The Light

Have you ever had a particularly down day? I suppose there might be a few people who could say no, but most of us have had our share of "blue days." Recently, we had a day long weather front move thorough and the result was that it was dark, damp, and even a bit stormy all day long. The experts tell us there is something called "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or simply "SAD." Well, the bad weather gave me a pretty good case of "SAD." Now, don't get me wrong, this is not some sort of confession of an emotional illness, it is rather a suggestion based on my experience of how to deal with down days.

I think one of the first responses I try is to stay busy. If you can focus on your work, especially something you have put off, it can give you a sense of accomplishment. There will be times though when you can't get motivated enough to tackle a task, what then? My next response is to get around people. This gets the focus off of you and your problems. On this recent blue day I went to a ministers meeting and was greeted with the news that a pastor friend had resigned his church. This led to another pastor going off on how much he would like to quit! If I was looking for cheering conversation it was clear that I was not going to get it here. That did lead very naturally to my third response, trying to lift someone else's burden. Think about it, no matter how bad you think you have it there is some poor sap who is having a far worse day. In fact, I may have been the happiest person at that meeting of ministerial malcontents.

My last coping mechanism is to remember that even though it is raining now, it won't rain forever. In fact, this morning is a real contrast to yesterday. I remember a preacher friend once saying that his favorite quote from the Bible was "it came to pass." It may be dark and damp, even depressing today, but tomorrow is coming and with it the light.