Even if you have that thing you want, would you be happy to have it if you were dwelling only on thoughts of fear or depression? Essentially, you have two options, allow the adversity to speak for itself and take you wherever it leads, or you can speak to the adversity and to yourself, which inevitably changes your reality. Danny G.
From Hopelessness to Happiness
One of the main feelings of depression is hopelessness, and feeling powerless over your challenges. Realize you cannot control everything, and realize you cannot control people. Recognize your true power lies in your reaction to your adversities. With this mindset, you turn hopelessness into happiness and success. Danny G.
From Depression to Happiness
What is depression: depression can be described as sadness, pessimism and bitterness. It can also delve into despair in which people don’t have the will to live.
What creates depression: usually it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long perpetual focus on the negative. Environments have an effect and so does bodily conditions. However, two can experience the same environments and conditions, yet one is happy and the other is miserable. So we can agree that reaction to environments and circumstances have a tremendous effect on your mood. It’s easier said than done for some people who experienced severe trauma or sickness. However, is offering support merely offering sympathy? Sometimes we relate sympathy with compassion, and at times it is compassion. But if the person always offers sympathy without focusing on the solution, is that really helping the situation? Do you want someone to tell you I feel for you, you have a condition or you had a rough life, and it must be so difficult? Or do you want someone to tell you yes you have a condition or yes you had a rough life, and I give you my support and advice? There’s nothing wrong with speaking your mind, however, you must focus on your desired outcome. If you focus on the solution and you continue to do so, you’re well on your way to recovery.
Here are my insights on healing from depression:
We can agree that depression is an inner dialogue that focuses on the negative. It can be pessimism, bitterness, grief, confusion, ongoing pain, ongoing symptoms and the list goes on. The more we focus on these negative emotions, the more sadness or depression we feel. Have one day when you feel these negative emotions, and you had one bad day. But have several months or years feeling these emotions consistently, and you have depression. It’s easier to deal with these emotions when you know what they are. Ask yourself, why am I depressed and unhappy? Perhaps over time you developed a negative view of life and the world. Perhaps over time you witnessed moments of inequality, judgment and unfairness. These thoughts consumed you and over time it spiraled into depression. You found more reasons to be depressed. Add another likeminded thought to the list over and over again and you become essentially what you think about, which is unhappy. You may say I’m just emotional. Perhaps someone hurt you and you didn’t let it go, or perhaps you find your challenges overwhelming. Or perhaps you haven’t let go of grief. You may say I’m just tired and I don’t have the will to do anything, or worse I don’t have the will to live. Ask yourself why you’re feeling this way. Maybe you lost your excitement, enthusiasm and zest for life a long time ago, because of trauma or because someone hurt you. Saying it’s your reality and not doing anything about it and not thinking differently will only keep you in this frame of mind. Saying I have a chemical imbalance and it’s incurable is feeding your mind with thoughts that will keep you in the same state of mind.
Another practice to consider: focus on gratitude and appreciation. We can agree that gratitude and appreciation are positive emotions. When you feel these emotions most of your day, depression cannot remain. The more you feel gratitude, the greater you feel, and the more you practice feeling this emotion, depression vanishes and cannot remain.
You must find a way to change your inner dialogue early before depression begins or alter the course if you’re already in this negative state of mind. Changing your inner dialogue means making peace with your thoughts and emotions. It means speaking affirmations that will bring relief and healing. It means focusing on your desired outcome. It means seeking support, speaking your mind while being open minded for advice, and listening to your thoughts to improve them. The key is to be mindful of your thoughts, and focus on quieting the mind. The more you apply mindfulness and these practices, the greater you’ll feel and the easier your recovery will be.
Painting A Masterpiece
Nobody is destined to live in depression, and nobody is destined to live in fear. Neither are we destined to live in scarcity. Don’t allow this to become your home, and don’t accept you’ll always struggle. Force it into being if you must, or fake it until you make it. Allow the journey to unfold as you create your own story, and paint a meaningful masterpiece, in the midst of the storm. Danny G.
Speaking to the Storm
We don’t pay any attention to our thoughts and actions, then we end up with a life of many troubles. We act on impulse then realize we should have thought it through. We constantly focus on the negative, then we end up unhappy or depressed. If we can contemplate our thoughts and actions, we would avoid trouble and distress. Contemplation is key to acquiring wisdom, and not letting the storm sweep us away. With contemplation, wisdom and faith, we speak to the storm and make it vanish. Danny G.
Despair Made Me Stronger (Poem)
My deepest moments of despair,
Brought about my strength,
And perseverance and faith.
The moments I so wanted an escape,
Were the moments I prayed and praised
Despite the heartache.
The moments of despair
Reconciled me into appreciation.
It’s what pushed me to be grateful,
Despite the trash in my back pack.
This persistent wave of despair and depression,
Would knock me down
Aggressively without warning.
A constant cloud,
That would follow me
Just waiting to be poured on.
It’s my stiff upper lip,
My determination,
That pulled me through,
Despite my carry-on loaded with scrap.
Today I thank my despair,
Because in the end
It made me stronger,
Persistent,
And aggressively bold,
To not give in
Until my promise is fulfilled,
And I’m still standing,
Like a palm tree,
That bends, but never falls.
You’re Still Here For A Reason
The moment you try to end your life or you contemplate it, is the day the pain will be a multitude greater, because deep down you know you’re supposed to be alive until the day God calls you home. As long as you have breath, you’re supposed to be alive.
Danny G.
An old man made a comment a long time ago when I was a young teenager around 12, or 13, and it stayed with me until this very day. A statement that sounds so simplistic, yet people consistently fight against it. He said there’s one obligation in life that everyone will have to face at one point or another. Everything else is a choice, but this one unavoidable experience that we must all face is death.
Everyone on this planet at the present time will leave this time space reality at one point. If we accept this reality that physical death is inevitable, then why do we try to end our life before our time? We’re fighting against the only obligation in our life that is inevitable.
The moment you decide that you want to end your life, you will know deep inside your gut, that you are making a big mistake. You know in your heart, as long as you have breath, you’re supposed to be alive. Denying your existence would be going against the laws of nature, because you know God still wants you here and he needs you.
Why are you trying to end your time before your mission is complete? We all need growth on an individual perspective and on a global scale, and sometimes the reasons we want our escape, are the reasons meant to catapult us to our divine destiny.
You have joyful experiences ahead, and you have something to give that will all make sense one day. You will say I’m glad I didn’t give up and I know why I went through that experience, since I became a better person and I helped others along the way.
You may say it’s too difficult, or I feel this emptiness that will not leave. Consider, if you were supposed to die, it would have happened already, but you’re still here because you and God chose for you to be here. These challenges are meant for your own expansion and for all the lives you touch. Simply by being you and being the best version of yourself, means you have purpose and it means you have something to give that no one else can, because there’s no exact replica of you.
You’re trying to end a journey that still needs unfolding, and you’ll feel an uneasiness that will be greater than the statement “I can’t take it anymore.” Because deep down you know you’re supposed to be alive, and you know you’re supposed to be alive until the day God calls you home.
The right time to call your exit on this physical plane, will be when you’re old and wrinkly, and you will have lived a joyous fulfilling life. Then you’ll say it’s my time and I’ve completed my mission and I shall go in peace. Until then you have a life to live and joyous experiences along the way.