This file includes stress, mental illness, emotional health, and tiredness. Also see Addiction, Scrapping the Difficult Times, Laughter is the Best Medicine, Living Through a Pandemic, and Physical Health.

Quotes

• Anyone can face a crisis, its this day-to-day living that wears you out.
• Are a few dull moments too much to ask?
• A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support. No one would feel embarrassed about seeking help for a child if they broke their arm - and we really should be equally ready to support a child coping with emotional difficulties. (Kate Middleton)
• Be kind to past versions of yourself that didn’t know the things you know now.
• Before you walk a mile in someone's moccasins take off your own first.
• Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we want to conceal. (Russell Lynes)
• Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
• Doing your best does not mean working yourself to the point of a nervous breakdown.
• Don't do something permanently stupid because you are temporarily upset.
• Even your worst enemy can't wish you what you think up for yourself.
• Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.
• Everything great that we know has come from neurotics...never will the world be aware of how much it owes to them, nor above all what they have suffered in order to bestow their gifts on it. (Marcel Proust)
• Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions. (David Borenstein)
• I don't necessarily want to be happy; I just want to stop feeling miserable.
• I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
• I think freckles, stretch marks, tattoos, bruises, birthmarks, and scars are the coolest things ever, You started with almost a blank canvas. Look at you now. All this evidence that you've lived. (Gabriella Bowden)
• I would rather have delusions than illusions. Delusions are harder for other people to destroy. (Denny)
• I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.
• If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got. (Dr. Phil)
• If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. (Lao Tzu)
• If you don't take time for your wellness you will be forced to make time for your illness.
• If you need a safe space because of offensive words, I'd hate to see what real problems do to you.
• In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day. (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
• It is an odd paradox that a society, which can now speak openly and unabashedly about topics that were once unspeakable, still remains largely silent when it comes to mental illness. (Glenn Close)
• It is the aloneness within us made manifest and it destroys not only connection to others but also the ability to be peacefully alone with oneself. (Andrew Solomon on depression)
• It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. (Sally Kempton)
• Learn to ask for what you want...The worst people can do is not give you what you ask for--which is precisely where you were before you asked. (Peter McWilliams)
• The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. (Henry David Thoreau, 1854)
• The moment you put a stop to people taking advantage of you and disrespecting you is when they define you as difficult, selfish, or crazy. Manipulators hate boundaries.
• A neurosis is a secret that you don't know you are keeping. (Kenneth Tynan)
• No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head. (Terry Josephson)
• No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness. (Elyn R. Saks)
• Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. (Albert Camus)
• One awesome thing about Eeyore is that even though he is always depressed, he still gets invited to participate in adventure with his friends. They never expect him to pretend to be happy, they never leave him behind or ask him to change. They just show him love.
• People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding. (Wilhelm Stekel)
• Practical guide for successful living: Put your head under the pillow and scream.
• Pressure and stress is the common cold of the psyche. (Andrew Denton)
• Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. (Jane Wagner)
• Sometimes I have to tell myself it's just not worth the jail time.
• Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you think you've been buried, but actually you've been planted. (Christine Caine)
• Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you weren't sleeping.
• To him who is in fear everything rustles. (Sophocles)
• Unless you have to rest after taking a shower, you have no idea what tired is. (I have had illnesses that caused tiredness for a while but still can't imagine how it would be to feel like that all the time like those with illnesses like fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, depression, etc.
• We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm. Some have yachts, some canoes, and some are drowning. Just be kind and help whoever you can.
• We are not victims of the world we see. We are victims of the way we see the world.
• We don't walk away to teach people a lesson. We walk away because we finally learned ours.
• We know that mental illness is not something that happens to other people. It touches us all. Why then is mental illness met with so much misunderstanding and fear? (Tipper Gore)
• We need so much more openness, transparency and understanding that it's okay to talk about depression as illness. It is not a weakness. It's not a moral shortcoming. It's not something people brought on themselves. (Dr. John F. Greden)
• What if everyone else is underthinking?
• What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation about illnesses that affect not only individuals, but their families as well. (Glenn Close)
• What most fundamentally characterizes the well-adjusted, or highly sane person is not chiefly the particular habits or attitudes that he holds, but rather the deftness with which he modifies them in response to changing circumstances. (Wendell Johnson)
• When dealing with difficult people remember that as hard as it is to be with them, just be glad you aren't them.
• When one is a stranger to oneself then one is a stranger to others too. (Anne Morrow Lindbergh)
• When parents say to their kids "Go to your room and think about what you've done", it's really good practice for what you'll do every night as an adult. (Pat Tobin)
• When we bury feelings we also bury ourselves...It's like awarding someone sole custody of your happiness without even asking for visitation rights. (Sarah Ban Breathnach)
• When you're resting because you're exhausted, remember that you are not doing nothing. You are doing exactly what you need to do, you are recovering.
• When you are unhappy, is there anything more maddening than to be told that you should be contented with your lot? (Kathleen Norris)
• When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and acts as yours does is something close to a blessed event. (Robert M. Pirsig)
• Wipe out anxiety before it wipes you out.
• You know when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back so you're just on two legs then you lean too far and you almost fall over but at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time. (Steven Wright)
• You never find yourself until you face the truth. (Pearl Bailey)

FEAR
F alse
E vidence
A ppearing
R eal.

