[Patty]

EVERYONE feels hopeless at times..maybe it's hormonal, maybe it's the realization that you have to find your own happiness. Who knows. You have to sort of slap yourself out of it. When stuck feeling hopeless, here are a few tricks that work fast:

1) Take a shower or bath or go swimming. Something about being wet is an instant mood elevator. Think of the effect of putting a cranky baby into a bathtub.

2) Get in a position where your head is lower than your heart. Maybe standing and bending at the hips, or a headstand, or getting on pillows tilting with your head lower. Something about the blood going to the head feels good. Take long slow deep breaths through your nose, holding it slightly before letting it out. Say "in" and "out" to yourself to quiet your thinking.
The breathing thing is good by itself too.

3) Do a little task that takes no time at all but makes you feel better.
It could be cleaning or neatening or removing junk from an area. Even wiping down the sink or the fridge. Anything that keeps your hands occupied.

4) Go to the library, get a magazine or something and sit among people
and read something you're interested in, or even just flip through pages.
The act of getting out of the house with a goal, and being in a place where everyone is pretty much alone is worthwhile.

5) Mental exercise- it's easiest to feel bad if you talk yourself into feeling that your life is bad. Think of other people who really truly need help. Ponder this: When you think about what you want that you don't have, think about what you don't want that you don't have. e.g.such as, disease, hunger, etc. Deep breathing all the while.

6) Call the local social services department in your town and ask if you can volunteer. Someone there willgive you an idea of something to do. You need to connect with other people and it sounds like you know already that it's key. It will bring you outside of thinking about yourself.

Follow your best instincts. Keep working out. Tell your mom you love her.
Check out the writings of Thoreau (a rugged individual who experimented with living alone and had a lot to teach)...read about people who overcame bad situations early in life and acutally became Great people. Maybe in a weird way, feeling like s**t is a catalyst for you to get you into life long habits of learning what not to do in the future when you feel bad. Know that you're not alone.