Wednesday, March 16, 2011

When Your Rock Breaks


Today’s been “one of those days.” Not one of the days when everything goes wrong, or one of the days when people act nuts… it’s been one of those days when your rock breaks. If you went to high school with me, you might know what that means. For those of you who don’t...

Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up feeling somewhat blue, and as the day progresses you just feel lower, and lower, and lower? It seems like people are blowing you off, it seems like your friends have no time for you, and it seems like you might have been better off to stay in bed and hide under the covers all day? Well, one day back in high school, a very close friend of mine was having just that sort of day. She was so bummed out and sad, that at the end of the school day, I said to her, if you could do ANYTHING right now, within reason, what would you do? She wanted to go to the playground and swing on the swings. So I said “Then let’s go swing on the swings!”

We got into my car, and I drove her to the playground, all the while she was telling me all of the crappy things that had happened to her that day. When we got there, there were no swings on the swing set. They were literally just gone. She took one look at the empty swing set and said “See? The whole world is against me today!” I knew how she felt. I had had plenty of days like that. So, I said “Ok, what else can we do?” She spotted a hopscotch board painted on the sidewalk and said “Can we play hopscotch? I haven’t done that since I was really little!” I said sure, and, as is customary, we both searched around to find a small rock to toss on the hopscotch board. I told her she could go first. She tossed her rock, and it didn’t even bounce. It simply hit the ground and busted into three pieces. We stood there looking at it in total disbelief. It was like a metaphor for the whole lousy day she’d been having.

Today has been like that. What started off as a mild feeling of blue has morphed into full-blown “bummer.” There are so many little things that normally wouldn’t bother me, so many stupid things that people said that wouldn’t normally upset me, and it all seemed to converge on me like an avalanche until finally, the proverbial rock broke. And once that happens, there’s nothing left to do but say “Ok, that’s it. I’ve had it today.” At some point, the sadness either gets the best of a person and they give up and crawl into bed with the tissues and a box of Godiva truffles, or they get pissed off and say “Screw this! Ok, life, you wanna shit all over me? NOT HAPPENING!”

When you’re having a day of pure and simple depression producing events please try to remember that tomorrow is another day. Even though sometimes there are a few broken rock days in a row… there are always brighter days at the end of the tunnel. ALWAYS. And if for some reason, you can’t get to a box of chocolates then get yourself a heavy bag and some gloves and go to town. But never, EVER let that broken rock get the best of you. EVER. It’s ok to be sad sometimes, you’re human. When you are, let it out and then let it go. Just like Rocky… Get up. Keep moving forward.

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