Ways to Reduce Stress

• Go to bed on time.
• Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
• Say No to projects that don't fit your schedule or that compromise your mental health.
• Delegate tasks to capable others.
• Simplify and unclutter your life.
• Less is more. Two of some things are not better than one.
• Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
• Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time.
• Take one day at a time.
• If you can't change a situation try to put it out of your mind.
• If you can change a situation take steps to do so.
• If praying comforts you don't wait to do it when you are desperate.
• Live within your budget--don't use credit cards if they cause you to overspend.
• Have backups--an extra car key in your wallet, a house key buried in the garden, etc.
• K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut.) This can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
• Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
• Get enough exercise.
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Get organized so everything has its place.
• Write thoughts and inspirations down.
• Everyday, find time to be alone.
• Nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until they become large ones.
• Make friends with people who have similar values.
• If reading the Bible comforts you keep a list of favorite scriptures.
• Laugh at every opportunity.
• Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
• Develop a forgiving attitude--most people are doing the best they can.
• Be kind to unkind people--they probably need it the most.
• Talk less; listen more.
• Slow down.
• Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
• Every night, think of one new thing you're grateful for.

Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it." "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. "In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

True Peace

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw the picture thought it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had her nest. There in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.

The king chose the second picture as the winner. "Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

Self-Worth

Some of us are nervous about being ourselves because we don't think we are 'good enough' the way we are. Here is a great website if you feel that way. Why Your Low Self-Worth is Not Your Fault (and what to do about it) and Eight Ways to Increase Your Self-Worth.

Songs about Being Tired

• All the Tired Horses - Bob Dylan (1970)
• Dog-Tired of Cattin' Around - Ray Pillow (1975)
• Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurtin' Me? - Ronnie Milsap (1988)
• Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me? - Ray Price (1981)
• I Am a Weary Pilgrim - The Brown's Ferry Four (1952)
• I am Weary, Let Me Rest - The Cox Family (2000)
• I'm Gettin' Tired of Babyin' You - Peggy Sue (1969)
• I'm Tired - Webb Pierce (1957)
• I'm Tired of Giving - The Spinners (1977)
• I'm Tired of Pride - Russell Arms (1957)
• She Got Tired of Loving Me - The Temptations (1985)
• Sick and Tired - Cross Canadian Ragweed and Lee Ann Womack (2004)
• Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired - David Wilkins (2005)
• So Tired - Etta Jones (1945)
• Tired - Pearl Bailey (1951)
• Tired and Blue - Bobbi Martin (1962)
• Tired and Sleepy - Cochran Brothers (1956)
• Tired Eyes - Neil Young (1975)
• Tired of Being Alone - Rory Block (2002)
• Tired of Being Blonde - Carly Simon (1985)
• Tired of Loving This Way - Bobbie Eakes and Collin Raye (2000)
• Tired of Toein' the Line - Rocky Burnette (1980)
• Tired of Waiting - Ray Davies (1998)
• Tired of Waiting for You -  The Kinks (1965)
• Tired of Walkin' - Joe Hinton (1962)
• Tired of Wearing Black - The Rockets (1981)
• Tired Teddy Bear - Raymond Scott Orchestra (1947)
• Tuckered Out - Jackie Brenston (1951)
• Weary and Worried - The Prairie Ramblers (1941)
• Weary Blues from Waitin' - The Nashville Bluegrass Band (1990)
• Weary Blues from Waiting - Pure Texas Band (1996)
• Weary Nights and Broken Dreams - Dick Thomas (1945)
• Weary, Worried and Blue - Ted Daffan and His Texans (1941)

Songs about Weakness

• He's My Weakness - Ronna Reeves (1993)
• I Get Weak - Belinda Carlisle (1988)
• I've Got a Weakness for Cowboys - Joni Harms (2001)
• In the Arms of My Weakness - Darrell McCall (1970)
• It's a Great Life If You Don't Weaken - Faron Young (1956)
• My Strongest Weakness - Wynonna Judd (1992)
• My Weakness is Too Strong - The Time Jumpers (2007)
• My Weakness is You - Edwin Starr (1968)
• Old Weakness Coming on Strong - Delbert McClinton (1997)
• Seven Days of Crying Makes One Weak - The Harden Trio (1967)
• Strong Weakness - The Bellamy Brothers (1983)
• That's How Strong My Weakness is - Tony Toliver (1991)
• That's My Weakness Now - Jaye P. Morgan and Hank Penny (1953)
• This Old Heart of Mine is Weak for You - The Isley Brothers (1966)
• Too Weak to Fight - Clarence Carter (1969)
• Weakness for the Weekend - Pirates of the Mississippi (1995)
• You Leave Me Weak - Toby Keith (2001)
• Your Sweetness is My Weakness - Barry White (1978)