Balancing Work, Mental Health, and Personal Goals: My Journey

I hope everyone is doing well. I’m trying to get back to my usual self, but lately, I’ve been feeling off. That’s just something I have to manage since I have depression and anxiety, among other things. When I get into a funk, it can last a day, several days, weeks, or sometimes even longer. I’ve used a lot of paid FMLA time, but much less than last year. Looking at my spreadsheets, I lost a lot of money last year taking unpaid FMLA, costing me over $9,000 in income. So far this year, I haven’t used any unpaid time, and I hope it stays that way. My FMLA claim comes up for renewal in October. Recently, a few colleagues have mocked me for not being at work or leaving early. I can’t control the depression, and when it hits, it hits hard. I love my job and my role as a Process Analyst. It’s a fun job, and I enjoy it. Work can be challenging, and while I sometimes appreciate that, other times I don’t.

My official vacation starts on 07/22/2024, and I’m taking the week off since my birthday is on 07/25. I have nothing planned, but I’m going to try to get my passport. It will be good to have, just in case I ever need to travel for work or leisure. Traveling makes me nervous, but I would do it. I’m turning 49 this year, getting closer to 50. Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t make it to 50, but things are good right now, and they need to stay that way. I’m doing my best to get out of debt, which is taking a while. I’ve cut my credit card debt in half and currently owe about $2,700. I hope to have it all paid off by the end of the year. My goal is to reduce it by half and then bring it down to zero. However, when I get down or depressed, I tend to shop on eBay or Amazon for things I don’t need. Recently, I’ve added books and CDs to my ever-growing collection. Just this morning, I bought two CDs that I wanted. I don’t need them, but I wanted them. According to iTunes, I have 910 albums, which would take about 39.3 days to go through all of them. I still believe in physical media. All this digital stuff isn’t truly owned, even though you paid for it.

Alright, I think that is enough rambling. Maybe I will ramble more later! Bye for now.

Much Love.

Jackamus