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Sometimes Chocolate isn’t enough…

Be Exactly who you are and Be Loved

The sky is encapsulating, gray dreary clouds, the silence after a storm and a bad cold can create a depressing story. During the winter months locating energy, emotions or even an interest to live can surface and often does.

Socializing seems daunting, hiding feelings of sadness, staying safe, choosing to hibernate drowning out feelings with food, television or sleep seems easier. How do we accept sad? Be with depressed? …. and Love I’m afraid. This dark place often brings dense head fog and thoughts of suicide

Some may suggest a trip to the gym increasing serotine levels, the “happy hormone”. Others may swear by light therapy or antidepressants. I’ve personally tried them all and found what sometimes appears to be the hardest is actually often the remedy.

In my latest spell of depression I witnessed myself falling to old patterns seeking exogenous emotional comfort avoiding being afraid, crying and being utterly sad. Wouldn’t somebody just hold me, love me or better yet know of an instant gratification type device, pill or formula?

Einstein said it best “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expeting different results”

Resistance and Acceptance cannot coexist, so what holds us back from making a “new choice”? FEAR is paralyzing and New Choice is unfamiliar and requires immense amounts of courage. I compare it to a whole new operating system with multiple software updates.

Avoiding Danger is no safer in the long run that outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. – Helen Keller

 

COURAGE is the ability to do something that frightens one; strength in the face of pain or grief.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. We often fall victim choosing to be paralyzed in Fear, but what if we could take one small action step in choosing to face. In the Hendricks work Facing is a part of F.A.C.T (Facing, Accepting, Choosing and Taking Action). FACT is a gateway to building blocks of courage.

Depression is Real

Depression is strength. Depression is noticing the constant emptiness weighing down inside of you. Those that experience depression experience a state that affects their everyday lives. This is facing suffering with dignity or faith.

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore – Lord Chesterfield

I recommend and keep a journal getting what’s in our heads out. Below I’ve compiled a list of tools that I’ve found useful in bouts of Depression and I hope they will support you in your lives. There is no wrong or right, no external secret recipe, no pill to take it away. Follow your body intelligence with love and acceptance of what is happening and look inward kindly.

• Savoring Bubble Baths with Epson salt, essential oils or CBD
• Delicious Movies, Warm-Fuzzy Blanket Day
• Flavorful Hot Tea Moments throughout the day
• Support Group or Community
• Beating myself up with a soft feather
• Warmly Welcoming my emotions and all parts of me
• Loving gently and kindly what is
• Easeful Movement (exercise, fear melters, walking, etc.)
• Conscious Breathing
• Massage or massaging myself with fingertips or hands
• Phoning a good friend or being with myself as I would with a good friend
• Allowing myself to Feel Afraid

I invite you to post a resource or anything you’d be willing to share in the comments feed choosing enhancing our community while growing our Human Condition in LOVE.