What goes up... is asking for it, really. Shouldn't piss off Gravity like that.

Seems inevitable that a high point will be followed by a plunge. Family issues, work stresses, watching my sick dog suffer, anything and everything have combined to really get me down right now.



What's surprising is how I'm dealing with the depression. Usually feeling this blue is a cue to reach for the comfort foods, or grab a glass of wine, or curl up in bed with the covers over my head -- basically to turn my back on life. I have spent years conditioning my body to demand this kind of behavior when I'm feeling depressed.


This morning I did none of those things.



Instead, I reached for an aerobics video and dealt with the blues by working out. The problems haven't gone away, but my attitude towards them has modified. That was what I was trying to achieve with the food/wine/avoidance too, but this time I feel better about myself, and I think the results might last longer. We'll see.




I'm rather surprised that this was my first inclination, rather than the usual comfort-seeking tactics. I haven't been working out all that long, about six weeks, but it's encouraging to think that even this level of exercise is enough to start to change the body's conditioned response.

Unless I'm reading too much into this.


Note: the cool picture up top is from Flickr