WHEN WE have a case of the blues, we’re likely to make things worse by telling ourselves that if we feel this bad, we must have done something wrong. Life seems awful and it’s all our own fault.
If you’re embedded deeply enough in a truly bad mood, it’s hard to see over the edge. One part of you says things will brighten up after a while. Another part answers, “Yeah, but so what!” Too often, the cynical side deflates whatever hope we can muster.
If you’re wise enough, you may recognize that when your depression lifts you’ll feel better. If you’re too overwhelmed for even that, it often helps to give at least some shape or form to your present plight by acknowledging it to yourself: “I’m so overwhelmed . . . or depressed . . . or scared . . . or sad . . . to see any end to this.” Then sometimes all you can do is endure your present misery and wait for a break in your emotional fog.
The blues ain’t nothin’ but a good soul feelin’ bad.