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Mistake or Miracle…How I “Disappeared” My Chronic Depression
Mistake or Miracle…How I “Disappeared” My Chronic Depression I knew a young girl who suffered with chronic depression. She became depressed at the age of twelve and lived that way for the next forty years. She cried all the time, and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. Her parents tried to reason with her, but there was no consoling her. Eventually, not knowing what to do, her parents punished her for crying and for being sad. This made her hide her sadness, but it didn’t make her less sad. That young girl was me. I wasn’t like the other kids in school because I couldn’t be…
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The Benefit of Being Optimistic
The Benefit of Being Optimistic for You You Have More Control Admittedly, the benefit of being optimistic is an important topic. I believe one of the most important benefits of being optimistic is that is gives you the feeling you have more control over your life and over what happens to you. Rather than playing the victim and feeling you are powerless to affect the outcome of what is happening to us, being optimistic gives you hope even when things may be quite dark in your life. Sometimes this means having to compartmentalize what is wrong or a challenge and slogging through some “stuff” to get to the other side,…
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5 Powerful Tips for Using Positive Affirmations
5 Powerful Tips for Using Positive Affirmations I’m sure you’ve heard that positive affirmations can help you be more motivated and can help you achieve your goals. Did you know there are ways you can supercharge your affirmations to make them even more powerful, dare I say even transformative? If better health is your goal, maybe you want to lose weight and get fit. If your affirmation is “I will lose weight and go to the gym every day,” how does that make you feel? You may feel there’s a “heaviness” about the energy of that statement that isn’t very motivating. The statement focuses on the negative aspects of your…
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Dump Those Thoughts and Let Your Mind Be Free!
Personal Freedom Begins in Your Mind I thought this was an interesting topic to address given the current state of our country and the world. Our personal freedom is certainly being curtailed for the moment and for our own good. Rather than point a finger or cast blame for the unfettered spread of the virus, I thought it would be more productive to address how we think and how we can adjust our thinking going forward. You might be surprised to learn that the biggest obstacle to your personal freedom is right between your ears. A negative mindset is the biggest block to your freedom. There are so many parts…
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Is It Faith Or Optimism…
Is It Faith Or Optimism Is it faith or optimism? Your faith can either unlock the door to success for you or keep you from ever experiencing it. It can be a positive power by which you realize the things you dream of, or it can be a negative power which causes you to live in despair and fear. The faith we’re talking about here is not religious or even spiritual; it is a belief or outlook on life… you might call it optimism. This faith exists in the mind-body connection and is the miracle that leads ordinary people to lift a car when someone is trapped underneath it or…
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Is Depression Sadness
Is Depression Sadness or The Fight Against It? This is a question posed by one of my favorite alternative gurus, Dr. Kelly Brogan. She published an article addressing this a while ago and discussed our general resistance to and reticence to experience and process sadness. She wrote in part: “Through this process of rebranding sadness as necessary, we may even learn that what we are calling depression has less to do with felt sadness than with the persistent resistance against it. Sadness, sorrow, grief, and pain are kinetic and dynamic. They rise and release. They move. It is the fight against these forces, the conditioned fear of them, and the effort to ignore the banging…
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Coping with Holiday Depression
Coping with Holiday Depression There’s something very rare and very real when people who struggle with depression open up and share their struggles around coping with holiday depression. As a recovering depressed person, I can always tell if the discussion is clinical and factual or if it is coming from the heart or the gut… There’s a pain that comes with depression that you can’t pretend. I am always reading about depression; depression and food, depression and exercise, depression and state of mind thinking, etc. Today I read a really good article written by Kasandra Brabaw. In the article she shares the experiences of four women with depression at holiday…
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Look Back or Look Ahead
When the year is ending, do you look back or look ahead? I’m not talking about taxes or a business plan here although they are very important. What I’m referring to when I ask if you look back or look ahead is your attitude toward your life. Are you someone who looks back, holds on to the past and regrets the year that is ending, or are you someone who relishes new year with its opportunities, challenges and excitement? The unknowns, the dreams to be achieved and realized…where does your focus lie? This is a particularly important question from my point of view, because as a chronically depressed person for the…
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Your mood and your food…
Your Mood and Your Food Do you know how much what you eat affects your mood? Your mood and your food can make it a good day or a not so good day. If you want to live a Major Upbeat Life every day, it’s important to feed yourself well and eat nourishing whole food…lots of fruits and vegetables with some lean protein… but not too much protein. I made a video for you with some suggestions you can put to use when you travel and when you just get off track which we all do from time to time. If you are challenged with depression as I was…
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