Often times I think we fall into our “Default State of Mind” and we get all snuggled in. What I mean by our Default State of Mind is the emotion/mood we know. I believe our Default State of Mind is a direct reflection of how we view our self (going forward Default State of Mind will be referred to as DSM (Ha! That’s funny. I didn’t even notice that until right now)). Which often times isn’t very good, but with time, effort, a commitment to one’s self, and patience we can change our DSM.

I have been known to get stuck in my DSM, as I’m sure many of you have. When people battle mental disorders we tend to think very low of ourselves. We may feel we aren’t good enough, we aren’t worth much if anything at all, we are unlovable, unwanted, we don’t matter, we are alone, we feel unheard and unseen. Imagine what these kind of beliefs about one’s self can do to one’s state of mind. This feeds into the mental disorder. One feeds the other; the lower you think of yourself the deeper in to a depressive state you’ll go; the deeper in to a depressive state you go the lower you think of yourself. As you can imagine, this is a very easy cycle to fall into. The more time you spend in that state of mind the more it just becomes your Default State of Mind.  Before you know it this is just where you live now. This is not a good or healthy place to live. 

What can we do to counteract our DSM? I know many things that can help, I can give you advice all day long and get you back to a Better State of Mind (BSM) but I struggle to take my own advice. Having said that, I am damn tired of my DSM. There is absolutely nothing good or positive there. It is cold, dark, damp, and lonely. So, starting now I’m going to take my own advice and I am going to share my journey to a BSM with you. I hope that you too, will begin your journey to a BSM with me! 

Here is what I’m think:

1. Make a solid plan
   • Create a Document to follow and hold myself accountable
2. Make a list of things I enjoy doing to plug into my solid plan
   • Meditation (a minimum of 5 minutes a day x 7 days a week)
   • Yoga (2 x weekly)
   • Make an uplifting BSM playlist to listen to
   • Incorporate healthy foods into my meals
     • Eat @ least 2 meals a day and healthy snacks throughout the day
     • Every Saturday create a daily menu for the following week
3. Attend a minimum of 1 meeting a week
4. Work towards being a semi-minimalist (remember, this is my list, yours will most likely look a bit different)
   • Start in one corner of my apartment and don’t stop until that area is the way I want it (DO NOT compromise with yourself) 
   • Pick one area a day. Don’t overwhelm yourself or you’ll just give up, but push yourself a little. 

Well, that’s a good start and you get the idea. 

Now is the perfect time for me to start this with the holidays and all. I would suggest anyone else who struggles with the holidays to begin to work on your BSM as well. I’m hopeful this will help to make the holidays not so overwhelmingly depressing as well as every day after that. 

So begins my journey to transform my DSM into a BSM. 

I will post The Plan document once I’ve created it in case anyone would like to use it or have a reference point for creating their own. 

With Loving-kindness

Be well ♥