There are a plethora of self help books to engage us on how to strategize the negative. A lot of this is highly personal. What works for me may not for you. When I go into my dark “hole”, it is usually my husband who notices first. He’s a boomer, an early boomer in fact. On occasion he will offer up sound advice and other times he will wax on poetically about the importance of staying positive.
Truthfully, when you are deep into the negative, nobody wants to hear that advice. In fact, it will sometimes have the opposite effect and if I am really down deep, I can affect a change in Mr. Happy (to which I can honestly say I have NEVER been proud of that outcome).
When I am at my darkest, I need to remove myself from everyone. My words sting, and I really dislike that I can cut deep with my insults.
Now that my children are grown and gone from the nest, one of my bedrooms has been turned into my sanctuary. I call it The Grotto. It is filled with religious items, mostly Our Blessed Mother. The walls are painted a warm blue, the sofa (also is a sofa bed as we live in Florida and always have winter company) is a lovely off white. There are also pictures of my favorite places in Italy. It’s where I sit right now. It’s hard to remain negative here, but if I am struggling, I pray.
I also have cried, and yelled and prayed again, as many times over as I need. In The Grotto, I hurt no one else.
The Grotto. That is my strategy.
Laboccadellaverita 