YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hi,

I'm new to writing on this website. Today is my day off. It is Sunny and 80 degrees out. I tried to go to a class at the YMCA 2x today. Both were cancelled. It totally took the wind out of my sails. I've struggled to regain any sort of energy that I had before the class. I'm missing the day and I can't get out of my own way. I need to clean, garden, cook, and I'm just sitting here. I'm going to try coffee. Sigh. Yes, the world is passing me by.

So frustrated with myself,

Kit Pistol

Sometimes I build up for 45 minutes to get 3 minutes of work done.

If I am picking a strategic 3 minutes of work, it isn't a total waste.

Action is the best motivation, inside depression, it is pointless to look for motivation to precede action, in my experience.

Please take care, all the best.

Just making the attempt to go to the classes at the Y is something I hope that you can feel good about looking back on it. It sucks when things don't work out. When you say you "need" to clean, garden, cook - will you get any satisfaction from doing those things or having them completed, or are they just things you "have" to do? I have trouble getting motivated to do things that I feel like I "should" do, but I'm trying to learn how to remind myself that I am making a choice to do those things - nobody is forcing me to do them. If I am compelled to do them, there must be some need of mine that will be met on some level by doing them - the trick can be figuring out what it is so I can find a way to look at it that will be motivational. I hope that you're having a better day today.