Hey Todd, thanks for this. You managed to share oft repeated practical advice in a new way that actually seems helpful. Believing my body will adjust and, even though it feels horrible at first, that sh*ty feeling is temporary is immensely encouraging. As an aside, it brings to mind a little nugget I sometimes share with people who suffer from depression — something utterly critical “they” don’t tell you…

It is this: At first exercising may make you feel even more depressed. How many depressed people do you think have been instructed to exercise, followed instructions, felt horrible and given up? I’m always amazed at what gets left out. Can’t you just hear blah blah blah EXERCISE blah exercise EXERCISE baaaaah bla….? So you’re told THIS this IS the way…you do it, you’re in deep hell the whole time and absolutely can’t wait to get back to bed…where you go straight away.

What I learned is it may take three weeks of regular exercise before that one walk makes you feel better. But the good news is all the successive workouts do indeed lift depression. There just seems to be an initial threshold that may need to be crossed. So there’s my nugget that seems critically important that no one ever told me. (The only way I even figured it out was I got a puppy and was forced to walk it daily [thanks Puppy].) Hopefully it encourages someone who might read this or someone you know. Lots of love, Emerald

P.S. What are you doing watching dating videos? Hahaha