Positive Steps

I think i have mentioned before that i have used what i call my positive steps challenge on and off throughout my life as a way of coping or possibly even over-coming my depression.  Now that i think about it i would say it was in my last post i spoke about it!

Anyway, today i just logged in to MSE which is where i now complete my challenge, along with several others who have joined in with me too, and it struck me again just how useful the challenge is.  It may seem a bit daft and an exaggeration to say this challenge has magic powers, but sometimes that is exactly how it feels.  Reading through other peoples posts on there today it just made me smile so much when they said it was really helping them too!  I know it seems like a really simple thing, but it is based on a lot of my own knowledge of psychology and depression as well as personal experience, and now the feedback from others as well.

The way i use the challenge is this: First of all, depending on my mood and current level of ability to complete the challenge i set myself a goal of a certain number of positive steps to achieve in a day.  The good thing about it is i can do this challenge at whatever level i choose from 1 step to as many as i can fit in a day.  Trust me sometimes it is a struggle to achieve the 1 step and sometimes its not enough of a challenge for me to aim for 10 or even 20, but that is the whole point - it is about setting myself a goal that is sufficient enough to challenge me a bit without trying to over-stretch myself either.

The other thing about it is I could start off with the aiming for 1 step and then maybe it helps me to have done something, so i might decide to aim for another one.  The 'trick' i think is about knowing where to set the limit for the day - ultimately this means being in tune with my own state of mind and being able to distinguish between low motivation and just plain can't be arsed - I think other people with the experience of depression know what i'm getting at here?? I know some days i just do very little which has nothing to do with my depression in the same way that everyone else has those days too!

Today i have set myself a target of 10 positive steps, 5 of which relate to my online earning accounts and 5 of which relate to general house things and 'me' things.  So far i have managed to do quite a few really:

Online accounts - swagbucks, superpoints, free bingo, free lottery, checked freebies options, cleared email account 1 of junk mail/unwanted stuff, changed email notification on facebook, wrote post for money making blog,  and of course writing this post.

House stuff - folded up washing, put another wash on, and put recycling out.

Me stuff - now thats where i get a bit stuck.......oh i got up at 10.30 cos i am trying to get my sleep pattern back into something that resembles normal even though i didn't go to bed until 5ish and am about to go have a shower......

I have some more bits i want to do as well, which hopefully i will manage on top of those 14 things i have already done - how good is that? and i even feel good about having achieved so many :)

Right shower beckons......hope you have a positive day too :)