No Wallowing Allowed

Hello Everyone:

Kind of a quiet day today.  I did my grocery shopping and got some writing done.  A productive day. I'm feeling a little less black about my world today.  I think it's because I've been distracting myself with other things like the grocery shopping and writing.  That helps keep me from dwelling stuff and lets me refocus my energy on something far more productive.  I still have things that require my attention but I think I'm ready to deal with them more fully.  It reminds of something I read in a book a long time ago, "work is the best cure for feeling low."  At least for me it's a good cure.  I don't like to wallow in my own misery, it's too much effort.  I prefer to channel whatever ails my mind into something more useful. So whatever I do, ends up being an expression of my state of mind.  Even the level of attention I give to the housework is often an indicator of how I feel.  I could never understand people who prefer to be stuck in their problems.  Sometimes the solution isn't always immediate.  Finding the solution sometimes takes time and effort.  It's a little like Rinzai Buddhism.  I attain enlightenment through meditating on a puzzling question through some activity.  For me this translates into just going about my daily activities, while pondering the answer to a vexing situation.  It's not avoiding the situation, it's just looking for an answer without dwelling on the problem.  I've had varying degrees of success with this approach.  I just hate to approach something from an emotional state.  Acting on emotion never works for me.  It just leads to more problems.  By stepping back and channeling all the negative emotions into productive work, I can stop and re-assess what's going on.  There are times when I'll be in the car just focusing on the driving and mom is chattering away, interrupting my meditation.  I sometimes find myself doing active meditation while running.  Either way, it all keeps me from wallow in my own crap.