HELP ME--LOVE ME!

Help me to love me
When I'm lumpy and depleted
When I can't help others
When I can't spread joy
When I don't laugh at myself
When I have lost perspective
Help me love me

I wrote that reflection this week when I was just 'out of sorts'.
(What the heck are 'sorts' to be out of?)

Anyway, I'm sure you know what I mean.
DOLDRUMS.
Stuck, nothing working, cranky with me.
No get up and go.
All of that.
I know exactly what to do when doldrums happen, but when you are in the 'doldrums' it's action that is the hard thing to do.
Two things work for me. Either I do something kind for someone else (like writing my former mother-in-law that I love and don't write) or doing something kind for me. This time I chose me. Even so, the hard part is to get in gear. It took me four hours of lolly gagging around until I dressed and walked to the center of town in San Miguel. Movement is the most important part to kill the doldrums. I walked and I started to see interesting houses and plants and colors. I stopped and had coffee and a Mexican cookie. I began to enjoy. What a relief. I could still enjoy! I wasn't stuck any more. I wandered in and out of stores and bought little gifts for people. I stopped and watched a wedding party leave the main church in the square. I sat on a bench and went into a trance and watched people. It was soothing.  

It doesn't matter at all why the doldrums happen.
Treat it like an act of nature. Not your fault.
Only matters that you know the doldrums won't last if--
You get your rear in gear and do something very different for yourself or someone else. Always works.

Look up 'doldrums' in the dictionary. Great word.