Eight months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 264. Yesterday, I talked about making the best out of your day. Today is a new day.
Everyone at some point experiences depression. It sucks no doubt. In high school I was really emotional and in a dark place. I had no motivation and I remember feeling like there wasn't any point in doing anything. When I did try I'd often second-guess myself and come up with excuses to why I shouldn't go and do stuff and it ended up bumming me out even more. It became a vicious cycle of being depressed over not going out and having opportunities to enjoy my life and being depressed over how I'd turn down opportunities that were presented to me and end up not going out at all.
Although it might feel like it's a hopeless situation, there's always a way out. One day I was sick of it all and just said "fuck it" and started doing shit. I started doing things to work on myself like study Japanese, exercise, take martial arts, and at first I kept wanting to give up. Every time I thought about how I didn't want to do things and the excuses started popping up I'd remind myself of how sick of the bullshit I was.
Taking the first step is the most important and I relapsed back into my old habits every once in a while, but each time you get back up it becomes easier. Each time I failed I was reminded of how I hated how I used to be and how I wanted to change, and this was my motivation for getting out of my depression. I used my anger and frustration at myself to give me the proper slap back into reality I needed to get things done. That was my first step.
As the years have passed I've learned about the importance of going through life at our own pace. We can't expect ourselves to change over night. Change takes time. I still have my moments where I back out of things or feel unmotivated to do anything, but I've slowly learned to enjoy taking on challenges and welcome them as positive things in my life. Whereas before I saw any form of adversity as negative, I now see it as something for me to overcome. With enough effort and commitment anyone can change their mindset. The key is to keep trying and let go of any expectations of results.
If you end up relapsing, that's okay. Try again. When you have those moments of clarity and success, remember how that happened. Internalize how good it feels. Try again. Every day you wake up, get up and try again. Practice makes perfect, so keep trying and if there's still more progress to be made...try again.
Peace
"Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was." - Richard L. EvansIt was Thanksgiving yesterday (Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone) and I ended up spending some time with a friend. We ended up checking out the Christmas illuminations in Namba, watching the new Justice League movie (I liked it despite the criticism), talking about life, and having some burgers at a nice Hawaii-themed restaurant. It was a good time with good company. One thing that came up during our talks was the topic of depression.
Everyone at some point experiences depression. It sucks no doubt. In high school I was really emotional and in a dark place. I had no motivation and I remember feeling like there wasn't any point in doing anything. When I did try I'd often second-guess myself and come up with excuses to why I shouldn't go and do stuff and it ended up bumming me out even more. It became a vicious cycle of being depressed over not going out and having opportunities to enjoy my life and being depressed over how I'd turn down opportunities that were presented to me and end up not going out at all.
Although it might feel like it's a hopeless situation, there's always a way out. One day I was sick of it all and just said "fuck it" and started doing shit. I started doing things to work on myself like study Japanese, exercise, take martial arts, and at first I kept wanting to give up. Every time I thought about how I didn't want to do things and the excuses started popping up I'd remind myself of how sick of the bullshit I was.
Taking the first step is the most important and I relapsed back into my old habits every once in a while, but each time you get back up it becomes easier. Each time I failed I was reminded of how I hated how I used to be and how I wanted to change, and this was my motivation for getting out of my depression. I used my anger and frustration at myself to give me the proper slap back into reality I needed to get things done. That was my first step.
As the years have passed I've learned about the importance of going through life at our own pace. We can't expect ourselves to change over night. Change takes time. I still have my moments where I back out of things or feel unmotivated to do anything, but I've slowly learned to enjoy taking on challenges and welcome them as positive things in my life. Whereas before I saw any form of adversity as negative, I now see it as something for me to overcome. With enough effort and commitment anyone can change their mindset. The key is to keep trying and let go of any expectations of results.
If you end up relapsing, that's okay. Try again. When you have those moments of clarity and success, remember how that happened. Internalize how good it feels. Try again. Every day you wake up, get up and try again. Practice makes perfect, so keep trying and if there's still more progress to be made...try again.
Peace
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| Take that first step to get out. Get out, keep the train rolling, and change your future. |
If you have any thoughts, stories, or experiences share them in a comment below!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~