Disclaimer: I am not a professional of any sort for dealing with the medical field. If you feel like you want to hurt yourself or possibly others, immediately seek professional help. These are suggestions based on my opinion alone from my own experiences.

We all have problems. We all experience our problems differently. Some of us take our pain harder than others.

One thing that I’ve learned in my time is that depression is very real and can be debilitating. Depression, I’ve learned isn’t necessarily being “sad”. Depression is more of a numbness. It makes you lose interest in things you once cared deeply for, especially hobbies and activities. It places a pause on your emotions.

You can be sad during a bout with depression, but your depression doesn’t always mean you are sad as many people think and movies and TV shows portray.

Sadness is necessary in life. If you ever watched the Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out, you learned a surprising lesson (spoiler alert) that sadness is actually an essential part of finding happiness. Throughout the movie, the character “Sadness” was treated like a nuisance. She literally held the other characters back at certain points, making them drag her lifeless body in order to move onward. Everything she touches physically turned sad and blue. But in the end, we learned that she was vital in order to restore the perfect balance of life’s emotions. We need to cry, we need to mourn in order to heal and move back into happiness. There is purpose in pain, we don’t know that something needs to be fixed without pain.

But depression? I can’t think of a single instance where it is needed. It’s a disease. DIS-EASE. And it’s a nasty one that many people see no way out of. Many people see no end to it’s grasp on their lives and they make a very drastic and very final decision. Nobody needs to feel numb and lifeless. Nobody needs to feel as if there is no hope.

So how do we fix it?

I’ll be honest, there is no magic pill. There’s no quick fix. You didn’t become depressed overnight.

Think about your childhood. You were probably carefree and adventurous. You played with your toys alone or with friends, it didn’t matter if anyone was there or not you found a way to entertain yourself. You didn’t sulk about being lonely, your toys became your friends.

Where do we lose this feeling? Of innocence and adventure? Where did we become so entrapped in being around others, needing their approval and companionship?

I’m not saying being around other people is a problem. If we don’t find a mate then we don’t reproduce and if everyone felt this way humanity would collapse.

What I’m saying is when do we lose the ability to be alone and feel on top of the world? We lost our imagination. Where friends are awesome and all but being alone is where we can really spread our wings?

I present that as a child, we purely LOVED ourselves. And that feeling doesn’t need to be a distant memory because we are now “adulting” and paying bills, stressing about this and that.

You can love yourself again and leave depression and the world’s problems behind. I did and you can as well!

You see, the moment that you learn to love yourself is the moment you’ll never feel alone a single second after! Doesn’t that make sense?

If you are worried about legitimate life events that have caused chaos in your life then it will be a struggle. Uncontrollable medical conditions, house fires with no insurance, etc. Unless you are in relentless, chronic pain then you are able to learn to love yourself. Even those that are in this type of pain can find solace in loving themselves.

This is the one thing that nobody and nothing can take away from you and you need to learn how to own it.

1. Money means nothing (literally). Money is a made-up social concept that gives the impression that more of it means happiness. Quite the contrary, pay close attention. Those millionaires aren’t happy because they have an excess. Many of them are just as miserable as we are. Happiness does NOT come from what you own or are able to do. Paper notes themselves have no value. Research this, the only thing that holds value is debt. Money is only as valuable as how much you owe to someone else. Your credit score can only be high if you have a history of debt.
2. Happiness comes from accepting yourself for who you are. Flaws and all. No matter how much you have or how you look. Accept yourself.
3. Some of the happiest people I’ve witnessed are the tribes we see on the discovery channel. They have nothing in our eyes. But they dance, they laugh, they love. They have not a single care about bills, what they look like, what they wear. It’s amazing! That’s perspective. No mobile phones, no internet, no TV.

So how can you begin to start loving yourself again like when you were a child? It begins with your mindset, you have to tell yourself “I’m happy, I’m a good person, I’m just fine the way I am”, etc. You have to repeat this to yourself until it becomes a habit.

This may sound ridiculous to those who are suffering but I am speaking from experience. You may have tears in your eyes, wondering how this could even be possible. I am proof that it works. But just don’t think it’s some kind of instant medicine.

When somebody asks you “How are you doing?” Your response, no matter how you really feel inside should be “Fantastic!” That was always my response. The more you say it, speak it into existence, the more you actually feel better.

If you tell every cell in your body everyday that “I feel terrible… I’m, miserable, etc” this is that way you will ultimately feel. If you are constantly telling your mind and body that you feel awful, then that is what you will be.

Do not misunderstand me. I know that medical depression is a very real condition and you can’t just “chant it away” magically. What I am talking about is not simply talking. You are changing your subconscious mind to heal itself.

While this may be difficult at first to wrap your mind around, especially those that feel the world is coming down around them, remember that what I’m saying is nothing new.

I THINK THEREFORE I AM.

You ever just sat down and thought about that famous saying? This is called manifestation. There is science behind it. It’s biblically sound, these methods are mentioned over and over in the scriptures.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” –  Matthew 7:7

      “And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” – Matthew 21:22

What do you think prayer is exactly?

Your homework is to study, not the bible. But The LAW OF ATTRACTION. There is countless material available about this subject. There is a wealth of information on YourTube about this.

The next move is yours. I know you are hurting, but how long you hurt is fully up to you.

Good luck!