Changing the Perspective of depression and pain in life

What is depression

Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by a persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities.

World Health Organization data shows that depression is a common mental disorder and that more than 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression globally.

At least half of the world’s population suffers from depression at some point of their life

Rather than be part of this statistics, it is important we learn why we get depressed and then how we can start to change things.

Understanding why we get depressed

The reason why anyone gets depressed always comes down to the consistent thoughts we think and the beliefs that we hold.
We create our own negative feelings based on our consistent negative thoughts and beliefs

When depressed, you start to feel powerless and useless. “What do you do?” , “How do you get yourself out of this?”

People usually get depressed because there is something external in their lives that did not happen. They have lost something which is out of their control or they do not have something that is out of their capability.

During our lifetime, we are taught a lot of things. But nobody ever teaches us how to be happy. No one teaches us how important our conscious and unconscious thoughts are.

Our happiness is worth more than everything we could ever have in our lives. It is priceless.

Be happy not because everything is good, but because you see the good in everything. Not because every circumstance is a miracle but because you the see the miracle in life itself

How to bounce back from depression

First of all, let's understand one thing. Rising from depression is not an event, it is a process. Here I share some steps that can help you in your process of getting back up.

Make yourself the top priority

Value yourself enough to take time every single day to work on yourself. Practice self-love. Take good care of yourself. Take frequent breaks, exercise regularly to keep your body in good condition, and always treat yourself after every small win.
We usually get caught up in the desire to achieve our goals as fast as possible that we push ourselves too much. The end of this is one that is familiar to many of you and that is burnout. Burnout is where you are exhausted emotionally, physically, and mentally due to excessive and prolonged stress.

Your big goals are not worth pushing yourself over a cliff for. Instead choose to take care of your body and mind. Make small improvements and steps rather than pushing for gigantic achievements daily. With practice you will become good at taking care of yourself

Putting yourself as a priority will help you achieve an optimal state of physical, emotional and mental state. And this improved state will reflect in all the other areas of your life

2. Increase your self-appreciation

“You’re either self-appreciating or self-deprecating. There is no middle.” ― Lana M. H. Wilder

Self-appreciation is seeing yourself for who you are, valuing yourself for being that way, and showing yourself compassion and gratitude. Instead of looking for approval from others, value who you are and what you do more often.

Find ways to increase your sense of self-appreciation. We are always faced with negative stuff and challenges every day of our lives that try to pull us down. If you do not self-appreciate, you might find yourself unknowingly engaging in self-destructive behavior like self-pity which is being a victim in your own life.

3. Read Read all that you can to get your mind in a positive place. Read articles and books that help you broaden your perspective on how you view depression. Learn from other people’s experiences and make yourself better from what you learn.
With more knowledge and facts, you can navigate through the storm better.

4. Talk to someone

Find someone close to you that you can confide in and share how you feel. They might not have the answers to your problem but if they listen, the experience will be therapeutic. Knowing that someone else knows what you are going through will help.
If you can find someone who has gone through the experience, the better. They can share with you how it was to them and what exactly worked for them.

5. Talking to yourself more When depressed negative thoughts usually flow, you start having thoughts like “I’m a mess up”, “I’m a failure”, “I’m just alone” e.t.c.
In these moments of anxiety and depression, you have to stop listening to yourself(the thoughts) and start talking to yourself, say things like “Hey Cliff you are amazing”,“I am great”, “I can do this”,” I can handle this”, “This is not a big deal”, “This is going to pass, “I am remarkable”. Profess positivity into your life and feed your mind with positive thoughts.

Conclusion

Taking these steps will help ensure you will be in a better position next time. Take little steps of improvement and you will grow stronger and more resilient

You deserve to experience how great life can be and you owe it to the world to be that positive change in the world, to inspire others who will look at you and say, “he did it”, “she did it”, then I can do it too.

Doing all of these does not mean that life will be perfect. Noooooo. The same life challenges will still show up. But your mind will be stronger and at peace and your reaction to these challenges will be very different.
Instead of thinking “why is this happening to me”, you will be asking “How can I make this work out?” or “How can I turn things round?”

You can leave the pain behind and focus on how you will react and think positively

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle and the other is as though everything is. — Albert Einstein

Your strength in trying times and sharing your experience will make other people look at you with hope and not pity. Your strength will become their hope.

Let us normalize talks around mental health and share any useful information and experience. You never know who you might help.

If you are reading this and you are in a state of depression, I hope and pray you find the strength to get back up.
You are going to fall many times in life, but have a mindset of always getting back up. That way you are never down, you are either up or getting back up.