Winston Churchill's 'Black Dog' seems to like my mental backyard as well. Yesterday was another day when it had decided to pay a visit. It's surprising how one particular mood can make the whole world look bleak and dreary no matter what the actuals conditions.
I can safely claim that I've had some success in dealing with this visitor in the past. So yesterday when I was in that mentally bleak state, I could remind myself that I've been in such phases before and gotten out of it. And most importantly, that it was just a phase.
As part of my growing experience in dealing with occasional bouts of moroseness, I've been maintaining a doc file with a list of things that helped me get out of it in the past. The top item in the list is exercise. The second place holder is diet. The third place is occupied by spending time with friends of a generally positive attitude, but I find it most difficult to actively seek company when I'm down. Usually I've benefited out of it only when others have by chance sought me out when I was down.
Yesterday I chose to act on both the top options. I decided to fast for the day. And I decided to go for a walk - from Powai to Juhu Beach. Needless to say, the combination was not an enjoyable one but it paid off. Took me about 4 hours total to walk to Juhu Beach. It was the first time that I walked through so many different areas of Mumbai - bustling through near slums, chaos of roadside Sunday market, stinking piles of garbage and manicured streets of the upper class locales. I could relate to the lives of a lot of different people once I was done.
At the beach I leisurely enjoyed the sunset and observed the different groups of people that were there - running, relaxing, with sweethearts, with parents, with business acquaintances(from the hotels), or in solitude like me. Loved it. Savoured it. And returned back in an auto, with a much better mood than expected.
Mission accomplished.
