Sooner or later, we all get the blues.  Part of the human experience is going through difficult circumstances and many times, feelings of sadness, loneliness, or grief is all part of the process.  Over time, we somehow move forward through the valley and keep moving along with our lives.

As we continue on our journey to build and strengthen our character, working to build our resistance to the blues and accelerating our recovering out of our inevitable time with the blues will enhance our ability to reach our full potential and set a positive example for those around us.

We all have our weak points that can set us down the path into the blues.

• The pressure of personal finances and provision for those we care about most gets us down.
• The unmet expectations of our loved ones gets us down.
• The frustrations of feeling trapped in the workplace or an unfulfilled career path gets us down.
• The reflection on mistakes and regrets gets us down.
• The journey through an unexpected illness or health crisis gets us down.

The journey of life has an unfortunate habit of showing our weak points from time to time.

We have a unique, personal pattern of what our outward expression to the world is when we are dealing with the blues.  Some of us get moody, others get quiet, some get downright mean, and others simply withdraw completely.  If you are unsure of your personal pattern, just ask someone in your home and I am sure they will be more than willing to tell you.

There are a few practical steps that have been proven over time by our experience and by academic research that we can all take as an antidote to the blues.  These steps will help minimize the frequency and duration of our blues experience and expedite our recovery back into the bright light of opportunity that is before us each day.

1. Accept the reality that the journey of life will bring about times of personal sadness. Expecting a life without periods of sadness and disappointment is just not a realistic expectation.
2. Identify the source of our feelings. Be sure to look beyond the immediate issue like a fight with our spouse, an uninspiring job, or a recent mistake.  Many times, we have unresolved issues from our past that keep rearing their ugly head in our day to day issues.  Working to resolve these issues is an important step in dealing with the near term source of our troubles.
3. Find someone who will listen. It is getting harder and harder these days to find someone to listen.  In a world that continues to grow in complexity and intensity, the distractions of work, family schedules, “always on” social media, and binge watching a favorite TV series makes it challenging to even get those closest to us in the home to listen.  In addition, the cold hard reality is that struggles in the home are most often the source of the blues and finding someone to listen in our home may not be a realistic option.  In those cases, we should always try and be the one who is willing to put down the smart phone and listen when we can clearly tell something is wrong.  Our example will help others to do the same.
4. Look beyond ourselves to the needs of others. Getting our minds off of ourselves and onto helping others is a foundational step for preventing and recovering from the blues.  As Ben Franklin most famously said, “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.”  Focus on serving others and our personal issues will seem insignificant in the light of helping others in need.
5. Set some small personal goals. It may very well be just to get out of bed in an efficient manner and not try to sleep away troubles with a few hits on the snooze button.  A set of small physical goals like going for a walk or exercising in some consistent way has always been shown to be a strong resistance to the blues.  Small steps of progress towards goals helps to expedite our recovery.
6. Count our blessings. Psychologists, pastors, and friends would all say that being thankful for the small blessings in life is a habit we should all embrace.  Whether it is enjoying a sunrise or a sunset along with the fact that we had one more day with those we care about most, gratefulness for the little things will help us effectively deal with the blues.

In the end, the choice is always ours to make.  Making a few decisions to implement some of the items above will help to minimize the number of times we slip into the blues and it will help expedite our recovery out of the valley when we find ourselves alone in the darkness.

As we take these steps as an antidote for the blues, we will build and strengthen our character and Character Creates Opportunity® to reach our full potential and set a positive example for those around us.