how do you get out of a dark funk ?

Okay OH family, I often read on the board from our other family members being depressed or sad, worried etc... so my question to you is " How do each of you break a sad period " ? my answers are : 1) love on my dogs , when I cuddle my little Pugglets it really warms my heart, my dogs bring so much joy to me 2) one word : SHOP , even if just a trip to the dollar store, shopping make me happy. 3) Zoloft ( LOL a little pill the doctor gives me, it makes me happy, I would suggest to anyone that is depressed , sad or lonley to talk to the doc about these wonderful yummy little babies ) 4) go to church, and find friends there. You will never find comfort in anyone or anything like you will find comfort in Jesus. When you give your heart to him , the clouds will break up and you will find joy. 5) Look at your blessings!!! do you have children ? ( that in itself makes you lucky, ask any woman like me that longs for a child , and will never have one ) are your children healthy ? ( look around at others, if you have had kids and they are normal, that is such a reason to shout joy to The Lord ) ... DO you have a home ? ( lots don't , today the womens shelter in Charlotte is FULL ) .. . DO you have a job or income? ( again lots of folks in our own towns and city's are begging for work ) .. 6) I guess what I am saying is : LOOK around you , find happiness in what you have, and stop worrying about what you don't have. Make the choice today to be healthy, drink tha****er, take that walk. Most of us , a year or two ago, were miserable, we were overweight, we were tired , we were unable to do things we wanted to do, look back at these days, I pull out my letter ( Dr Melkonian requires a letter from yourself telling him all about yourself and your struggle ) I read how I begged for help, and it was so sad, I know my surgeron reads these letters everyday from people just like us, and everyday I am sure they have to turn people down for the surgery due to insurance companys not approving surgery, how sad these doctors must be. People look on the bright side of your life. My two cents, how about you, what do you do to make YOU happy, I love each and everyone of you Allison

my kids. My children are my life. They are the reason for me to even breath. I love them so much and they love me too. My son calls me at work several times a day to see how I am doing. They worrie about me so much. It is so good to be loved. And it is also good to love. god bless Amy

Very well said!! We are very blessed and if we just took the time to pick up a newspaper I think everyone would agree. One of the many blessings that we have from God is the choice to choose how we will live our lives, we can grab hold of his promises, be happy or let the world pull us down and keep us in the gutter. Sometimes easier said than done, but you just have to keep working at it. Much love to all. Angie

Allison - Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! What an awesome and inspirational post! Like you, I have kept a copy of my letter that I wrote to Dr. V. handy. I know that the days will come when I want to eat things I shouldn't, etc...I want to be able to go back and reread that letter - to remind me of the passion I had for this surgery! I don't ever want to lose that "passion"! Looking at before pictures help me to realize how blessed I am! I'm sure those of you who are further out than I am (I will be 2 months next week and have lost 50 lbs.), can see even a bigger difference. But when I pick up my 54 lb. son and he feels soooooo heavy, I know that there is that much LESS stress on my body. It really puts in prespective how much I have lost! Exercise helps me so much! I don't really look forward to it, but once I do it, I feel soooo much better. It makes me feel stronger and thinner Faith...it is what sustains me through everything! I have been doing a bible study this summer on the "Fruit of the Spirit" - it has made me reflect alot on myself. Boy, with WLS, patience is a biggie!! There are so many times I wish...I wish I had a bigger house, nicer car, more money to buy clothes , etc. But truthfully, I have more blessings than I could ever count! I am so blessed to have two beautiful boys (when there was a period of 5+ years when we thought we would never be able to have a child!), I have the majority of my family close by and we see each other on a regular basis, I have to awesome privledge of teaching children in a Christian school (it is my JOB to teach them about the love of Jesus), etc. etc. I could go on and on... Thank you, Allison, for reminding me how lucky I truly am!!!! Susan