How can we cure the blues?
Yesterday I sat here feeling somewhat blue, thinking about how this Covid virus is crushing lives – actually taking the lives of some and taking the livelihoods of others. It took my business, and I was wishing this sadness would just disappear.
And then I remembered one of the most important habits I had been practicing before this damndemic became a crisis: do something good for someone every day.
It’s amazing how it can take my mind off my predicaments when I have the task of doing something good for someone each day. A sticky note on my counter says: HOW CAN I HELP SOMEONE TODAY? but it had gotten buried over in that kitchen counter corner with grocery lists, other notes and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Today my reminder was that little voice inside my head that noticed I was complaining and it said: wake up. You’re supposed to do something good for someone and you haven’t done anything yet today. So I gave my mind the job of finding what I should do and for whom and that complaining voice stopped.
Try it. It can be just a simple thing – not anything major like mowing your neighbor’s lawn. It can be mindfully feeding the birds or making a phone call to check in with a lonely person or mentally sending Love and Light to someone who needs healing. You can brighten someone’s day by paying them a compliment; or brighten your own day by biting your tongue instead of gossiping.
Or just think of a few of your blessings and say, Thank you, thank you, thank you to All That Is or no one at all.
When you’re thinking of what you can do to be kind to someone, remember to be good to yourself. Our very nature is loving, kind and joyful but if you’re like me, you sometimes get weighed down with self-judgment and fear and that’s when you just need a little TLC. So pamper yourself. Tell the family you’re unavailable for one hour; then go take a long bubble bath or go to your man cave and tinker around.
I want to tell you about something good my father used to do for my mother. I especially want to tell you this today because it’s December 6, St. Nicholas Day, and my dad, Nicholas Bilansky, was born on December 6 and died on December 6 so it’s my way of honoring him on his special day.
Daddy was aware that Mom was very intelligent but physically and emotionally fragile. Being an old-country guy from Czechoslovakia, my father felt housework was for women – but whenever Mom was in the hospital when we were little, he would wash clothes in the cellar where the washer and rinsing tubs were, put them through the wringer, and then hang the clothes outside on the line. And here’s the kicker: he did that at night so the neighbors wouldn’t see him hanging up laundry – women’s work!
That was his way and I respected that about him. Daddy showed love for his family by doing something that needed to be done, even though he didn’t want to do it. But he did it his way. We all have our own way of doing something good for someone – we just need to remind ourselves to do it every day.
Love and Blessings to you – and Happy Birthday, Daddy!
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