Tuesday, November 18, 2008

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Attitude Adjustment.
One really tough thing about not drinking or smoking, and giving up on all of my other vises all at once, is that all of the tools that were in my tool box that helped me fend off bouts of depression have been taken away from me. And what really makes matters even worse is that without all of these chemicals and stimulants floating around in my blood stream, my body is going nuts trying to figure out who turned off the juice.
In the past I was always very lucky. I was so good at medicating myself that I never felt much depression. And if I did get depressed, I had no tolerance for it. I would just head on over to the local bar and adjust my attitude accordingly.
And let's just say it would work like a charm every time.

Tonight I tried the G-rated version of adjusting my attitude. I went to Blockbuster and picked out a movie with my kid. We watched Elf. It was OK. I don't particularly like Will Ferrell. Christmas movies tend to make my eyes glaze over. But watching my son, who still completely buys into the Santa Claus thing, laugh and giggle and practically wet his pants has completely thawed my black heart. And I began to realize just how deep into the emotional vortex I had traveled. Well, I've always found that once you recognize the emotional state that you are in, you are immeadiatley starting to make your move out of it. And now that I know full well how depressed I was for the past couple of days, I am starting to feel better already.
So Elf wasn't so bad. And the way I feel now, I would even call it a classic. I mean it's no Christmas Carol, but I don't think anything that Dickens ever wrote was going to get me out of my past mental state. So, God Bless you Will Ferrell. And God bless us-everyone. I am feeling much better now.

6 comments:

Bj in Dallas said...

DK
Ok, first of all I LOVE ELF...but watching it with a little one makes it ten times better. Did you not love it when he started screaming "SANTA IS COMING!!" or when he told James Caan to watch the big yellow ones, they don't stop.....
simple minds, simple pleasures.

Try this, especially when you are with your wife or son. Remind yourself to stay right there, in the moment, and see how much you haven't been doing that. Its pretty eye opening....
keep takin care...
Bj

Bj in Dallas said...

ps I also strangely like the original Home Alone....
never figured that one out...

david kramer said...

It was a silly movie for sure...but I did like the scene were he beats up the Gimble's Santa for being an imposter.
Thanks for the remarks BJ.
All the best, David

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you've found a non-pharmaceutical way to pull out of the tailspin.

I use British comedies and, sick as it sounds, murder mysteries to "medicate." And it works!

Anonymous said...

Movies are always a great remedy for whatever ails you, provided you're in at least a semi-conscious state. I tend to favor films about espionage. At long I'm feeling useless, it's comforting to know there's no national security risk.

Lorrie Veasey said...

Let me just say that there are other VICES that will help in addition to studio blockbusters. Among them:

Chocolate
Porn
Reality TV
Shopping
Chocolate (def. worth mentioning twice)

Come back to the dark side David: we have cookies.