"How Are You Dealing With...?"

There are repetitive themes in some of my blog posts. 

Sometimes, the best way to deal with something is by doing absolutely nothing. Sound familiar? Earlier this year, I wrote about how sometimes doing absolutely nothing is doing absolutely something! I suppose it depends where you are coming from.

I think of getting a massage or a spa treatment as doing absolutely nothing that some how is some something that we really and desperately needed.

It’s hard to do nothing, sometimes. If something is bothering a person, many times the desire is to seek a distraction. If they’re dumped, they want to go to a bar and meet new people. If they’ve been out of work, they might volunteer or get involved with their child’s school. Or, they’ll go to the gym or make what was once just a hobby an everyday activity.

For me, being alone with my thoughts can be an unwanted reminder of the unwanted events that have occurred in life. Some people would argue and say, “Your life hasn’t been that bad!”

True! It hasn’t. How a person deals with what’s happened in life is unique to that individual. Not everyone responds to the death of a grandparent the way I did and have. Not everyone can still conjure up tears and emotion six years later. 

“It’s time to get over it,” people might say. Or, they’ll ask, “How are you dealing with...?”

The truth is, for the most part, I never once gave it any thought until people started asking, and then they continued to ask. It dawned on me, I guess I wasn’t dealing with it at all. 

What do you do when you relive how something “bad” made you feel? Do you talk to a friend, a family member, or do you write in a journal? Or, do you turn to something that reminds you of a better time, like an old television show or do you re-read a book you loved?

Or, do you simply do nothing. Sit on the couch, or in a cozy chair, or a rocking chair and look at what’s around you, maybe reading a book? Let me know what you think.