HH,

Been there, time will help, probably only thing that will.

BUT, you could try some country walks...

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/walksfinder/

I am not too sure that work, socialising, going out etc. is actually the answer, you probably just need some time to accept that sometimes life is down,sometimes up, like the weather I suppose and learn to accept that.

I have found my hobbies and hobby related friends have helped me build a fairly balanced life

Hi hh,
You can imagine that you are in the light and is giving kindnes to others with no benefit to yourself.
It works for me at least in a way that I don't feel as much pain.
Some times this attitude of no benefit to oneself helps.
If it doesn't work I hope you forgive me for the advice.
All the best from me.

Inky, that's spectacularly pissy and unfriendly of the the person concerned. Meat preference equals social exclusion among friends? Pah!

Anty,

I was a little surprised to see that you had gone carnivore for a meal (even though you told us you were leading up to it) but I certainly won't quarrel with your choice of meat . I'm a firm believer that the body tells us when it needs something different: I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, but every now and again I get cravings for a square or two of dark chocolate, or a teaspoon of honey in my tea. There are times when I hardly eat meat at all, and times, especially coming up to winter, when I feel I need it regularly.

 Inky, very sorry to hear about your treatment at the hands of your friend(?), it's a very celtic thing: they'll eat spuds happily, and lots of meat, but most things green are looked upon with suspicion - bacon and cabbage is fine, not to mention dishes where they play just a small part, such as colcannon, but the thought of a whole meal without meat is just too much for most of them. I'm staggered how often when eating out I hear folk waving away vegetables with the comment "I don't do green....".

   A friend of mine who's a doctor mentioned to me years ago that there may even actually be a genetic reason for it; the majority of Celts have blood group 'O', and for some reason when he was part of research group on vegetarians, they discovered that the 'O' groups seem physically to need meat more for their metabolism than other groups (now I'm going to have to follow that up and see if I can find anything on the web.) This meant, apparently, that 'O' group people often lasted less well at being vegetarians than others. A secondary test for whether people would be suited to such a regime was the shape of the canine teeth: those who had flattened ones tended to be happy on vegetarian diets, whereas those with sharp ones probably still had a genetic disposition towards meat, and would tend to revert, sooner or later.

Ron,

That is interesting, I am blood group A+ (I am a donor) but I think I have sharp canines!!

However, I made too much so tomorrow's meal is beef again, but like you I feel if your body is telling you that you need it then you go for it.  Now where's that dark chocolate to go with this Zappa?

Hmm I'm blood group O and my canines aren't very sharp - but I did have a couple removed for orthodontic treatment as a teenager - perhaps that removed a craving for meat too!

This evening I craved and indulged in wine, pistacchios, Bombay Mix, dried apple rings, dried pineapple chunks, crisps and cherry tomatoes - OINK!

Oh; it was back when I was an undergrad.  The mathsoc stand was beside the LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) soc stand; I was on the committee of both, but was at that time sitting at the latter stand.  The people on mathsoc were rushed off their feet, so when a guy came wandering up to it I caught his attention and asked him if he was interested in knowing anything about the maths society, to which he replied 'No thanks, I'm married', &c..   

I think mine are quite pointed as well; I don't know my blood group though.