Pick Me Ups

I have a number of friends battling depression-like symptoms at the moment. Some of them have it, some of them don't.

I have been through it before too. I learnt to read my reactions in situations to better manage my stress levels and all that.

Here are five things that I use to pick me up when I'm feeling down:

God: singing a song to him, chatting while I'm driving, remarking about creation. Just spending time with the creator brings peace into my heart and reminds me of "Life more abundant".

Relationships: Zachary, Sarah, Chantelle, Jess, my family, all my other friends. I know the most amazing people!! There are waaayyyy to many too list.

Parks: I love to just wander around the parks in my city. We have the highest number of parks in Australia. They are darn good! My favourites are Queens Gardens, Kings Park, Harold Boas Garden, Hyde Park (my dad proposed to my mum there, the ol' smoothie!) and the Foreshore areas are lovely at night no matter what the weather is like.

Surfing the internet to find cool things: Cool things I've found this year. Moo.com - some friends have already ordered these - passing on the coolness! The other is more recent, but Zac and I have put it to good use - yay for Blurb.com!

Elie Saab, Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa: Looking at Elie Saab's collections - especially his couture, Alex Perry's Couture lines and his Ready to Wear and Akira's collections are always beautiful and pick me up. These fashion designers remind me that there are beautiful things in the world that are created only for the purpose of beauty. It might seem shallow, but when the world looks ugly it is nice to be reminded that beauty still exists! 

Actually, it's the beauty in all five of these things that pick me up. I guess what John and Staci Eldredge allude to in 'Captivating' is true - beauty nourishes us and that is why it is so distressing when it appears to be lost in our lives.