Power Of Positive Words – H

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Margaret Tidwell

The power of positive words is life giving. They build me up, and provide me with encouragement. They have been known to empower me, giving me the confidence I need to face something difficult. Beginning with the letter A and ending it with Z….I am going to make a list of one word for each letter (A-Z) and include why this word makes me feel positively happy.

Hope – This word makes me feel positively happy, because having hope – in the face of difficulties – is life altering. I have been hopeless. It is a very lonely, and sad experience. It is also very scary. For me, having no hope means that there is nothing good, positive, wonderful, and peaceful about life. Once I began to have hope, everything – and I mean everything – began to change. Life was no longer a burden to bear. I was no longer half way between death and life. Hope has added flavor, and zest to my life.

I would love to see what you come up with for the letter H!

My dear friend, Margaret of The World As I See It, began her own list of Positive Words. I encourage you to check it out! If you decide to do this exercise on your own blog, let me know. I would be more than happy to put up a link, directing people to it.

Making It My Own

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Margaret Tidwell

New Year’s Eve was a very busy day for me. I organized my room, moved a great deal of furniture around, and helped my son carry a couple of things I wanted in my room. I decided that while I was doing all of that, I would decorate my room and “make it my own”, turn it into a comfortable place for me to hang out in. Fortunately, my mother has loads of stuff around her house that can be used to decorate – if you think creatively. I did run into a couple of challenges, so the moving project took a bit longer than I intended.

The most horrible thing I moved was the bed. Seriously! Whoever put it together, forgot to put the wheels/sliders on the feet of the bed frame. I went to move it – pushing as hard as I could – and realized that the top mattress was moving, but the bed frame was not. I had a jarring stop, and now my back and my left knee are hurting me. Advil is helping take the edge off of the pain.

While I was organizing my room, I realized something about myself. I can create an immense amount of clutter in a short period of time! At least it is picked up…for now. Another thing I realized is that I am not quite as young as I used to be, and my body is letting me know that. The third thing I realized is that creating my own space did me a world of good. In some ways, I have felt like I have had little control over my life lately. I have been feeling emotionally battered, and bruised. I have felt frustrated, anxious, and sad. Although I did have a room to go to in order to spend some time alone – recharging myself, – it was not working efficiently. Organizing things, doing away with the clutter, and creatively decorating it has allowed me to create a space that will help me recharge emotionally, and mentally when I need to.

Here are a few pictures of my newly decorated room:

My Bed

The Scuba Diver is me, around 16 years old

Put some sheer fabric and silver stars around the room

I got the wooden shoes, next to the book shelf, when I was 9, and visiting Amsterdam

55 Gallon Fish Tank, needs more gravel, AND fish

Water Fountain, and flowers

Power Of Positive Words – G

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Margaret Tidwell

Grateful – This word makes me feel positively happy because I have discovered that I have many things to be grateful for. For so long my life was miserable, and I could see nothing good about it. When I began therapy, my counselor gave me a home work assignment that entailed me finding at least three good things about every situation. Part of what I discovered while doing this exercise is that many of the positive/good things in my life, are things that I am grateful for.

I would love to see what you come up with for the letter G!

Power Of Positive Words – F

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Friend-This word makes me feel positively happy because I have a friend! In fact I have several friends. I was never a person who made friends easily, and I lost what few friends I had during my years of severe depression. In the last year and a half I have relearned social skills, and gained a few new ones. As a result, I have slowly built up a network of friends that I value a great deal.

Tuesday Was THE Day

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Tuesday was THE day that I went back to my house in an attempt to get the last of my belongings. I wish it had gone better. It was a difficult day – made even more difficult – due to the drama that unfolded. I did not go there with the intent of starting or being a part of unnecessary drama, however, I should not have been surprised that it happened. Drama has been a major part of things.
I have done my best to keep any drama to a bare minimum, but it has been difficult. My husband has been lashing out from a place of bitterness, anger, and pain, and as a result has created unnecessary drama, and hurt feelings. He is still raging about my father calling him, and trying to convey some concerns he had for me to my husband. He has made it clear that my son is not welcome anywhere near him. He even went so far as to tell me he had changed the locks on the house. I did find out that he had lied to me about the locks.
When we started discussing when I would come get the rest of my things, he went off on several tirades about how I was the only one allowed to come. My father and/or son were not allowed. I insisted that my father was going to come with me. When THE day came to get my things, my father got a neighbor – a man about my age – to help us. My dad is in his late 60’s and is not capable of carrying heavy things himself, and I am a wimp. My mother and I had discussed whether or not we should have some sheriff’s deputies with us, and I made the decision to not do that. I was trying to avoid traumatizing my daughter anymore than she has already been.
As soon as my husband saw that we had someone else with us, he became hostile and started threatening to call the sheriff’s department . I told him that if he wanted to do that, he should go ahead. He did not. We began to get my things. Every time my father and the man he got to help us were outside, my husband and daughter would being very mean. They would say things that hurt my feelings and my daughter was extremely rude. During one of my trips outside – to put a box in the truck – I called my mother. I really needed to vent about the things my husband and daughter were saying. She reminded me that my daughter should not – under any circumstances – speak to me the way she was doing.
After speaking with my mother, I went back inside to get a few more items. My daughter was near me, my husband was all the way across the house. My daughter continued to say inappropriate things to me. I raised my voice and said something to the effect of “I do not care what is going on, you will not talk to me that way”. Immediately my husband yelled at me and responded with “She can talk to you any way she wants to”. Right after that he went outside. It was not until I took another box outside, and saw two deputies pull up, that I realized he had called the sheriff’s department to send a deputy to the house. I stayed outside, and spoke to the deputies. I did not go into any great details with them, but I did give them a basic run down on what was going on. I also told them that my husband called them after I had told my daughter to not speak to me rudely. They wanted to know who was with me, and I introduced them to my father and his neighbor.
As I was going back inside, my husband came out. The deputies began to speak to him. As much as I wanted to stand there and listen in on their conversation I did not. I did hear a few things as I was going back and forth from the house and the truck. The gist of the conversation they had with my husband was that they were unsure of why he called them out there since there was nothing bad going on. The tone of their voices sounded rather irritated. In the end, he told them that he was on probation, and felt that he needed a ‘witness” so that we could not accuse of him of anything. One deputy left, one stayed. The deputy that stayed did not say I had to hurry up, but I also know they are busy, and do not have the time to be standing around for nonsense. So my dad, and I agreed to finish things up more quickly than we had planned.
It was good that the deputy was there. It put a stop to the ugly things that my daughter and husband were saying. Unfortunately, because of having to hurry up I was not able to get some of the things I really wanted, and I forgot something that meant a lot to me. While the deputy was standing there I asked my husband if we could make arrangements for me to get anything I had to leave behind. He said “yes”. I hope he follows through with it.
As I was leaving, my daughter gave me a beautiful blanket. I asked her if I could give her a hug. She said “yes”. When I hugged her she stood there as stiff as a board. It broke my heart, and that is when I cried. It hurts to think of her being so unhappy. I wish her father would quit putting her in the middle of our mess.
It was a hard day. I felt stressed, anxious, and sad for most of it. However, I did get through it. I am so blessed to have people I can lean on during hard times like that. Between my mom, and a couple of other people I spoke with on the phone, and my internet friends, I felt supported, and cared for. That made one of the hardest days in my life easier to bear.

