Regained Hope

“In depression . . . faith in deliverance, in ultimate restoration, is absent. The pain is unrelenting, and what makes the condition intolerable is the foreknowledge that no remedy will come -- not in a day, an hour, a month, or a minute. . . . It is hopelessness even more than pain that crushes the soul.” ~ William Styron

Wow, pretty depressing isn't it? It is a feeling of hopelessness that can consume us at different moments in our lives. We have lost a job, a marriage or direction in life.

When you reach this level of hopelessness, you feel your goals are unachievable and start to give up on them.

The idea of giving up itself feeds into your feelings because now you begin to feel you are a failure. It is a vicious cycle we put ourselves into. We begin to focus more and more on the problem or problems. As we do, the more helpless we feel as our spirit spirals into the ground.

The first thing to know is that there is no such thing as hopelessness.

Hopelessness is only a state of mind that we allow ourselves to get trapped into. There is always hope. You can back away and stop pounding your head against the wall. You can re-evalutate by stepping back.

More importantly, stop focusing on the problem...focus on the solution.

If we spend all of our time firmly fixed upon the problem, the hopelessness trap has us. But if we take those energies and focus on a solution, any solution; then we will give rise to new hope.

So stop spiraling into the hopelessness trap.

Step back from the situation and quit looking at the problem. Turn and exert your energy (or what is left of it) towards the solution. Pretty soon you will find hope creeping back into possibility. Pretty soon you will find a solution appearing on the horizon.

Lastly, look at the empty chair next to you. The chair might look empty, but think of it as opportunity. Opportunity that someone will come along, sit down and enter your life; change your life. Opportunity that can provide a little spark of encouragement and small measure of hope for you to grab hold of.

Remember, hopelessness is real only if we allow it to be.

Stay inspired my friends!

Never A Blue Monday

Today, January 21nd (2008) is termed by Cliff Arnall as Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. It is described as the unhappiest day in the entire year, which takes into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

There may be type of truth to this statistical day which is claimed to have the highest percentage of potential suicides of any given day of the year. But any day can bring doom or depression. It is a matter of how badly the tough times weigh upon your mental state or heart.

My belief is that you always need to try and find some level of goodness to pull your self through. Many times we fail to see even the slightest amount of goodness that does exist in our lives. We will focus so heavily upon the negative as it takes so much less energy to do, yet it exerts the most damage to our lives.

There are of course clinical reasons for depression and many great professionals that can help one through these times. My purpose is to offer any small glimpse of hope that there is that light, the hope of a better life. I have experienced the lows of depression and have had a close relative take the option of suicide. If I could have offered that bit of light, maybe things would be different.

So when you dip into this downturn in life, hold onto any bit of light that may exist. The smallest of things are a building block to something better. For the rest of us, that smile you give, the small gesture of kindness can have an impact on someone that may be walking through a dark point in life.

Search for the light of good that exists in your life, do not dwell upon the negative. Also, be the light for someone else and know that it can be a life changing gesture to others.