Here's to Feeling Down...

So my mate Wreckless is feeling a bit of a downer today. You can't blame him really as there's a few things (that I know about anyway) that could do that to him, or to anybody in fact.

Look at his latest post and you'll see there's a few reasons there to start with. On top of that, the weather is shite today (see my next post) and really fucked up. We had a full-blown thunderstorm last night and it is still raining at home this morning. For those that don't know South African weather, the Shit Towne rainy season usually ends late in March and we're already into June. As I type this, it's thundering and raining outside again!

To change the focus of the posting a little, however, it's not only Wreckless that gets that down feeling now and then...we all do. Let's face it, I've had my own downers lately what with the Dark Prince fuckin' me around and a couple of other bits, the latest of which is my rods being left on the grass in Dullies {sniff}.

There's a whole load of shite (or is that "Shiite"?) going on in the world today that is enough to give Cuzzin Ross's Grand Whazoo a headache and throw his hands up in space in despair (let's face it, if he's already up there, it would be pointless to throw his hands up in the air, wouldn't it?). I have a TV monitor in my study where I'm sitting now and Jesus - oh wait, it's only Bono - is on the box trying to save the world...wanker.

Getting back to the topic, we all have our trials and tribulations with work issues, salaries not being what they should, managers being damagers more than anything, colleagues not pulling their own weight...you know the story...

Then there's social issues that get us too. Living on the Dark Continent, arguably the poorest continent in the world (brought upon by its own inadequacies and greed to a large extent) is not easy either. Poverty is rife, disease just as widespread, and all the while life is cheap and murder and mayhem are accepted as part of "the norm". (The "norm" where, for fuck sakes???) Actually, denial is the norm in SA. Politics and crime are killing any chance for this country to pull itself out of the quagmire of self pity, cos every time the people try, some fucker knocks them on their arse again and eventually kills off the person's spirit. How many times can you try to pull yourself up before you think "Ah, fuckit"? Africa has its own set of issues and problems and until it sorts out the basics (human rights, blue and white collar crime, poverty, greed, and in fact all the "deadly sins") it is going to stay firmly stuck in the sucking mud it's in now. Sure, the rest of the world has its issues too, but at least there are structures in place (mostly) where issues can be raised and addressed, places where results are actually achieved. All we get here are fuckin' strikes and more mayhem...and no results to issues, just more downers.

Then there's the amazing human psyche that can cause a downer too. The human mind has an uncanny ability to absorb and retain some things better than others, typically the negative things. That's just the way it is, cos it sees them as a threat to survival. The mind knows the body needs food to survive so it dwells upon the fact that you haven't had a McDonalds breakfast for some time and tries to tell you you're starving. In fact, it's just a taste craving and your mind is just fuckin' with you, but it causes...a downer.

Then there's a fascinating phenomenon that some clever people call biorhythms, which are supposedly natural cycles our bodies go through all our lives. From this website, a quotation says "Biorhythm charts illustrate the principle that we are influenced by physical, emotional, and intellectual cycles. Many people report that they can improve the quality of their lives by monitoring the highs and lows of these cycles and acting accordingly." Whether you believe in it or not, is your prerogative. I personally believe I, in fact everybody, can influence my/our well-being by thoughts. If I think negative stuff, it's going to put me on a downer, but I can change it and think positive stuff to take me out of it. One of the ways I help myself is by listening to music, typically hard rock as it's got the rhythms my mind needs to let me feel better about myself. Just for kicks, I completed my biorhythm details to see where I "am" on my biorhythmic chart and I'm supposedly just coming to the bottom of my down cycle, quite possibly a reason why I'm also not quite feeling myself these days. Whether or not you believe in that stuff is personal...me, I think there is something to it.

There are so many different things that can cause us to have downers, far more than I should be fitting onto a blog entry. Each one of us has our own means of putting ourselves down, but we also have the means of getting ourselves up again.

But before we all go out and slash our wrists let's not forget, following a downer is always an upper. So why the toast to feeling down in the heading? Cos there's always that "feeling up" after it...that's why, and that's the most important part.