Hey there, party people.

How are things? Life on this side of the screen is going pretty well. I’ve been focusing a lot, recently, on building a happier Rae.

For a while there, I had all but stopped with self-care. Showers were only happening once or twice a week. Sad, but true. I figured that I was staying in the house, doing nothing, seeing no one but my husband and brother in law, so it didn’t matter. I mean really, who would care? It’s not like I was going anywhere…

I had stopped even “showing up” when people asked my opinion about things. “What do you want to eat?” was answered with, “I dunno, whatever you want.” “What do you want to watch on TV?” was answered with, “I don’t care.”

“Not showing up” is a CLASSIC symptom of depression. And for someone like me, who is very opinionated, it’s about like saying “I don’t care about life.”

Fortunately, I have built tools to deal with depression!!!

Self-Care Awesomeness Chart – In Black & White
Self-Care Awesomeness Chart – In Color
Self-Care Awesomeness Chart in Open Database Format

Back to basics, I go! The only thing not on the self-care awesomeness chart is “Take meds on time.” And taking meds on time is so super important that I will be adding it to my chart before I print it out for myself this go-round.

Fortunately, I am not currently depressed as I am writing this. I’ve already done the heavy lifting of beginning to exercise again, and of beginning to brush my teeth twice a day again.

The lack of brushing my teeth twice a day is, for me, the clearest sign of not giving a damn. You only get one set of teeth. You’ve got to take care of them. If you don’t shower, you just stink. Stop brushing your teeth, and you bring upon yourself the pain of tooth rot. That both stinks AND hurts AND it affects your overall health. Not a good thing. Not a good thing at all.

But now I’m brushing and even flossing. And what’s the big change?

The firm belief that within the next month, my husband and I will not be living in Romeoville, and I will be able to meet new people and live like a normal adult, not cooped up in the house all the time like a child. The quality of my life is going to change massively. That is a reason to be happy… and more than just a reason to be happy, it’s a reason to begin living like a happy person.

The truth of the matter is that after a while I lost hope that I ever would escape a life of daytime solitude. I’ve spent 10, almost 11 months cooped up in the house while Adam is at work! It has been so reminiscent of the days when my parents left me in charge of my brother when I was young and couldn’t drive that it’s safe to say there’s been a bit of regression going on with me. It’s felt like a punishment from God, when it’s not – it’s simply a difficult situation.

But now I have hope that we’re getting an apartment in a walkable area of the Windy City starting in July. We put in an application on Saturday, so we’re just waiting to hear back now. It’s almost too good to imagine, and I actually worry that posting this is a jinx, which is ridiculous. Everything happens the way it’s supposed to.

Anyway — I hope that sharing my happy thought with you has brought you a smile, and also that my self-care chart helps you out too, if you’re having a tough time.

Long story short: Doing things that make you happy will help you be a happier person.

Staying on the paleo diet is helping me hurt less and to be a happier person with more energy too. 🙂