Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Lawyer up, Hit the Gym, Delete Facebook.


I have always had trouble understanding depression.

 In fact, for most of my adult life I have considered it a cop-out excuse for being narcissistic and non-conforming. It seems like every person I know that suffers from depression ends up hurting OTHER people's feelings and making every social situation unnecessarily uncomfortable. 

I have always wanted to shake them and say " Don't you understand how much better YOU will feel if you start making OTHER people happy?" 



And I still think that is true! Anytime I am feeling bad about myself I make a conscious effort to make my kids happy. I don't take them anywhere or buy them anything, I just decide to focus all my attention on them for a certain period and it immediately makes me feel better. I have picked up Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle and made them go to prom together, while talking in my My Little Pony sexy voice (What? It's hard to make a non-sexy voice for a sexy little pony like Twilight Sparkle). I have looked through a rock collection and asked questions that were extremely hard to come up with. ("Wow, Adrian, is this real gold? No? Please tell me more.")

Ever since I have had Collins, I feel like a sneaky uneasiness is bringing me down every day. I can't quite put my finger on what is making me sad, but something is. I wouldn't call it depression, but I am somehow in a rut that is not within the realm of my problem-solving abilities. 

Maybe it's the fact that I had a baby and gained weight. Maybe it's that we bought a new house. Maybe it's that I'm a working mother of three kids. It's probably a combination of all these things, along with the hormonal roller coaster that is the main attraction at the pregnancy theme park. (Damn, that was deep)

I'm not happy with who I am becoming. I care too much about unimportant things. I care too much about what people think, (ugh and I'm 30 -when will that go away!?). I find myself scrolling through my Facebook feed, my head full of judgement and criticisms and jealousy. You think you're crazy? This is a normal script in my head as I do a news feed scroll. 



Gah, she's so pretty and perfect. I bet she doesn't get into car accidents like I do.

Gah she's so happy, I bet she's always on time to work and never orders extra cheese on her pizza.

Gah she's so funny, I bet she doesn't have to take Ambien to sleep.

Gah she's so absent from my Facebook feed. It's probably because her life is so great she doesn't ever want to waste time on social media because she's so happy with her awesome life.  I bet her and her husband went to Italy this year. I bet they go to the park every Sunday with their labradoodle and she wears shorts and an effortless scarf, and they discuss stuff that matters. I bet her husband laughs at all her jokes and tells everyone that will listen how great she is. They probably had sex last night, and she probably wore his work shirt afterwards and it was probably so huge and adorable on her.

Gah he's so smart. I wish I was smarter. Why didn't I study when I had the opportunity? I could know so much right now.

Why am I so stupid? Why can't I listen to things and absorb them? Why do I have to watch each episode of Cosmos three times to grasp any of it!

Why do I hit so many things with my car?

Should I not be vaccinating my kids? Am I really that horrible of a mother for not wanting them to get Polio? NO I'M NOT. WHY ARE THEY JUDGING ME?! JUDGEMENT IS SO WRONG.

Ew, she should NOT have worn those shorts. 



If you have ever googled how to get through a hard time, you have probably stumbled upon "Lawyer up, hit the gym, delete facebook". It's something that frequently pops up on Reddit, one of my favorite websites. I think it's mostly related to how to get over a lost love, or properly get through a divorce. 

I'm obviously not getting divorced. Husband with one T is my most favorite part of the day. I don't need a lawyer (yet) (did I mention 2 car accidents within one week?), but I think the other two are something that needs to happen. 

My 31st birthday is June 2. I am swearing off  Facebook (starting on Thursday) until then. I am also vowing to go to bed at a decent time, stop eating junk food, and do some form of workout every single day. I am also going to stop hating myself for 40 days. I am way too hard on silly old Mare, and it's taking its toll. 

I have to be able to share pictures and stories of my hilarious and adorable kids until then, though. So I am going to post here, on my blog, every day until my birthday. It won't always be funny or inappropriate or even readable. It will probably be more like a journal, that no one would want to read except my Mom, who is probably now freaking out with worry while reading about my rut. (love you, Mom!)


Thank you in advance for not deleting my blog off your list. I promise to be back to the inappropriateness as soon as I get out of this Sneaky Hate Spiral. Love you all!


