baby steps
I love what Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”(By the way, I may be a Christian but God speaks to us even through those that are not, as evidenced by many a story in scripture.) I wonder if Gandhi suffered depression because this cycle of thinking, speaking and doing is the same cycle that must be interrupted in a depressive episode. If even one of them is damaged by depression, all the others are affected as well.
I found in my own recovery that stepping into the cycle anywhere helped but my greatest success came from changing my actions first-the doing part. I found that if I got up and moved and did something constructive, that led to other actions and pretty soon I was in better spirits.
Overcoming depression is hard work.
I’m not suggesting for a minute that this alone will heal a serious case of depression. But it does lighten one’s mood and makes taking other steps easier. It requires a herculean effort to do this when all you want to do is stay in bed and not face the world. But if getting better is the goal. it’s a practical place to start.
Try it just for today and see if it doesn’t make even the tiniest difference. I think we forget sometimes that depression didn’t just smother us in one cataclysmic moment. It was a lot of little things that incrementally pushed us over the edge and it will be little increments that get us out. It’s not a process that can be rushed which, of course, is what makes it that much harder.
There are two people in my life now that keep asking “when are the pills going to kick in?” I try to be patient but I also remind them about the above stated process. I can remember asking the same thing which is what ultimately prompted me to “fly solo” in the first place. Pills are part of the recovery for some people but they are not the only therapy that should be considered. It’s a whole lifestyle, this battle to overcome depression, and must be fought on many fronts.
God bless.
