Pilatus,

Sorry you feel so rotten. It's horrible to feel , well, unloved, but there ARE good things in your life, right? One thing that helped me out of a funk was to start a gratitude journal, I HAD to write down each night three things I was grateful for each day. Some times it was hard, but it got me really thinking, and soon it was something I really enjoyed. It made me notice a lot of things I took for granted, like my health, the weather, birds singing, a friendly clerk.Try it for 2 weeks and see if it works for you.

Try to get outside for a walk every day, at lunch or after work, and get some fresh air and hopefully some sunshine. Sunlight perks us all up, and when it's gloomy it's easy to feel down, some Drs recommend UV lights during the winter months. Try to get as much natural light as possible.

Be extra kind to yourself, you are a good person and are worth it. Bring home a bunch of flowers for some color in your living room, treat yourself to a bubble bath with candles and some great music. Get a movie digest or go to a website and make a list of all the musicals and wonderful old black and white films (or newer ones) you've never seen but would like to, then rent a couple each week. Get some yummy cheese and crackers to munch, and /or chocolate, make your evenings something to look forward to instead of dread.

Set some goals - what are some things you'd like to do? You're working out and in a regular fitness group as well, so what do you want to achieve next - run in a marathon? 5K? Go rock climbing? Learn to scuba? Have you always wanted to go to France? Why not sign up for an evening French class? Gourmet cooking school?

Treat yourself the way you deserve to be treated, and seek the things you want from life. Along the way, maybe a handsome movie-store customer, cheese buyer, runner, scuba instructor or French student will think you're someone special too!

I hope this doesn't sound too insincere or easier said than done. I offer it from hindsight because I was injured at age 41 and have lived with severe pain ever since(I'm 45). I had really just gotten to the stage of my life where I was happy with who I was, and content with my life. Now I wish I had seized EVERY day, every moment I was healthy and made the most of it.

Life is precious, and you deserve to have a happy, full life right now, don't you? : )

beth