19 comments:

  1. You do know your Mom, love Mom

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  2. Mary, you said you always focus on making your kids happy when you are in a rut... well, this time, you are being an inspiration to others like myself who may also be in that rut. After reading this, I thought, "I need to do this too!" So I think I will... except for the giving up facebook part. I simply don't have it in me. But I will try to exercise every day and I will be smarter about what I order at lunch and eat for dinner. Thank you for sharing this. It's always nice to know you're not alone... and you probably don't realize that you are that facebook post to so many of us, that you refer to... your posts always make me think, "she's so funny, smart, pretty, etc". I bet I'm not alone... love you lil sis. Good luck on your journey :)

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  3. Well, then I am just going to need to follow this mofo by email so I don't miss out. Clearly you are one of my favorite people, my computer is named after you... but I like that you are considering not hating yourself. It was one of the best things I ever decided to do, about 13 years ago, and my life has been pretty awesome since, even with being chronically ill. =P

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  4. There ya go!!!! Might I suggest simply taking a 30 minute brisk walk on a day when the exercising thing seems unthinkable...still counts (or at least I hope so, or I have been totally kidding myself)! Be well!!!!

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  5. You know the funny thing is the majority of us gals care too much about what others think. I know people laugh at me, judge me and flat out tell me they think I'm ridiculous. I had to learn to be ok with it. I read something once saying "if they won't cry at your funeral than they aren't worth worrying about." Another funny- I think about you every time I post LOL!! Oh gosh I hope Mary doesn't rip my punctuation apart! I've always wished I was effortlessly funny like you. Chin up gorgeous!

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  6. I have to try this "not hating myself" thing! I didn't know you could do that! And don't be blue. You made me laugh today. You did something good for someone else! See?? I'm also sad after having my baby. Of course, she's 22 and I don't know how much longer I can use that excuse. Glad to see you back at the blog. I think you're the bee's knees. :)

    -andi

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  7. I got through my first bout of depression by studying astronomy. Ten years later it was much worse and seemed to be tied to vitamin B-12 deficiency.

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    1. Oh, and happy birthday, we almost have the same day, just a few decades apart.

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    2. Love the courageous honesty!! Agree with doing for others to elevate one`s self! Also gratitude statements & journals help us all focus on abundance instead of scarcity(what we don`t have).

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  8. Everyone feels that way from time to time! Pregnancy feelings, just like pregnancy calories do not count! Deleting Facebook is a good idea, but maybe just temporarily deactivate your account. You need to show off pictures of your kids eventually! But remember the "happy shiny look at us" bullshit on Facebook is not real life, it's just someone's Highlight Reel. Most people don't post about the real parts, the bad sad HUMAN parts. Everyone has them, and the more people pretend they don't, the worse they are. Your 40's will bring some bad things, but they brought me the ability to not care about comparing myself to others. Totally worth the gray hairs! You'll get through it, especially paying extra attention to your kids! That is slid gold!

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  9. I won't even lie, you took the words right out of my mouth. I think we are all so critical of ourselves. Try to remember that we all post pictures and write funny status when we are at the best moments of our lives. I try not to air all my dirty laundry out, because it would be a shit show LOL You are awesome girl. I wish you the best, your kids are adorable! I look forward to reading your journal... that sounds kinda creepy! :)

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  10. I'm just guessing that for every judgment you're dishing, someone is probably thinking your life is way more awesome than theirs. Personally, I've compared myself to you because you're so damn funny and full of life. You've got the husband, kids, house and career :-) The grass always seems greener, and social media has made that 1000x worse. Scrolling through FB or IG and seeing all of the "happy" intact families makes me feel like an ultra failure divorcee. I've gone through this rut and feel like I'm finally coming out of it. Taking time for yourself and feeding your mind, body and soul will do wonders. This, too, shall pass. xoxo

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  11. For me 48-50 was when I quit caring. I could be a late bloomer. I do remember thinking, if I knew then what I know now I would not have expected to feel anything more than mommy for a year after birth. It was brutal.

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  12. Depression and I know each other very well. My blog is the best therapy I've ever had.

    Love,
    Janie

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  13. I deleted my FB account on my bday (Feb 9) and while I thought it was going to be temporary, I seriously haven't looked back. One of the best things I have done. I had a lot of the same feelings as you, constantly criticizing others and comparing myself to my "friends". Since deleting, I have found that I actually talk to and SEE my true friends more often than I did when I had a time sucking, life wasting FB account. Don't be surprised if in eliminating FB from your life you find yourself more, and do not wish to go back come June 2nd :) Good luck on your goals!

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