How do you keep your spirits up when you've been sick for some time?

Vitamin D and B12 and silly comedies. Go watch The Jerk. Chin up @Hawaii_Jake you are on the road to recovery. Thank goodness you are feeling better, let that in itself cheer you up. Smile man because I am smiling for you. High five!

Hey nice to see you again!!!!!!! Do you feel energetic or run down physically too, I mean drained of any energy? Yes, hit multi vitamins or what Judo suggests and Lucozade. Get out and walk a bit if you can. Hope you feel better soon. All the very best and take care of yourself. We are sending positive waves of energy your way!

Having chronic illnesses, being disabled and in constant pain, I could easily be down all the time. I just remember the blessings, no matter how small, that I do have and that things could be much worse. There are people in the world that do have it so much worse.

I also try to laugh as much as possible. I watch funny animal videos, comedy routines, movies, and read humorous books and blogs. I have an inner comedic commentary on everything that goes on in my life and I laugh at myself all day.

Feel better soon!

Spend time interacting with nature. Go for a walk, sit in your garden and just enjoy the sounds, smells and other sensory stimuli.

Be kind to yourself and don’t push it. It will take some time to build back up.

Spend time with friends who make you feel happy and lift your spirits (avoid wet blankets who want you to solve their problems).

Give yourself permission to indulge yourself and doing things you love to do. Paint. Read. Watch movies you love.

Oh, dear. I’m sorry for you.

Back in my thirties, I learned during two long (4 months each) and debilitating illnesses that the less I did, the less I felt like doing. Inertia kept me from activity, and the more inactive I became, the worse I felt. I had to dynamite myself to crack loose, but once I started doing things—even just small things, even just for short bits of time—I began to regain some energy and feel more like coming back to life.

I wouldn’t suggest specific activities for you because I don’t know what’s most likely to light your fuse. The last thing I would have wanted was to sit and passively watch somebody or something trying to make me laugh. But doing a little work on something I enjoyed, moving outdoors just to sit, making myself see a friend—these things were good for me. They were like charges of dynamite that forced me to jump up and move, even if the speed was only in my mind.

In both cases, there came a day when I just got up out of bed and felt as if I’d come out of the fog. I wasn’t recovered, but I was more myself than otherwise. I knew when I’d crossed back over the line.

My best wishes to you. I hope you find the right explosives.

@HawaiiJake, the others have some good recovery ideas for you and we are all sending good cheer well wishes your way! Aloha!

I know where you’re coming from, being housebound and not feeling well is very frustrating!
I am coming out of a 3 week bout of sinus infection, followed by stomach issues from the antibiotic and a sprained knee, all at once!
Bah! lol
Yesterday was the first day in 3 weeks that I finally felt put back together again. haha

Yes, getting outside even for an hour a day in nature is good for the soul and sunlight is good for the mind and body too. :-)
Reading, watching some movies/documentaries and, this is maybe more of a woman thing but, I have used some energy to keep my house in really nice shape and rearranged some. I think keeping our environment attractive and comfortable when we are spending a lot of time in it is important.
Change is good, and if you can’t change your circumstance you can spiff up your environment.

Do you have any pets?
My two cats have been a great source of company and entertainment while I have been hanging around the old homestead this last few weeks.
Maybe time to adopt a pet if you don’t already have one.
I also agree with humor, I have been joking about living Groundhog day, every day has been the same for 3 weeks. lol

Feel better soon!

It’s a struggle, isn’t it? I’m sorry you’re going through this, Jake. Do a little of this and a little of that, and one day soon you’ll feel better again. Take care of yourself, sir. <3

Hang around positive people. This sounds harsh, but you cannot afford to be around negative people—especially those that refuse to change. The problem is that these people are highly infectious. And their disease is deadly. If you don’t avoid them, you will become like them. Instead, intentionally seek out and befriend positive people. Their attitude is contagious, too.

Well, knowing that a lot of good people are thinking about you and rooting for you to improve would probably help so you have reached out and we are responding.

Please get better, Hawaii Jake, we care!

Watch some “Monty Python” while eating Spam musubi. OR you could . . .

I hope this doesn’t seem too extreme. You know how we’ve been through a lot in life and have considered giving it up, yet struggled on to find a better place. Physical illness is a literal pain, and it is wearing and tiring. I’ve been experiencing a bit of my own seemingly chronic issues over the winter with both skin and stomach problems that have been going on and on and on. No one seems to know what they are, and so I think about having to live with them forever.

When I think I about that, I remember how I felt when I was totally depressed and unbelieving that I could take any more of it. I did my bad penny act, and hung around and hung around, and eventually, things did get better. I feel, now, that if I could hold up to that, then this physical stuff is a piece of cake. My tired, aching body is nothing compared to what was going on inside my head and the despair I felt.

Somehow, it helps, knowing I’ve fought it off before—especially something that was much worse. I don’t want to deal with this skin stuff, but I don’t have a choice. And there are good days that make me hopeful. And even if not, it still seems endurable, and so I will endure. It has been a lot worse for me.

Today, actually, I’m feeling better with my stomach issues. A little bit better. Maybe my skin will follow. I’m hopeful.

These 4 words helped me. Could Have Been Worse. : )

Plus in case you forgot, you’re living in a spot where a Marylander like me think of as a paradise. Especially in this season. : )

@Hawaii_Jake ..You’ve gotten some lovely advice here and I haven’t much to add..I just want to wish you well. I hope you’re on the mend and feeling better soon.

I had surgery with a couple of hospitalizations this time last year. I just gave myself permission to snuggle into bed and read, day dream or watch terrible daytime tv to my heart’s content.
Having young children, work and many other obligations meant that I couldn’t convalesce for very long..but I tried to savor the time I was granted by my hubby, employer and doctors. It’s tough when you’re not feeling well..but if you can think of it as your time to rest and heal…perhaps it’ll seem like more of a positive thing..

Thank you, all. You’ve given me some good ideas, and the well wishes help, too. :)

Oof, sorry this has been so troublesome for you, Jake!

Can’t say I’m great at keeping my spirits high, but support from friends and family and jellies, as well as quiet hobbies that are easy to do no matter your physical state – especially creative ones – have helped me.

It could always be worse and I watch this video

http://youtu.be/Aj1GAQDCPiY

I am sorry you are going through this and truly empathize since I am struggling with sorrow right now. Read some Eliot, sit in some nature, walk if you can, connect with friends. Collapse when you have to but see if you can get dressed for part of each day. And eat something.

^Nature, yes!

Exercise. No matter if the intensity is low or limited, exercise is always the cure for sagging spirits

Getting dressed is a really significant suggestion, @janbb. GA. It helps support or renew your sense of yourself as a well person instead of an ill person.

That might indeed be the very first thing to do, @Hawaii_Jake, if you’re not doing it already. And I know that can be a challenge in itself. I can remember laboriously putting on one shoe and looking down at the other and thinking, “I have no idea how the hell I’m going to get that on.”

If you were a woman, I’d also say get your hair done, paint your nails, put on a little lipstick. Wear earrings. Whatever might be the equivalent thing for you, do that. Morale is crucial.