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While it is common to blame inability to plan on depression, I would like you to consider the possible costs of not planning your day in advance:

1. You may believe there are no reasons to get out of bed and follow your morning routine.
2. You may see no point and/or feel no urgency in doing anything during the day.
3. You may engage yourself in negative self-talk and feeling sorry for yourself as soon as you are awake, as your mind is free of tasks, responsibilities and any excitement.

How often do you smile? Do you naturally greet people with a smile or are you saving your smiles for better times?

In case you are wondering ‘What is there to smile about?’, ‘Why smile when I am feeling pain or numbness inside?’ or ‘Why deceive everyone with my false smile?’, I hope I can encourage you to review your attitude.

Smiling is good for you! Here is why:

I am a living proof that depression and an accumulation of clutter go hand in hand. I was admired from my early childhood for my natural abilities to make any space organised and clutter-free in no time at all. I had no problems in brief evaluations and confident decisions in regards to what should stay and what should go. My personal space was always tidy, organised and clutter-free.

This has changed. Not overnight, but slowly and surely. My low mood turned into depression over the years, and at the beginning I did not even notice the total chaos in my home. I was falling apart and so did the order in my environment.

I’ve decided to dedicate a few posts to evaluating and promoting some good-mood food.

Are you are familiar with caterpillars and their eating habits or at least Eric Carle’s classic book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”? They are very fussy and picky in what they eat, but once they find the 'good stuff', they eat loads and at an amazing rate!

Today’s good stuff for you to consider is:

Did you know that in olden days soups were prescribed to you if you were unwell? In many cultures, it is still the first food served to a person recovering from an illness, especially a long one.

Soups are made all over the world, hence the endless types, varieties and flavours. Making soups is a very old tradition. It is said that restaurants were originally created to serve soups (restoratifs) in 18th century Paris.

What makes soup so special?

Do you wake up each and every morning totally exhausted and feeling much worse that the night before?

When I was depressed I used to hope every night that in the morning I would wake up refreshed, eager to jump out of bed and face the new day. I was frustrated and disappointed that no miracles had happened overnight. I would open my eyes, assess my feelings and declare: ‘Yep, depressed today…as usual!’ Then I would have to drag myself out of bed, feeling extremely tired, acutely miserable and totally helpless for most of the day.

Giving sincere compliments is a hard task for a lot of people suffering and recovering from depression. Coming out of depression involves a process of rediscovering and re-learning the powerful and vital social skill of giving compliments.

When I was wrapped in my own depression, my inner suffering locked me away in some kind of socially-isolated cocoon. Before long, I formed a habit of not noticing the good and the positive about others and myself. I stopped giving complements to people. Why should I, when my own happiness and optimism had vanished?