Monday, January 21, 2008

"Do you ever feel like you're not accomplishing anything?"

I watched a movie last night. It was one I have seen about a million times. St. Elmo's Fire. It was an 80's movie about these seven friends and their life the year or so after they graduate college. I am a huge 80's movie fan. I have several. I don't know why I like them so much, but I do.
There's a scene in the movie where Wendy (Mere Winningham) is working as a social worker. She's trying to get this woman with about 5 kids to go into some sort of training program so she can get off welfare. The woman demands that Wendy just hand over her check. After the woman leaves, Wendy's love interest Billy (Rob Lowe) walks into the office and starts talking to her. Wendy looks at him and says, "Do you ever feel like you're not accomplishing anything?"
That is kind of how I feel right now. In general. Not necessarily with my diabetes. Just about life in general.
Some days I just feel like I'm a little hampster on a wheel running in circles, but not every really getting anywhere. Do any of you feel like that?
I think it might be SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Really I do. It's just right around this time of year, every year, I start feeling like this. A little bit depressed. Not really unhappy, just not content. It usually passes in a month or so. But sitting right in the middle of it is no fun.
So, do any of you every feel like you aren't getting anything done? Like you aren't doing enough? Or that you just aren't doing what you should be doing in the world in general?
I didn't mean to depress anyone, I am just curious to see if I am the only one feeling like this lately.
Here's the clip from St. Elmo's Fire. I just have to note that there are some wonderful actors and actresses in this movie. Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, and Andie MacDowell are also in this movie. Demi, by the way, is almost unrecognizable compared to what she looks like today!


4 comments:

Minnesota Nice said...

Cara, I'm way older than you, and I think the ambition fades with age.
I don't feel like I've accomplished anything for at least a decade. Except, I remain a good friend, neighbor, community member, auntie, sister, and co-worker. And, sometimes that's enough.

Anonymous said...

Cara- First of all, I love St. Elmo's Fire. As far as accomplishing things, I think you have accomplished a lot if you can write posts that resonate with people and really be honest about your struggles. Please keep writing!
Sorry the rest of this comment has nothing to do with your post. I just didn't have an email address for you. I wanted to introduce myself and also Fit4D. Really like your blog. If you haven't heard of Fit4D (Fitness4Diabetics) – our company was formed to improve the wellness of people with diabetes, by providing human coaches, who integrate motivational support with fitness and nutrition planning. The coaching team consists of nurses, exercise physiologists and registered dieticians with extensive diabetes expertise (and CDE). Among other efforts to help the community, we sponsor free educational and motivational webinars on a regular basis. We also produce an online video series where our coaches answer email inquiries from people with diabetes.
We'd like to keep bloggers informed of our efforts. I was wondering if we could email you news of events (some of which you may want to check out). The site is www.fit4d.com. Thanks!
Best,
Briana Whyte

Araby62 (a.k.a. Kathy) said...

OMG, "St. Elmo's Fire" brings back memories. I was a saxophone player in high school, so I thought Rob Lowe's character was cool. And my dad carcked up about the mom who whispers "bad" words at the dinner table. He loved when Rob whispered "prison" back to her. Still a punchline for him!

I think the SAD monster has hold of many people this year, the OC included. Hang in there (:-)

Donna said...

Cara,
I love 80s movies & so do my kids. My son says they just don't make movies as good as they did in the 80s. I think he's right. I consider movies like St Elmo's Fire & Sixteen Candles as classics.

I hope the SAD goes away soon. I know it hits a lot of people this time of year. Sorry to hear it has hit you, too. :(