Back in July last year I had an epiphany.  I was in Europe, travelling for ten days after a week in Germany for work.  My heart, mind and soul all combined to give me the wake up I needed. My body shut down for 2-3 days as the unwinding began.  I wrote a piece for the BLOG back then, its here if you want to check it out as well (https://afatherwithoutafamily.com/2013/07/20/the-poison-chalice/)

From that time in Italy I have refocused my energies on getting fit.  Not just losing weight, but reconditioning my mind, and purging my soul of the fog of depression.  Have I won, have I ridded myself of it all?  Well I am 100% better off than where I was only 7 months ago, I still some way to go, but even the smallest gain can be enough to kick-start a psychological revolution!

Here is how I did it!

Read:

I don’t care what you read, but read, it will take you away from your life, even for just 30 minutes a day.

Write:

Write a letter to yourself; write a recipe, a poem, even a list of stuff to do.  Write to me if you want!  Who cares, but get some thoughts down on paper and out of your head.

Listen:

If you are a reader of this BLOG you will know I am an avid music lover.  Get your playlists together, different ones for different moods.  Right now I am using Café Del Mar, John Mayer, and some Andrea Bocelli to manage my mood.  Whatever works for you, there are no hard and fast rules about what you should listen to.  My only advice is to listen to your heart and soul and let it guide your choice.  Don’t just follow to be socially accepted.  I couldn’t care less if my friends don’t like my music choice, its part of me and if they love me that will get over my music choice if it’s not to their liking.

Run, Walk, or Ride:

Over the last 7 months I have done all three.  My passion is now with riding, but its what works for you.  Don’t be afraid to try different things until you find one that you can’t get enough of.  I started with pushup’s, situp’s, squat’s and dip’s.  It is that simple if you want to make a change…the last few weeks I have ridden over 100kms per week and I am over 100kgs so its not easy I can assure you.

Eat:

Put in its most simple form, you get out what you put in.  Eat crap and you will feel and perform crap.  You cannot live on beer, pizza, wine, pies and Sao’s forever.  Your body will fail, trust me!  What’s more you will adapt to feeling crap and not even remember what feeling good felt like.  Have a good long hard think about what sorts of foods you have access to, challenge your own prejudice’s, I’ll bet some are just carried because of pure habit!  If your mind is lazy, your body will follow.

Seek Council:

I have said this before and I will keep saying it!  Find someone you can trust, someone who you can pore your heart out to and let it rip.  Do not hold back, let it all out.  It may take weeks, it may take months, but you have to get it all out and on the table.  Every problem can be broken down into smaller problems; sometimes we need someone to help us see those little pieces…

Silverton, Western Australia

As part of having depression we internalise allot of the issues we have.  We grow them; we let them exploit our weaknesses and give them the fuel they need to draw us deeper into the fog.  This in turn feeds anxiety, they are a match made in hell unfortunately, and for me one came with the other whether I liked it or not.

I initially set some small goals, some quick wins to give me some momentum.  Once you start achieving, it becomes easier to build the pace.  I reward myself but I always make sure I have the right people around me so I don’t fall into any traps, especially when it comes to enjoying a beer.  Notice I said enjoying, not getting wasted, and not ever in front of the kids!

Good night everyone let your mind offer up dreams worth remembering….

(Photography supplied by Steven Markham Photography)

https://www.facebook.com/steven.markham.94