When looking for a solution to depression I had to do quite a lot of digging around and speaking to relevant specialists in many different fields. Some would be dismissive of anything that fell outside of their own experience and others, in all honesty had no idea what they were doing or saying.
What I had been looking for was a series of quick fixes to solve the whole depression thing, having realised very quickly the problem was not being solved by many of the health professionals.
The quick fixes I was looking for had to be immediate and doable by anyone, they also had to really work. The cynics reading this post will of course start to mutter that ‘it’s not possible’ or ‘it can’t be done’ and all I can say to that is this – you either think you can or you think you are can’t – and you are right.
People many years ago thought the earth was indeed flat, or that there was a Virgin that could give birth. We now know that there are some flaws in that thinking.
The shift that needs to happen in order to solve your depression problem has to come from one source; the only thing that can change your situation is you. This assumes that your depression is not caused by some other underlying health problem, you would know about if it was.
Your thoughts and feelings all belong to and are created by you, everyday you make a choice to keep on feeling like you do; nothing coming from the outside is going to change that any time soon until you start to change.
Buddhism teaches us that that in order to live happy lives you need to understand that happiness comes from within, it’s a choice to be happy. Those with nothing, no material possessions tend towards happiness because they understand that what is coming toward them is going to be better than what they have now. Rock bottom is always an incredible stable place to start a new life, a life of choosing.
One hack I will give you today, and this (if you actually execute it) will change your life forever. It’s this – give some of your stuff away. Being surrounded by stuff is not wealth, it’s a problem. Having a life full of stuff will never make you happy or create a feeling of happiness. Nothing new can come in whilst your life is full of…
One cause of depression is wanting more, wanting more will never lead to fulfillment or pleasure because it’s not changing what is going on between your ears and the only person that can make changes there is you. Nothing from the outside is going to change that.
Solving depression is a matter of learning some new stuff and doing old stuff differently, it is amazingly simple but not particularly easy. Remember learning to drive a car? Well notice how easy it is now. See you can learn stuff.
As an aside have you been aware of your thoughts whilst reading this article, my guess is you have not. But read it again and be aware of your thoughts, write them down as you read.
What is your self talk like, is it negative? Were any of them saying – try it, give it a go. Or were they just saying – you can’t change, it won’t work. Don’t react to it just observe them for the time being, repeat the same exercise in a couple of days and compare your thoughts. Are they the same or are they different?
Analysing this is not for today but I will deal with it in a later article.
If you are genuinely interested in getting one to one help curing your problem of depression get in touch today to arrange a time to discuss where I will start to solve your immediate problems, and remember you are not broken and don’t need fixing.
Richard Smith works in the area of personal and business development with a focus on the things that really make the difference – what is going on inside your head. I also teach mindfulness to help depression and other ailments of the body and mind. No woo woo just practical and proven things.