Despondency

A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.
Therese of Lisieux

If you live the life you love, you get the blessing from above.
Van Morrison

Oh darkness, I feel like letting go.
Sarah McLachlan

A lot of people in the northern hemisphere find this time of year to be quite difficult. This month, our wonderfully warm and sunny summer has come to an abrupt halt. One week we were spending much of the day out of doors enjoying the warmth and light; the next we are driven indoors by wind, rain, and considerably lower temperatures.

The long days with stretching, bright warm evenings are now gone, replaced by darkness before 8pm, and the need for heating and electric lights when we get up in the morning.

On reading Webster’s definition of `despondence´, i.e., `a state or spell of low spirits´, I immediately made the association with the `low fuel´ signal in the dashboard of my car.

If spirit, or the conscious realisation thereof, is the fuel for well-being, why is it that we run low at this time of year, and how can we tank up again?

In my case, nature has a very positive effect on my well-being, so I spend as much time as possible in the outdoors. Since childhood, I have been fascinated by all things, great and small, that can be found in the natural world. Plants, animals, rivers, skies, and all the rest; these keep me in a state of awe. The river we visit today is not the same one we saw yesterday. If we look closely enough, we can see that everything is alive, and in flux.

Our continental summer climate here in the Rheinland allows us to carry out many of our everyday activities out of doors between March and September. But then, the wind, rain, and cold temperatures arrive, and we are stuck indoors for much of the day, every day for the coming six months, with the exception, perhaps, of a beach holiday in the sun or a skiing trip to the mountains.

Lack of direct sunlight is a recognised problem here during the winter months. Emerging clinical research is also now positing that we need far more Vitamin D than has hitherto been supposed. According to the US National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, the target blood concentration (measured in ng/litre of blood) lies between 30-60.

There are dissenting voices in the German medical community, such as Dr Raimund von Helden, who suggest 100 ng/litre as a healthier level, with little or no negative side effects. While research is still on-going, many studies point to a direct corelation between Vitamin D levels and our well-being, as manifested in our physical health, mood, and outlook on life.

The standard response to domestic confinement in these climes during the winter is to spend much of our leisure time using our devices to access `entertainment´, to exercise less, and to eat more. For me, this would be a recipe for disaster in terms of vitality, mental fitness, and physical health.

In order to achieve and maintain a `high level´ of spirits, I find it necessary to consciously engage in several different activities each day, winter and summer.

A healthy, regular, sleep regime is something that appears to be beyond the reach of a large proportion of our society. For me six hours suffice, if followed by an hour of silent meditation upon awakening. This is a practice I have been observing for almost twenty years now, with good results.

The meditation, or `silent hour´ is an opportunity to consciously connect to and cultivate the light and love within. It is also a means of practicing `mind control´, an essential aspect of mental fitness.

After breakfast for the soul comes breakfast for the body, which brings us to the subject of nutrition. Find what suits you best, what is really good for you. In recent years, medical pioneers have begun writing about the `gut brain´, arguing that what is going on in our digestive system is as least as important, in terms of mood health, as what is going on between our ears. For my part, I avoid processed foods, keep a vegan diet, cook every day using fresh produce, and generally eat three meals, six hours apart, with only water in between.

If your work or work environment is not good for you, find something better. Peace of mind and enjoyment of work are priceless. By aligning our values and passions with what we do for a living, we are doing ourselves and the world great service.

Daily exercise helps me maintain a state of vitality and stamina. My deal with myself is one hour every day in the outdoors, – rain, hail, or shine. To make it easier, I commit to six days per week, so there is always a joker card I can use in exceptional cases. I guess my long-range average is well above 6.5 times per week. Running, cycling, and Nordic walking count among my favourite forms of exercise.

Hobbies and creative pursuits are also essential in my daily structure to keep my spirits high. For years gardening provided many hours of joy each week. Now I am content with a roof garden and house plants, which need daily loving care. Photography is a pursuit which has become a passion over time. I have learned to look at the world through the eyes of a young boy once again. Going dancing once a week is a must! On the best occasions I am not dancing but `being danced´, completely in flow, free of burdens and cares.

Finally, family, community, and service help to keep me on track. The temptation to withdraw and isolate is greater at this time of year. Our extended family has become one of my greatest treasures; it needs minding. This is done by active involvement and pro-active communication.

I participate in several different types of communities and fellowships, resulting in daily conversations with like-minded folk, some of whom turn to me for help, some to help. We all benefit equally from this type of interaction.

Sobriety is the foundation of my new life on which these blocks of daily practice stand. Having indulged in enough mood-altering substances for a lifetime by the age of forty-two, I have been graced with a sober life since then.

In addition to community and service, mental fitness is indispensable when it comes to cultivating, maintaining, and expanding this way of living. My current training in the Positive Intelligence Programme provided by Shirzad Chamine and the PQ team in San Francisco is helping me become more resilient whenever the blues of despondency come knocking on my door.

They do. It is part of the human condition. I don’t beat myself up for the fact that they sporadically return. Mental fitness enables me to choose my response in that ever-widening gap between stimulus and response. This is where my freedom lies.

Some ships ply east
And some ply west,
By the self-same wind that blows.
‘Tis not the gale,
But the set of the sail
That determines where each goes.

Inspired by Ella Wheeler Wilcox