviate a self-centered mindset when we stretch our wings to include those just as needy, if not more so, than us.

On MON 2/19, I joined with other members of the OGT staff, including some spouses & at least one son of a staff member, in what is called a Thrivent Action Team event. For about an hour we put together hygiene kits--over 100! These kits included a towel, washcloth, soap, band aids, comb, etc. They will be shipped abroad & received by those whom the Lord has empowered Orphan Grain to serve:  the poor, the needy, the down-trodden, widows & orphans.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not sharing this to "toot" * my own horn. I'm sharing this to let you know that for over an hour--because sandwiches, chips, & cookies awaited us when we were finished--I got to fellowship w/others who are united in a bond to serve the poor, the needy, et al.

I reveled in that special time. I marveled that out of 12 members of our staff out of 14 participated, & the 2 who didn't were not at work that day.

Other volunteer work that I've enjoyed includes helping at Birthright, a pro-life organization, & helping to serve supper once a month at the Norfolk Rescue Mission. Sadly, I had to give both of those up because of other obligations. Does writing our Compassion International child regularly count as a "service?"

* The first time in my recollection that the word "toot" has appeared in one of my posts.

Conversation with My 4-Year-Old Grandson *

We were eating lunch at our house on SAT 2/24. Among other things, we were eating some chips & queso. While his attention was diverted, I slipped some chips onto his empty plate. He turned to ask for more chips, then noticed the chips on the plate & smacked himself on the head.
Bentley:  My mom knows magic.
Me:  What kind of magic tricks does she do?
Bentley:  Lots.
Me:  Can she do her magic tricks when everybody is watching her?
Bentley:  No

* Which always lightens up my mood.

Dept. of Shameless Joke-Stealing *

I've blogged before that exercising your sense of humor can also help lighten your mood.

"Lawyers may have gone to graduate school, but their rigorous education hasn't stopped them from asking these bizarre questions of witnesses in court.

• "How many times have you committed suicide?
• "Was it you or your brother who was killed?
• "Do you have any children or anything of that kind?
• "Without saying anything, tell the jury what you did next.
• "Was that the same nose you broke as a child?
• "Were you alone or by yourself?
• "Now, Doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

* Courtesy of Reader's Digest, Oct. 2017