Feeding success

I have dealt with depression in my life for many years. I am generally an upbeat person, with an outgoing nature, but about every 12-16 weeks or so, I find myself struggling emotionally and mentally, which leads to physical struggles. I’m struggling right now to get out of bed in the morning. This has been going on for about three weeks, I think. Two weeks, anyway. I described it to a friend today who has experienced depression, too.

“Just the idea of making my lunch and taking out the trash on Tuesday were major obstacles to getting out of bed yesterday,” I told him.

“Yup,” he said. “That’s depression!”

He affirmed what I knew to be true. As we talked further, he added this: “Depression comes from within, but so does success. Whatever you choose to motivate yourself, you’re going to have to find something that you can use to create success for yourself each day. Then success will build on success. Maybe making your lunch the night before will do that for you!”

He and another supportive colleague said similar things they’ve learned from experience. Set a small goal or schedule something for each day. When you’ve accomplished it, you know you’ve achieved something, however small it may be, and success feeds (or builds) on success. That is how you will work your way through this bout of depression that is holding you down.

Friends, there are many more steps than this, of course, but to a man (or woman) that is depressed and overwhelmed, multiple steps are not what I need! For the moment, I need simplicity, and my friends offered simplicity. They did not unhelpfully suggest that I get better med dosages–that’s an ignorant suggestion, at best. Instead, they listened compassionately, and offered help from experience.