Wow, I'm still feeling really good. I think all of my side effects from the lithium are finally gone; the combination of anti-depressants seems to be just right. The other day was amazing. In the morning I went to the bank, went to a lab for blood work, went to the post office. Then I spent about 1.5 hours at car dealership getting work done. Still, I got a lot of writing done on my dissertation and the crowning point was that I got chicken in the crock pot for dinner! The next couple of days were a bit more discouraging, but I couldn't have had a day so productive 6 months ago. It feels remarkable just to do the normal things that make up the dailiness of life.
One of the coolest things was realizing I that I had 3 of my 4 chapters done for my dissertation! Things really started getting good then. It was like I'd reached the tipping point in my work. I had been working at it all in a piece-meal fashion and didn't feel like I was making much progress. Then one day I went to look at what needed to be done and had 3 chapters done!
But what have I learned about happiness? Honestly, I'm not sure what happiness is. I sure as hell don't know how to find it. For me it's just been trial and error with medications and a patient therapist. I also have learned, and relearned, that I can make it through some really dark places; sometimes just by taking it moment by moment. A piece-meal approach seemed to worked for my dissertation, maybe it's working the same way for happiness.
One of the coolest things was realizing I that I had 3 of my 4 chapters done for my dissertation! Things really started getting good then. It was like I'd reached the tipping point in my work. I had been working at it all in a piece-meal fashion and didn't feel like I was making much progress. Then one day I went to look at what needed to be done and had 3 chapters done!
But what have I learned about happiness? Honestly, I'm not sure what happiness is. I sure as hell don't know how to find it. For me it's just been trial and error with medications and a patient therapist. I also have learned, and relearned, that I can make it through some really dark places; sometimes just by taking it moment by moment. A piece-meal approach seemed to worked for my dissertation, maybe it's working the same way for happiness.
3 comments:
I'm so glad you're feeling better! That's wonderful! And the progress on your dissertation is awesome. I love discoveries like that, where you made more progress than you thought you had.
Keep up the good work and the optimism. You are finishing this work.
I am really, really, really glad to hear the change in medications has made such a tangible difference. And I am pleased that you have been able to go about daily tasks. A lot of people don't get how hard it can be to just go to the end of the driveway and check the mail sometimes. Well done.
Keep on swimming and you'll make it all the way to Hawai'i soon. :)
Congratulations on you dissertation. That's awesome. And good luck with defending it!
I'm glad you're feeling better! Just remember what cookie monster said, Happiness is a cookie. Sometimes, ya just gotta focus on the little things.
Post a Comment