{"id":106,"date":"2006-12-05T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2006-12-05T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=106"},"modified":"2006-12-05T10:50:43","modified_gmt":"2006-12-05T10:50:43","slug":"its-getting-better-all-the-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"It’s Getting Better all the Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooks and Dunn sing this great country song – It’s Getting Better all the Time<\/strong> – about a man who is struggling with a breakup. He sees light at the end of his tunnel…thought it’s a pretty melancholy musical journey to get there.<\/p>\n

So how is your mood today?<\/p>\n

Are you adjusting to a change in relationships like the man in the song? Are you one of the many that occasionally find themselves depressed or feeling lonelier around the holiday season?<\/p>\n

I hear that if you take the things that are happening to you right now and put them on a timeline – with good above the line and bad below the line – you will find that those things that were below the line will almost always rise to a space above the line. It so often just takes a little time.<\/p>\n

In my life, I have actually found that to be the case. Even through the death of a husband and child I have found hope and inspiration that has helped guide me to where I am today. They enriched my life and made me better at who I am. Now, that should be a ray of hope for any of us out there that are struggling with changes during this holiday season.<\/p>\n

If you find yourself in a frame of mind where you need a little hope, consider these few thoughts:<\/p>\n

1. Recognize that you may be in a stage of change in your life for many reasons. It’s natural to have change — or none of us would grow to be better at who we can and are becoming. Having significant adjustments in your life around a holiday can be more difficult, though…but there again, normal for your growth.<\/p>\n

2. Acknowledge the feelings you have. They are real and should be recognized as ok at this point. It’s normal to have all those feelings, just as long as you don’t act any of them out in the form of physical or emotional anger to you or someone else. Just remember that lashing out is not responsible of you and can get you in trouble you don’t want in your life. If you find yourself at that place, seek out someone who can help you deal with that anger in a positive way. There again, it’s all about growth at this point…and we can all use that from time to time.<\/p>\n

3. Make a list of all the good things in your life right now. You may be amazed that you have many things to be thankful for. Remind yourself that you are fortunate to be and have what you have.<\/p>\n

4. Take your good fortune a bit further if you can. Share your time and talents with others who are less fortunate than you this season. There are many places to serve others throughout the year. Find that special nitch where you can make a difference as you count those blessings in your life and watch them grow.<\/p>\n

5. Embrace or develop your faith base. Make sure you are connected in some way to a higher being…whatever that may be for you. If you don’t have that in your life, find it. Spirituality can be a healing force as long as you are not guilted into it. If someone is trying to guilt you to coming or being a part of a faith based program, avoid that and seek out a place that allows you to have a healthy healing and growing time without the guilt.<\/p>\n

6. Cherish and develop a healthy friendship base. It is critical to have good friends in your life. That can help keep us sane when the world seems to be falling right on us. There are many others out there looking for the same friendship.<\/p>\n

7. Carefully consider things if you are thinking of getting into a romantic relationship with someone during a time of healing. It can be good, but it can also be a dangerous move to try to find a romantic connection to fill a void while healing. Friendship is one thing, romance is quite another. Give yourself time to breathe on this one.<\/p>\n

8. Avoid alcohol, drugs, over eating, or excesses of any kind during this stressful time. In fact, planning a daily walk can be a good thing. Walking in the mall or around the neighborhood can be a tremendous boost to your system and can help relieve the extra stress that may be lurking there.<\/p>\n

9. If you have a healthy family base, embrace it. Family members probably know and love you better than anyone else. I do emphasize healthy family base, though. An unhealthy, controlling family can make matters worse…be mindful that if you get putdowns, have a habit of being controlled by family members, are guilted into being part of a family activity that you know will turn into a battle, or have an unhealthy relationship with family in any way at all, it may be better to get your support somewhere else. After all, there are families that add to the problem of being depressed or down about a situation. Just keep that in mind as you find your support base.<\/p>\n

10. Celebrate the good things that happen in your life on an hourly and daily basis. Taking a “seize the day” philosophy can be quite beneficial to you for the short term. It could also develop into your daily ritual to frequently celebrate the good things that happen in your life.<\/p>\n

11. Be thankful for small things and remind yourself that you are in a period of growth – surviving day by day – sometime hour by hour. Remind yourself that you can get through this and that you are worth the effort.<\/p>\n

12. If you find yourself getting worse, just not shaking the feeling, or considering suicide, get help IMMEDIATELY. There are many people out there who know just how to help. Always consider others when you are feeling hopeless.<\/p>\n

Life is full of ups and downs. Just make sure “it’s getting better” as you walk down the path. That may mean some radical adjustments to your life, but you’re definately worth it.<\/p>\n

My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you weather bumps in the road in a healthy and self respecting manner and that you let those that care about you in a respectable and uplifting way support you during this time. You are always<\/strong> worth the effort.<\/p>\n

~Joellen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooks and Dunn sing this great country song – It’s Getting Better all the Time – about a man who is struggling with a breakup. He sees light at the end of his tunnel…thought it’s a pretty melancholy musical journey to get there. So how is your mood today? Are you adjusting to a change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,25,32,16,27,31,28,30,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conflicts","category-religion","category-familyfriends-gatherings","category-holidays","category-life-events","category-living-life-to-the-fullest","category-releationships-general","category-safety","category-teenagers","category-serving-others"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}