I am not a person who can be easily affected by the weather. I even like periods of rain or even fog since it makes me feel kind of cozy. But I could feel it physically that these gray, cold, and wet conditions during almost the whole month of July were about to leave something. Although I am sleeping surprisingly well, I am more tired and lack energy. I caught myself accepting and dwelling in that lazy mood, which was not helpful. I understand that people who already tend towards depression can get soaked up in a negative mood. Realizing this, I asked myself Now what do I do about it? First thing: I started writing this post to distance myself from the problem and get into observation and solution mode. That is always one of the best ways for me to resolve an issue or at least find approaches to get there.

Of course, the above is a minor issue compared to other problems people have to deal with. But no matter what we carry around, talking about it, writing it down for oneself, or even letting thoughts wander around the problem and allowing them to take a different direction helps for a different and distanced view on an issue. Sometimes it is not even necessary to get advice. Often, the answer (clear and strong) comes from ourselves by pulling everything out. If it is meant to receive advice, only then are we even open to recognizing it. That advice can be a one-to-one talk. But it can also be a sentence or word we read somewhere, a song we hear, a conversation of other people we overhear, a sudden memory, or anything that suddenly speaks to us unexpectedly.

Don’t hide in your shell. It may appear easier and less painful to keep it all deep down, but over the long run, it isn’t. It will be only more strenuous and exhausting to push it back down over and over again. Speak up and let it out in the way the occasion provides. Yes, we can make people feel uncomfortable and even upset them, or make ourselves vulnerable. But only then can something change. It is a step out of a prison we might not even have realized we sit in – until that moment when the pressure seems to eat us up. Feeling that pressure is the clear sign that you are ready to stand up and resolve something for good.

In Love and Light