I have been thinking a lot about how to exercise one's emotions, when one's emotional world has gone to gray monotones. No answers yet, but I know, as an old dancer, that the ALL of us needs to flex and stretch all the time. Why not the emotions, too? So thru my current numbness, I am looking for stimuli from any source at all--TV or movie, garden, furry friends, sunsets, full moon, sunrises, a sweet, adorable little skunk at the back door. To Exercise my Emotions and perhaps find a way back.....
Any progress, Judith? It's so hard because that numbness so often protects us from feeling other things that are just too close to being intolerable. I think you're right on point though about exercising emotions. I think we should pay most attention to "exercising" the more helpful emotions though (which I am, admittedly, not very good at myself either). For what it's worth, when I find myself in these awful dark pockets, I do my best to surround my mind with comedy and try to force myself to be social (which is probably the hardest thing and, for me, what I probably need the most). But, places like this forum can give us some of that energy at least when we just can't. I think just knowing we're not alone in how we feel, that we're not "freaks" because of how we feel, can go a long way in getting us back on an uphill trend. The greatest thing about being part of groups of people is that even when many of us are down, there are a few at least who are up. While most of us won't remain on either end forever, we can at least buoy each other along the way. Waves always have peaks and troughs, but together, they always are simply part of the ocean and never truly drown. :)