Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Sometimes I have to focus on something else other than me. I was depressed and made a list of what was getting me down and shared it with my wife. Top of my list was sorting through several hundred records, determining what to keep and then organizing and storing them in some fashion so I could find them. For months I was looking at several piles of them that were placed on top of the bookcase and other places and the clutter had me depressed. I did not know what to do with them. My wife and I discussed places where we could store them in an organized way if we just cleared these spots in the living room. I was thrilled: now I had a way to organize the LP’s I wanted to keep. Yesterday I spent several hours going through these albums. Later on I realized my depression had left. I had focused on something other than me. And another benefit of the list was my wife worked on one thing that was also depressing me. It was a room we had once called the junk room and was now mostly empty. There was no progress being made there. She starting chipping away at it. It looks like that one day we might have a guest room. Once it is completely empty we will paint and furnish it. I was thrilled at the progress she had made in a few days. These were two majors things that had been bothering me. All of a sudden I had hope. And most of my depression left.

Tags: clutter, depression, focus on something else, guest room, hope, junk room, LP's, made a list, making progress, my wife, record albums, several hundred records
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Why you should never give up on anyone:  you never know when they will turn the corner.  Of course, when this person has failed over and over, you are tempted to but you have to resist this feeling.  Some drug addicts have gone through one rehab after another and still have gone back to using.  Some alcoholics repeatedly have gone off the wagon.  These are just two type of problems.  Nevertheless, you have to keep trying to help others.  You never know when they will turn the corner and it is true some never do but one never knows when they recover from their weaknesses and begin to lead more fruitful lives.  Never give up on anyone.  Never give up hope.

Tags: "off the wagon", alcoholic, drug addict, help others, hope, life, never give up on anyone, rehab, turn the corner
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Sometimes it helps to have a plan of attack (regarding the realization I had become depressed).  Sure I have to now do the “work” but I can chip away at the different reasons I had become depressed.  It always helps to have a plan.  All I have to do is execute it and with time my depression will lift.  My plan is to deal with one thing at a time.  I can’t predict when but I can say with certainly, at some point, most of my depression will evaporate.  It is the helpless feelings accompanying the depression that indicate I have work to do and this gives me hope.  What, also, gives me hope is the realization that every depression will end.  It is not forever.  I have some control.  I have to exert it.  Your depression lifts one degree at a time.

Tags: chip away, depression, depression will end, depression will lift, do the work, exert control, have a plan, helpless feelings, hope, one thing at a time, plan of attack
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Spring was less than three days away.  It is a beautiful day.  The forecast said it would hit sixty degrees today.  The sky was blue with hardly a wisp of cloud.  I was tired of the cold temperatures.  I am ready for spring.  The daffodils are almost ten inches high.  I noted yesterday that one primrose was budding.  I was not sure we would have any.  Hope was on the horizon.  This long winter was almost over.

Tags: a beautiful day, blue sky, cold temperatures, daffodils, flowers, hope, long winter, primrose, ready for spring, spring, winter
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Somehow I have to refrain from becoming angry.  I need to develop more patience.  There is a time and place for anger but if I fly off the handle too easily something is wrong.

I have to slow down, listen more closely.  ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.’  Those words from Proverbs suggest a formula to avoid anger.

The first part of it forces you to slow down.  That is the only way you can be quick to listen.  You first have to refrain from talking, focus on the words of the person talking.

At the same time you may be able to digest the words spoken to you better.  The last part of the equation ‘be slow to anger’ suggests that if you listen better and also do not talk it may become a little easier not to react in anger.

These scriptures from Proverbs give me hope.  My wife has told me I repeatedly interrupt her.  I have to work on this.

Tags: "quick to listen slow to speak and slow to anger", anger, Bible, develop patience, fly off the handle, hope, listen, my wife, Old Testament, Proverbs, talking
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What is true courage?  Others will have all different definitions of courage.  I will suggest just a few.  It is getting up and facing your day and proceeding when your outlook is dismal when everything is “black” to you and hoping against hope things will improve in your life.

It is trying something new for you are hoping for change and change often occurs in small degrees at a time.

It is facing your partner when things have turned sour and you are not too hopeful it will ever turn around.

It is having kids when your finances are uncertain, secure in the fact you will do whatever it takes to raise them properly.

There are so many definitions of what I call quiet courage that occur every day and these are just a few and I might continue this list another time.

Tags: change comes in small degrees, courage, dismal outlook, everything is black, facing your day, having kids, hope, hope for change, quiet courage, raising kids, true courage, try something new, uncertain finances, your partner
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You should never stop making plans for the future.  It implies there is always hope.  No matter how uncertain your future is there is always hope.  It is true nothing is guaranteed.  Nevertheless as long as you are still making plans you have not given up on yourself (and others closest to you).  Keep dreaming and making plans no matter how dismal your situation is.  There is always hope.  And you have not given up.

Tags: dismal situation, don't give up, don't give up on yourself and others, God, hope, make plans for the future, never stop dreaming, nothing is guaranteed, there is always hope
Posted in death, God, health, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, relationships, seasons, time, wisdom, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

It was a simple realization:  the only person I can change is me.  I have no control of others.  In this case my wife.  Things had become a little ragged between us.  There was too much tension between us.  Tempers flared too often.  And I wanted it back to the way it used to be.

And this popped into my head:  I have absolutely no control of my “other”.  I do have control of me.  And that gave me hope, that our situation would improve.

Telling my wife you did this or that wrong was futile.  I had to figure out what I could change in me, how I could react differently to her.

Steven R. Covey in one of his books explained you always have a split second to choose your reaction to another.  There is that space.  You do not just have to react.

All this gave me hope.  It really was under my control.  I can not change another (in this case my mate) but I can change me, I can change my reaction.  All this gave me hope.

Tags: change another, change yourself, choose your reaction to another, control, gives me hope, God, hope, love, marriage, my wife, no control of others, only person I can change is me, reactions, relationships, Steven R. Covey, tempers flared, tension
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