BLACK CLOUDS

I find that these days so many people are feeling down in the dump, sad, depressed, with little energy. Of course, the big culprit if the pandemic. Since covid had shown up, like it or not, our lives and activities have been disrupted.

             Many of us have been unable to visit loved ones except through video connections, social activities have been reduced or are completely unavailable, travel has been drastically altered, many people have seen their jobs being put on hold for a while, and some of us had to isolate because we got sick or someone close to us did.           

            It’s no surprise that depression is rampant. We are facing an unprecedented challenge for which we were not prepared and it is changing us. But that does not mean that there is no hope. As posters everywhere remind us, there will be a cure or vaccine, and in time we will welcome a beautiful rainbow of hope.  

            In the meantime there are things we can do to chase away the black clouds, or at least make them less menacing. We have to remind ourselves to not focus on the negativity of that pandemic in our lives by concentrating on the good things we enjoy. As a friend of mine who has suffered from depression over the years puts it: Every night I make a point to identify three things for which I am grateful on that day like getting a phone call from an old friend, anything that shows me that I can still smile. 

            Wise words.   

            She says it makes her feel better and that now it has become a habit which chases away the black clouds, even the menacing ones coming from the pandemic.