New Thing Number One

Thirteen months ago I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I have been through countless doctor visits, therapy sessions, and medications--lather, rinse, repeat. Very little of this roller coaster has been fun. 

While I do feel like over the past year I have made some progress, I have light-years to go before I would consider myself a "normal" human being. Every day is hard. It's a real battle. It's exhausting. And after an entire year, seeing that I've made about an inch of progress is disheartening.

I'm so tired.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can't see it yet. Along the way I have noticed a couple patterns in my new brain chemistry. While copious amounts of talking, massages, essential oils, emotional movies, energy drinks, antidepressants, self-help books, and sleep aids (NOT in that order and NOT all at the same time--please, do not try at home) have helped in their own ways, I have not been able find a discernible pattern as to when they work and why. Sometimes they're just what I need and sometimes they're utterly useless. 

However, I have found a distinct relation between my mental progress and one activity: doing something new. 

It doesn't matter what it is as long as it's new, but usually the weirder the better. For some reason, doing something I have never done before produces an exhilaration that I just can't find anywhere else. And I genuinely feel better. 

So, starting today, I am going to begin an experiment. I am going to do 100 new things and see what kind of progress I can make. I don't think it will take only 100 days, as some of the things I want to try will take a little longer than one day to complete. And really, it's just the idea of doing a new thing every day that I'm going for. They're more like guidelines than actual rules.

But for now my goal is to do 100 things. Most of them will be little, everyday things that give me just the boost I need to survive yet another rotation of the earth.

New Thing Number One: Start a blog.

I figure if I make this public, I will feel more obligated to actually keep up with it. And people can hold me to it (but not too much--I'm not a fan of panic attacks). 

We'll see what happens, eh?

One hundred new things! Adventure is out there!