Self-Care Tip #81 – Connect with others. Be a friend to yourself.
So you have bought into the famous, “You are not alone” stock. After 2 months on psychotropics (medications for emotional illness,) you finally have an interest in people. You are at least a little motivated and less afraid of things that move. You don’t feel like you are the reason for original sin and more often than not, you think happiness might be more than what shopping can offer. What is this strange and unfamiliar sensation? And what to do with it?
It is time to connect. Many of us get to the point where we no longer want to hide, we don’t hate ourselves, and we don’t hate others. We get to the place of showing our under-belly just a little to the big wide world and are shocked that the only thing we feel is the wind as everyone is rushing by! Just when we start wanting what we spent so much time hiding from, we seem to have forgotten how to connect with others.
It is no secret. America is culturally impoverished. We have little of cobblestone streets to meander down, dressed in clean clothes after a days work, checking up on neighbors and gossip. We have few degrees of activity between full throttle and dead/no heart beat. Come now! How to connect in a world where our parents expected us to pay rent when we turned 18years old?
If you find yourself in something of this situation try on one of these basic tools and see what fits. You can’t expect them all to. So if you strike out a few times, keep on!
1. Volunteer – for example, and in no particular order…
- library
- church
- community center
- hospital
- animal shelter
- Surfrider Foundation
- post an advertisement
- Donate Blood
2. Meetup.com – an awesome site to find people interested in what you are interested in. e.g. book clubs, skiing, small business, Italian
3. Support groups
- NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
- 12-Step Programs
- Partial Hospital Programs – psychiatric day hospitals that generally offer intensive therapy from 9am-3pm up to 5 days a week.
4. Write! Although this at first thought may appear isolating, it is not necessarily.
- Blog! 🙂
- Journal
5. Toastmasters
There is so much more. Please let me know your thoughts and I’ll keep adding to this list!
Self-Care Tip #81 – Connect with others. Be a friend to yourself.
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Donating blood every 2 months. Very easy and very needed.
r u still doing this?
Yes. I just donated last Wednesday. To top it off I got a new property management client!
ps. our local supply is down to only 4 hours worth.
sheeze! that stinks! what r the restrictions to donating? such as, can people donate if they are psychotropics? what if they are on other medications? how bout previous illnesses? do you know?
Psychotropics are not on the list of medications that disqualify a donor. There are a number of prohibited medications on that list as well as questions about previous illnesses, foreign travel, sexual activity, and needle use. The Red Cross web no doubt has the qualifications and questions posted. A donor actually gets a free mini physical (blood pressure, blood iron level, temperature) as well as numerous blood tests. Only takes about an hour with only 6 minutes or so with the needle inserted.
Good to know. I’ll look it up 🙂
i just donated today by claim jumper on rancho cal. managed to get in and out w 1 less pint of blood, and 3 more bags of pretzels than i went in w, no more than 20min tops. happy sad group of blood bank staff staff who weren’t sure how to handle someone w such regard for 15min of laying down time before mobility after giving blood.
twas a great group of staff though. good to let me drift. i felt honored to connect w them and the random recipients of the blood donated.
way to go w productivity. that brings such quality to life. keep on.
I like the oatmeal cookies. Are you saying that you did not wait the 15 minutes post donation. NaughtyDr. Q!
It is amazing to provide so much help with so little effort. I am going to try the platlet donation next time.
Remember, no weight lifting for 24 hours.
Close call. I am so glad u reminded me. Thankful for intuition! 🙂
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Thank you for sharing this. And Toastmasters has definitely peaked my interest. Never even heard of such thing before!
thank u for letting me know. i hope u tell us how it goes and your opinion.
Great post! Many blessings
thank u “thinkwonderful” :). i’m super glad u r here w us. i’m sure i am “blessed.” keep on.