We are coming into winter..... snowed 6" this week.
We've been really careful this whole time, only seeing 2 family members and 2 neighbor families (outside only).
But as we come in to winter, mental health is already not good, and outdoor socializing is more and more challenging. We did buy a patio heater. IDK. Everything sucks, life is terrible.
No, life is not terrible. Time to adjust your thinking. You’re still healthy (I assume), you have a home, family and food on the table and probably a job. I can think of much harder lives than that.
I hate comments like this. NOT HELPFUL. It's not the suffering olympics. People are allowed to be miserable even if someone has it worse. And it is also a giant middle finger to mental illness.
You can be miserable if you want to. But wallowing in unhappiness is not going to make you feel better. Maybe try to find something that will?
I am going to add on to the fact that this is NOT HELPFUL. I have a family full of "suck it up", "deal with it", "quit whining" and "look on the bright side" people.
What does that do? It minimizes peoples struggles. It minimizes people's problems with mental illness. Ask me how that whole attitude helped my mother, who refused to get help with her mental health because "I should be strong", and "it's weak to get help/ go to a psychiatrist/ take meds." I'll tell you: she drank herself to death. Also, ask me how that attitude helped my when my adult nephew told me to stop whining when I was:
- 6 months pregnant
- 42 years old
- hadn't had a full night's sleep in MONTHS
- and my mother had just DRANK HERSELF TO DEATH
There is a time, and a place, for positive thinking. Nobody is saying that there isn't, and that we shouldn't all use our grit to think about what good is happening in our lives, and how to problem-solve the bad and difficult things.
I have taken to completely ignoring the news. I am going on two weeks today. I had zero idea there was a presidential debate last night until someone at work brought it up this morning.
For those suffering, seriously, take a break from the news. This is something I've aspired to and finally pulled the trigger. This article just from yesterday is so on point -- https://zora.medium.com/10-days-without-media-changed-my-life-86f6f951ab36
I'm going to +1 on this. It is so much better for my mental health when I avoid facebook and the news. I don't have regular TV. I know people talk about it being a privilege, but really.
- I have already voted
- I read enough about national and local issues (where I search out specific information) to be an informed voter
- I attend enough school board meetings and school meetings to be informed about school reopening
- I track our county's COVID cases on my own
- I follow a few people on IG who are informed
I really am barely hanging on with a full time job and two kids in virtual school. I can stay relatively informed without watching debates or hearing about what the orange man did today. I can vote my conscience, do my best to ease the suffering of others, but I am not going to feel guilty about setting boundaries on what I can and cannot deal with.