If you’re If you’re walking down the pavement and you see £1 on the floor, what do you do? You pick it up!
Is it going to buy you a meal?
Nope.
A new car?
No way.
A trip around the world?
Definitely not.
But it counts. You know £1 counts, you know that by saving up your £1(s) you can buy something bigger…or else you wouldn’t have picked it up.
I used to hate it when someone told me that to help my depression I should exercise or eat well. I wanted to scream at my doctor, “JOINING A GYM IS NOT GOING TO HELP ME!! MY DEPRESSION IS BIGGER THAN A MOUNTAIN!”
His pithy advice felt hollow and insulting.
Now I realise that the small things we do to take care of ourselves add up like money. They don’t fix everything, but they fix a little bit. They make life a cinch easier. And when I’m super depressed, I’ll take all the help I can get.
You don’t have to do them one hundred percent, either. Exercising doesn’t mean running a marathon. It can mean that, but it can also mean walking around the block. Most of the time, that’s all I can do, I get myself into the gym on the way home from work and I just relax on an exercise machine instead of my bed, and I’ve found that even a small bit of movement helps my mood a little.
We’re supposed to have…five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. I doubt I’m the only one who laughs at that number. I’m lucky to have even three servings a day. But I’m trying to add some veggies and fruit to my meal, especially my dinner (or lunch for those who speak ‘properly’).
Every day I am doing what I can to make things a little better. I take a multivitamin, I take the stairs instead of the lift, I stand in the sunshine instead of the shade, if only for a minute and I drag myself into the gym three times a week whilst I build up some sort of fitness.
Remember what I said about money. Self-care adds up! Be nicer to yourself for five minutes. Give yourself a break! Keep doing the little things and eventually they’ll turn into big things.
Image source: http://watchfit.com/exercise/morning-exercise-empty-stomach/
Sunny And Stormy Days 
Another great and insightful article. I really appreciated your analogy of picking up the $1 (sorry, the pound symbol is not a default on my American computer). My 21-year-old daughter makes a point of collecting change. Whether it is the loose change from a purchase, or a few pennies she sees lying in the street, she picks them up and places them in a jar on her dresser. Then every few months she takes that change to the bank. It has added up to hundreds of dollars at times!
Applying that same philosophy into your life, and taking stock of each of the little and seemingly insignificant things you do to address depression is actually such a powerful tool. Each piece may seem small, but their collective impact is huge. A pile of bricks is a pile of bricks, but mortared together they can create great cathedrals that stand for centuries. That is what you’re doing by taking notice of the impact of those little things in your life.
If I’ve said it to you once, I’ll say it to you again and a hundred times hereafter: you are such a talented and gifted writer and person. You write honestly and passionately about your struggles and triumphs with depression. As a fellow blogger, I choose to write back and praise that talent, but know that for the few of us who comment, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who read your words and take strength. People who wake up struggling to get out of bed and say, “Sunnyandstorydays can do it, so can I.”
Stay strong.
Rambler
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I love that your daughter collects her change, I do too and my grandma always thought me that the pennies need looking after as the pounds can look after themselves.
I’m hoping that the gym, and tackling small fears such as attending an event alone, presenting to a bunch of people or even driving to a new place (I get nervous when I’m unsure of the route) will slowly beat my anxiety, and I am feeling the benefit. I hope people will read this post and just give it a little go. My psychiatrist once said, go out without your mobile phone so you don’t have that extra security of your mother or father on the other end of the phone. At first I was nervous, worried I might break down or get upset over something minute, but because I didn’t have that security mechanism I made sure nothing bad happened and it’s one of the best exercises I have ever taken part in – it made me realise my strengths.
I love(!!!) your metaphor about the bricks, I think that is fantastic. I think I might add it to the bottom of my blog, quoting you (if that’s ok?)
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