One of the many ways that we rationalize and make excuses is to put off what needs to be taken care of today. You don’t put off  today  from taking care of what could be a life threatening illness  or disease tomorrow.  We all have said to ourselves, “I’ll do it when I feel better.” This procrastination is also operative in those of us who want to wait a little  longer before we see the dentist, for example, or get a check up for  an unrelenting stomach ache and for whatever  else that may  ail us.

The same with depression and its ongoing symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, constantly ruminating  about all the bad things that have happened to us or all the things we feel shame and /or guilt about. These negative feelings just never seem to end.  One solution is just to stay in bed, pull the sheets  over our head and sleep. We then say to ourselves, “I’ll get help when I have the energy and when I begin to feel better.”

I know all about this procrastination business and this interminable sadness that had me by the throat that  it was only until I became worried enough to do something about it, that I got moving.

In our book “I’ll do it when I feel better” published in 2014, that I give a  look at some of the ways we can get busy today, to do something about our lethargy, constant negative thinking, and total lack of physical activity. All this is undergirded by the spiritual principles of the 12 Steps of Depressed Anonymous. It is when we realize  we are part of something bigger than ourselves that we can finally quit rolling the stone up the hill like Sisyphus in the legend of old. The way to get ourselves out a  hole is to stop digging!

SOURCES: I’ll do it when I feel better.(2014)  Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.