Therapy – And a Giveaway!

Life is a series of ups and downs.  Let’s repeat that slowly and separately: ups and downs, highs and lows, joys and sorrows.  Today, I’m thinking about those downs, lows, and sorrows.  How do we get through those times?  Given my heritage, the first thing that comes to mind is to pray; and given my love of music, I know that the combination of piano and strings soothes my soul.  But after I’ve prayed and listened, I find that during these times, I must also keep busy – keep my mind off of the problem – do something that so totally consumes me, I don’t have time to think about the situation.  That’s my therapy.  I can think of two things that have been therapy for me over the years, both introduced to me by the same dear friend.  I wonder if she realizes how much she has helped me.  I mention both in my blog, Earthly Treasures.

The first was cross stitching.  In my younger years, I cross stitched something for every event.  I lost count of the number of Christmas stockings, baby blankets, and framed quotes I made for others and myself.  Cross stitching got me through those pressure times of raising a family.  This past year, she taught me the popular modern game, Words with Friends, on my iPhone.  Yes, my family is raised; but those worries and concerns have simply changed instead of eluded me.  I have nights I can’t sleep and times I can’t figure out my next step.  So I get out of bed, try to remember to pray, but then sometimes I fret.  I happen to look at my phone, and guess what?  It’s my turn!  So I calculate my next move with my dear old friend.  At first, she totally annihilated me in our matches; but then I learned the strategy of triple and double words.  Now I can hold my own.  After several minutes of calculating my next move and finally making it, I realize I’m yawning.  And, oh my, I didn’t even think about that “thing” that awakened me.  Let’s just get back in bed!  Yes, I would say, today, this game is definitely my therapy.

It seems as though golf is therapy for another friend of mine.  He says when he’s out on the course, he thinks of nothing else but “the game” and his next shot – all day!  After a night of ballroom dancing such as last weekend, I came to the conclusion dancing, too, focuses my mind on the moves and the fun activity.  Last Friday, I laughed all the way home!

So there you go.  For me, strength comes from prayer and music; but my therapy is, or has been, cross stitching, a word game, and dancing.  How about you?

This month of April represents the one year anniversary of the publishing of my book, Reflections.  In celebration of this anniversary, I’m giving away another copy of Reflections.  To be included in this random drawing for a free autographed copy of Reflections, simply leave a comment here.  Hurry with your comment.  The contest will conclude at midnight central time on May 1.

Tell me – what is your therapy?