Sad Days

So generally speaking I am a pretty cheerful person. I like to smile at people, I like singing songs and dancing about. I like baking cakes and telling jokes and then laughing at them so much that I can't get the punchline out.

However, like most people, every now and then I find myself having a sad day. These days come at you out of the blue. You can wake up in the morning feeling ready to take on the world, and then something happens that makes a part of your brain snap. Next thing you know, you find yourself crying in the shower while listening to Bonnie Tyler (we've all been there).

Then there are the times when the sad day decides that it doesn't just want to steal twenty-four hours of happiness from you. It lingers. You try to cover it up with other things, but it finds its way back. Like when your hands smell like onion and garlic after cooking, you can put as much pomegranate hand cream on as you want, but deep down you know that in a few minutes that that will wear off and you'll be back to smelling like a burger grill.

There are things I can do to make myself feel slightly better when I'm having a sad day. Such as fighting (and I mean really fighting) the urge to spend the day in track pants and food-stained tee shirt and actually getting in the shower, washing my hair and putting on clean clothes. It doesn't have to be a formal dress with opera gloves and top hat (although sometimes that ensemble does help to boost my mood). It just has to be a clean pair of track pants, and a teeshirt that won't drip out bolognese sauce if you squeeze it.

Listening to happy music or watching a movie or TV show that makes me happy helps to, however I do have to be careful with my choice. Certain Disney movies sometimes have to go on the no watch list during a sad day. If you're already emotionally fragile you do not want to take on a major Disney Journey.

Another important one, I have to try not to isolate myself. When you're sad, its hard to step outside and interact with people. But usually once I do go and spend some time with friends I feel a lot better by the time I get home. And if I really can't handle human contact, then its good for me not to just let the sadness sit in my head. I dance around my house. I read a book or write a story. I clean or play scrabble against myself. Something to take my mind off of going over and over the sadness.

And, of course, every now and then, I like to have a cup of tea, a biscuit and a good cry.

Sometimes, however, you'll find that even though some things will make you feel better, they won't make the sadness go away. The thing that sucks most about sad days/weeks/months is always the waiting. I know there is going to be a stage when I will stop feeling sad, when whatever it is that has been bothering me won't bother me any more. So I just find myself waiting for it to stop sucking.

But at least I have found a few coping mechanisms to get me through till then.

I guess the main reason for writing this post is just to say that if you are going through a sad day, you can get through the "waiting" stage. And you are most definitely not alone. Everyone everywhere has been through a sad day.

Let me know in the comments what your coping mechanisms are for sad days.

(PS) I promise I am going to try and post more regularly from now on. But you should note that the operative word here is "try"

Winston the Cat

This is a true story that happened to me in December of 2011, which as you can probably tell from the title involves a cat, named Winston.

It was the night after Christmas, and my boyfriend Dylan and I were sitting in my room talking about all the things we wanted to have one day. The kind of house, the kind of furniture, and of course the kind of pets. He mentioned that he wanted a siamese cat, while I told him that for some reason I always wanted to have grey and white cat called Winston.

No much longer after I told him about my future cat did we hear one of my roommates in a struggle in the laundry. We came out to find him slamming the sliding door shut. We asked what was going on and he told us; there was a cat outside who kept trying to get in to eat Georgie (his cats) food. I looked and there, through the glass sliding door I saw him. I could hardly believe it. It was a grey and white cat. It was Winston.

My roommates went to bed while Dylan and I decided to go outside to see the cat. As soon as we opened the door he shot in like a food-seeking missile, straight towards Georgie's bowl.  We picked him up and took him outside, taking some food out for him. He gratefully ate, and then once the food was gone he turned his attention to us. 

He began to wind himself between our legs, rubbing his face against us in a plea for attention. We sat with him for a few minutes, stroking and patting him, then we decided to go back inside. He had a collar so we figured he was just at our house for a pat and some food and that once we left he would wander back to his own home. 

But as soon as we closed the door behind us, he cried. He looked at us through the glass with despair in his eyes and meowed for us to come back to him. When you see an animal in such desperate need for you, that is not just asking but begging you to be with it and to help it, there is no way you can just close the blinds and turn your back. 

I didn't want to keep a cat in the house without telling my roommates first, so Dylan took the cat, who at this point we had started calling Winston back to his house for the night. First thing in the morning, I went to see how he was doing.

Dylan informed me that he had tried to get him to sleep in the Laundry, but that every time he shut the door Winston would panic and start to cry at the door. After a couple of attempts at this, Dylan pulled out an air mattress and slept in the kitchen - Winston by his side.

It wasn't till now that we noticed how skinny he was. Because of this, and the fact that he panicked whenever we left him alone, we figured he had been lost for quite sometime. We called the RSPCA, but as it was just after Christmas they told us they would not be opening up for another couple of days. So I called my roommates, who agreed to keep him at our house until the RSPCA opened, and Winston was ours for the next week.

I cannot explain to you how much I loved this cat. After on afternoon, he was completely settled into his life with us. He would always allow you to pat and cuddle him. He was happy to play and equally as happy to sit on the couch with you while you watched TV. Although the time we had together was short, I cherish the days we spent with Winston.

Needless to say, I cried my eyes out when we took him to the RSPCA. I told them to let me know if no one took him, because I would. I never got a call, which definitely doesn't surprise me. Winston was such a beautiful cat I know there would be a plethora of people who wanted to be his new family.

I still get a little sad when I think about Winston. But I know he is with a good family now, and probably going by a different name. He is playing with someone else, being cared for by someone else, and sitting next to someone else on their couch while they watch TV.

There are so many loving animals like Winston at the RSPCA who need loving homes. They may not all be pure-breds, but they are ready to be part of your family if you just give them a chance. Please, when you get a pet consider adopting from the RSPCA and giving an animal a chance. If you can't adopt a pet at the moment, then like the RSPCA page on Facebook. Every time there is an animal to be adopted, I share it. The more people that know, the more likely they are to find a home, right?

I had my grey and white Winston, and although I don't know when I'll get my next pet or what it will be, I know the first place I will look to find them.