Depression: The Blindside

For the past few days, I haven't felt like doing much.  About four days ago I had gotten some time of intestinal bug and had been miserable.  For the days following I continued to feel fatigued and slept a lot during the day.  My wife kept on asking if I felt OK, if I was still sick.  I told her that I was just tired, like I couldn't shake the fatigue.  I don't know when I realized it was depression.  I think it was some time yesterday.  I really can't put a finger on the moment I became truly aware.  I just know it made me really annoyed with myself.

When I woke up this morning, I realized that even though I was aware of feeling depressed, I didn't seem to be able to shake the feeling.  Once again, I had been blindsided by it.  I didn't write a blog post yesterday.  It wasn't because I didn't have the time.  I felt so demotivated.  I had a scheduled meeting with a local veterans advocate and I almost didn't get out of bed in time to make it to the meeting.  Yeah. That's the kind of day yesterday was.  I don't want today to be a repeat of that.

I am so annoyed with myself.  How could I not realize it was the depression?  I kept the blinds shut in the living room.  I sat in the dark and stewed while I watched meaningless crap on Netflix.  How many more clues does a guy need?  I missed out on opportunities to play with my daughter in the park because I was caught up in my own bullshit.  Well, not today.  I refuse to let this happen again.  I want to see my daughter laugh and play outside.  It's such a joy to watch.

*sigh* As I sit here trying to type this, I feel the anxiety building.  Anxiety about what, I have no idea.  Great.  Wonderful.  It's like my body is trying to hold me hostage.  Not today.  Yeah, that's my new mantra.  Whenever my PTSD tries to take over my life I am going to say, "NOT TODAY".  I just need to stop worrying about what could happen in the future or what already happened in the past.  One you can't control and the other is already history.  That leaves the one day I can control the outcome of:  today.  I plan on making the most of it.