Perhaps because I had written 5 posts in 24 hours that I felt drained when I finished the fifth of those posts on Monday. Combining that with my disappointment in the president’s speech, I was a little down last night. Not only that. I didn’t sleep well and was woken early by the construction crew next door. As a result, I began the day in a sour mood.
In the morning, I couldn’t focus on my reading for class. I gave up and was, I acknowledge, a little self-destructive. It seemed the day would be shot — and I was going to do nothing to prevent that from happening. But, when I bumped into a cute acquaintance and learned that he had warmer feelings for me than I had assumed, the day began to pick up.
It wasn’t only his kind words — though maybe they, in some way, spurred me to write and get things done that I needed to take care of. I turned to my writing, expressing that disappointment with the president’s speech in one post and channeled my amusement at a silly HRC press release into another where I expressed (in part) my conviction that the gay left, by and large, has failed to engage opponents of gay marriage in serious debate.
Satisfied with that piece, I finally got around to reading blogs and discovered the Anchoress’ excellent piece (on conservative reaction to the president’s speech) which helped me put things into perspective. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as losing an election.
Despite my lack of sleep, I made it to the gym, did some cardio, then returned home to get reading done for my graduate program. By that time, my whole perspective on the day had changed. What seemed, in its first hours, to be a day headed for disaster, turned out to be a productive one, in large part due to a kind word from someone (I’d like to know better) and my own determination to accomplish something.
Looking back on the day, I realized that, on most days, we have in within our power to turn things around. My experience today thus serves, in some way, as a reminder to all of us when we’re feeling down. And to those of us who might hesitate before saying a kind word to a friend — or even a stranger.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com
Looking back on the day, I realized that, on most days, we have in within our power to turn things around. My experience today thus serves, in some way, as a reminder to all of us when we’re feeling down. And to those of us who might hesitate before saying a kind word to a friend — or even a stranger.
Amen to that, you said it all. The best antidote to depression is doing something positive. And there aren’t enough kind words to go around. It is something we all should do more often. It is amazing how one small act of kindness can brighten the day.
Dan, one day you should join a Rotary Club. In many ways, the kind of lesson you learned and discussed in your post gets repested day-in/day-out in thousands of Rotary Clubs throughout the world. Kind, good thoughts shared about others by people brought together in association.
You’ve felt the famed “power of one”. Make sure you habit that on others, now.
repested = repeated; I need to stop searching for that perfect light beer so early in the day.