Power Of Positive Words – E

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Encouragement – This word makes me feel positively happy because encouragement is all about building someone – or yourself – up. It is something we do to support each other. When someone takes the time to provide you with encouragement, it usually means on some level they care about you, and knowing that people care about you is bound to make anyone feel positively happy.

I would love to see what positive words you come up with for the letter E!

Power Of Positive Words – D

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Recently, I joined/liked a face book page called Mental Health. I really have enjoyed it because it is very active, and is full of positive thoughts, questions to ponder, and encouragement. Not long ago, they posted a great exercise that I decided to duplicate on my blog. This is what it is…

“The power of positive words is life giving. Beginning with the letter A and ending it with Z….can we make a list of one word for each letter (A-Z) and include WHY this word makes YOU feel positively happy?”

I have decided that I am going to try to post a different letter/word every day – starting with the letter A – and explain why the word makes me feel positively happy. I might even start over from A again after I reach the end of the alphabet.

Different – This word makes me feel positively happy because I have learned that life CAN be DIFFERENT. I do not have to live a life in which I hate myself, want to die, and am so depressed that I cannot get dressed. I do not have to spend my days crying, full of anger, and worry. I am entitled to live as full of a life as I can – just like everyone else. My life is DIFFERENT now. Even through the tough times, I enjoy life. I can see that there are so many wonderful, and beautiful things in my life, and in the world around me. On the hard days, I have tools and support – that I never believed existed – to help me make different choices. Different is GOOD!

I would love to see what positive words you come up with for the letter D!

Power Of Positive Words – C

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Caring – This word makes me feel positively happy because it reminds me of how many people I have in my life that really do care about me. There was a time in my life – not too long ago – when I believed that no one cared about me. I am so happy that I was wrong. The people that really do care about me do so no matter what my circumstances are. They do not resent my mental health, and physical health issues. They build me up!

When I think of the letter C something else comes to mind that also makes me feel positively happy. When I was a kid Cookie Monster used to sing a song called C Is For Cookie. I have been singing the song all morning, so I decided to include the lyrics here as well.

Now what starts with the letter “C”?
“Cookie” starts with “C”!
Let’s think of other things that starts with “C”!
Uh. . .Uh. . . Who cares about da other things?!

(CHORUS)x2

“C” is for Cookie that’s good enough for me,
“C” is for cookie that’s good enough for me,
“C” is for cookie that’s good enough for me,
Oh! cookie, cookie, cookie starts with “C”!

Hey, You know what? A round cookie with one bite out of it looks like a “C”
A round donut with one bite out of it also looks like a “C” but it is not as good as a cookie
Oh, and the moon sometimes looks like a “C” but you can’t eat that
So…
(CHORUS)
Cookie Cookie Cookie Starts with “C”
Cookie Cookie Cookie Starts with “C”

I would love to see what you come up with for the letter C!

Thankful Five

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

It is the Monday after Christmas, and time for me to remind myself of the many things I have to be thankful for. If you have never taken the time to either daily or weekly write a short list of things to be thankful for, you really ought to give it a try. Doing this has made it so much easier for me to keep a positive attitude during circumstances that would have really devastated me in the past.

I am thankful for friends and family who love me.
I am thankful for snow – it was so pretty to look at when it was falling.
I am thankful for the women in my family who have taught me how to be strong.
I am thankful for my new purple Snuggie.
I am thankful for new electronic devices.

Day 14 – Blog Journal

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Margaret Tidwell

Welcome to Day 14 of my Blog Journal. I was not too thrilled with today’s suggested topic, so I decided to do my own thing again….

As I was drying my hair this morning, I decided I wanted to put some kind of Christmas ribbon in my hair. I could not find a ribbon I was thrilled with, however, I found something much cooler. I attached the items to a barret of mine. Here is what it looks like…

TEST

Just another WordPress site

Tag Archives: Mental Health