Depression Part 2

Sometime depression is a product of frustration. There are times when I feel so overwhelmed and down because of something that is not right in my life. This is when I pull out my gratitude journal and look at all the reasons I should be grateful. Like everyone else, I have suffered for various reasons, but I have also had many wonderful moments and amazing people touch my life.

A gratitude journal is very simple to make. All I do is use a journal I have bought from a store, a homemade journal that is made from a notebook, lined or unlined paper, or a computer. Right now, my gratitude journal is my computer. Writing a gratitude journal was awkward at first, but now almost all of my journal writing is gratitude. Once I realized all the things I had to thank God for, I focused on the positive events in my life instead of the negative ones.

Forgiveness is a subject that I talk about often. It is harder to forgive myself than anyone else. When I fail to forgive myself, I leave room for depression to move in and mess with my emotions. Depression has haunted me, because it is extremely hard for me to forgive me. This is where prayer and meditation is so important. If I pray and meditate every morning, I am less likely to deal with depression.

When I first started to meditate, I didn't quite understand how much it would affect my life. Prayer is talking to God, but meditation is listening. Sure, it is important to talk with God, because communication is the best way to build a relationship, but, like all relationships, meditation is even more important. It is the active listening that we use when talking with God.

The one thing that can depress me more than anything is the way I eat and lack of exercise. If I eat right and exercise, I don't deal with depression as much. On the other hand, when I eat junk food and do not exercise, I feel sick and miserable. Of course, there were moments in my life where I actually became obsessed with diet and exercise. This caused me to feel depressed, too.

There should always be a balance. It is important for me to eat six small, healthy meals a day and exercise for an hour. If I don't get the chance to exercise for an hour, I don't beat myself up. Right now, I know my exercise program is almost nonexistent. If I can get back to my walking routine, I know I will feel so much better.

Depression is hard on anyone it attacks. There are times when I have used anti-depressants. At that time, I had no other choice, because I couldn't think on my own. Now, I am able to use the techniques in this blog to help me with my depression.

At times, depression has made me feel useless. The one thing I wanted in my life was to feel like I made a difference. When I was depressed, I never felt like I did anything for anyone. This was a lie, and, now, I understand that I can pursue my purpose even when I feel depressed.

Depression will not rob me of my dreams and purpose. The purpose for my life is written down, so, when I do feel depressed and useless, I can read it and move forward in my pursuits. God knew I would deal with depression, but He gave me everything I need to succeed.

There are two truths that I have come to hold dear. They help me through depression, and they have helped decrease the amount of times I go through depression. These two truths are that I was created special and that I was created for this time. All of these truths took me a long time to learn, but they are now an essential part of my reasoning.

Many times, I did not feel like I was created special. These are the times that I just want to see the uniqueness in me. After I began to see the uniqueness in me, I started to understand that I also had to appreciate my own uniqueness. This I learned from watching my children. Each of them has a special personality that I would not change. When I realized how wonderful their uniqueness was, I decided to work on loving my own uniqueness. At this time in my life, I really understood that God had created each of us special and our uniqueness was a gift.

Everyone was born for a specific time and place. When I am depressed, I remind myself that today is my time. As I work on my blogs, books, and seminar topics, I think about all the people that might be inspired by my message. Pursuing my purpose has decreased the frequency of my depression, so I am able to increase my productivity.

Finding my purpose was the key to controlling my depression. My purpose is written down, so, every time I feel useless, I read my purpose out loud. There are times where I have to read my purpose over and over, again. It also helps me to read my purpose statement out loud. This helps me hear myself state the purpose. After hearing my own voice say my purpose statement over and over, it became ingrained in my mind and my heart.
Depression is hard to go through, but it is not impossible. God has a plan for my life. It is important for me to understand that I can succeed, even in the midst of depression. This week's challenge is to take the necessary steps to deal with depression. Success is my goal, and depression is just a speed bump. If I can use these techniques to get through my depression, I will be able to take giant steps closer to success and teach others to be successful, too.

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