Words Come Back to Haunt

So I have spent my life espousing a certain philosophy that has come back to haunt me over the last few days. First of all, I have always said when you are down you need to go out and do something for someone else (thanks, Mae, for the reminder.) And I have always lectured that when you are depressed, you need to use cognitive behavior therapy, whereby literally replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. When you cannot come up with a positive thought, then start running through all the things you are grateful for, one by one. In this way, you trick your brain, and therefore your hormones and anatomic nervous system, to believe you are surrounded by good, not bad. Some depression (not all) can become a physical condition, caused by constantly dwelling on negative and fearful thoughts. Your body begins to respond in a like manner. Soon, it is very difficult to overcome depressive and obsessive thinking. Over the last few weeks, I have really got caught up in all the fear and anger having to do with this really negative and hurtful campaign run by McCain/Palin. They really are a drain on our very fragile national well being. On top of their hate, we have watched our economy literally tank. After immersing myself in this muck, I became a negative, neurotic, angry person. It took a conversation with my friend, Kay, today to remind me to use my power of positive thinking and spiritual awareness to get myself back on track and become the person my family needs me to be right now. When the Mom (or older sister) falters, no matter how old the children, it affects the well being of the family. We mothers need to set the example of what to do when the world tilts. How to keep a sense that everything is going to be okay, even when we are worried that it won't be. We teach this to our daughters, so that they can then do that for their families. Or we teach our sons, so that they can get up every day to do what they need to do to take care of their wives and children. I think our best legacy to our families is the ability to catch ourselves, and do what we need to do in times of crises, to keep our thinking healthy and productive. It does not help anyone to wallow in negativity for very long, least of all ourselves.