Depression
and anxiety are part of many people's lives. They've definitely been a part of
my life. What I've realized though is that neither depression nor anxiety is a
disorder.
What I now understand about depression and anxiety
is that both are surface manifestations of imbalance. These manifestations are
deeper than the symptoms I've been experiencing every day. The truth of the
matter is, I don't have to live with depression or anxiety ... and neither do
you.
Most of
us worry about worrying. We're anxious about our anxiety. It's a vicious
cycle. The more we worry about worrying, the more anxious we become. The more
anxious we become, the more we worry. In the end, we become depressed. Our
health is affected because we don't get enough sleep. We crave eating, mostly
unhealthy food. We lack exercise and are overwhelmed by our emotions, feeling
unloved.
The day-to-day struggle makes us feel as if we have no purpose to move
forward in life. The root of the problem lies in the fact that most of us do
not know ourselves very well. We don't know what it is we desire, what we are
chasing, what we want, what we need or where we're going. Not knowing leaves us
feeling uneasy and disconnected.
Every day, we are surrounded by people. We all wear masks – different masks for different people. We're too afraid to be
ourselves. We're too afraid of ourselves. In this confused state of anxiety, we
make choices and live with the consequences. More often than not, we regret the
choices and the consequences.
Where does it all end?
We need to identify the people, places, activities and our own thought
patterns that trigger depression and anxiety. We have to believe that we can
change how we feel so that we don't suffer any longer. Napoleon Bonaparte
said, "When you fight, fight as if everything depends on you. And when you pray,
pray as if everything depends on God." We have to fight against negative
influences constantly and learn to focus on the positive things in life.
We have to have that much faith that when we wake up in the morning, we
have the power to rely on ourselves, and when we climb into bed at night, we rely on
God. This doesn't mean that we don't need God during the day. It simply means,
we know ourselves well enough (our strengths and our weaknesses) that we can
cope confidently with who and what we are.
It takes time and God to make a life. We can't make a life if we don't
know who we are. We need to find "quiet time" in every day to be with
ourselves, to get to know ourselves. The more we know about ourselves, the more
we will be able to endure ourselves. We'll find an inner calm of acceptance and
once we have that, we will have conquered depression and anxiety.
So, go on. Get to "know thyself" ~ Socrates.
