Kermit the Frog says, “It’s not easy being green. Well today, it’s not easy staying positive and happy. There is an atmosphere of uncertainty which has a core of deception and dishonesty that fills your lungs with toxic fear-unless you are in denial. I don’t know if you have noticed but even going the speed limit on the freeway is dangerous to your health. Maybe, everyone is rushing to get out of his era. It’s heavy with pessimism and fear and both play havoc on your health.
I know there are times when life brings genuine sorrow and loss. During those times that loss and sorrow must be honored. It needs to be witnessed and confirmed by another. It needs to be heard and understood so it can be given it’s due and leave when healed and resolved. That is a special kind of depression, for another article.
The depression I am speaking to today, is the kind that comes just from life happening. Here are some things that will help. Some of them might seem very basic and simple but the truth is, they can be profound because they literally change the typography and chemicals in your brain. They teach your brain to default to what is positive instead of empowering the negative.
- First invite your fear in and see if it’s real. Very often fears are just feelings, not facts. Once you determine whether your fear is a feeling or a fact, you can determine how to respond to it. If it’s a fact, decide what action you can take and take it. And, if it’s a fear, take some time to remind yourself that feelings don’t kill you. They just feel like they might. Ask the feeling what it needs to go away and try to give that to yourself.
- Decide whether what you are experiencing is a catastrophe or a hassle. Sometimes when we are already exhausted, one more thing can feel like a catastrophe when it’s a minor issue that can be easily taken care of. If you are already on over-load see what you can do to delegate some of the responsibility or load elsewhere temporarily.
- Take a minute to count your blessings. Think of the last few positive things that have happened to you. Go look at the pictures of the family members you love. Make something positive happen. For instance, pay for the Starbucks order from the guy in the car behind you, or go into a big box store and find someone who could use a $5.00 -$10.00 gift to help pay for their groceries. Find someone you can help in some way. Call that friend who can’t get out and see if he or she wants company for a while. In other words, remind yourself that there is still love and compassion in the world and you have it to share.
- Write some, I appreciate and love you notes to people you have been remiss in contacting. Lifting someone else’s spirt always lifts our own.
- Start learning something new. Here is nothing more exciting than giving your brain a kick start and doing it with people who are interested in the same topics. Spiraling intellectually or spiritually can leave you feeling exuberant about life again.
- Put on some beautiful music and just be still enjoying it for a while. Let it touch your soul and fill you up. If it has a great beat dance around, get up and move and don’t give a hoot about how you look. Stop thinking for a bit and just feel. Be abandoned for a moment from all self-judgment and critical messages. Just love yourself and let go.
- Don’t get attached to any outcome or anything. Remind yourself that you have and are everything you need to be happy.
- Try to stay present to yourself and others. If you have many friends around who are also negative, avoid that energy for a while and choose to be deliberately present to those you love. Associating with negativity can cause checking out and closing down or off to everything which leaves you with a sense of feeling dead inside. Don’t let that happen. Staying in that depressed place for too long can case your brain to produce less serotonin and dopamine. If your brain stays at that low output for a long period of time it may need some support in kicking the production of these chemicals back up to normal levels. There are great holistic herbs that can help.
The bottom line is that we are in tense and tenuous times. There are real reasons why you feel the way you do. So, take care of your mind and spirit as well as you take car of your body. We have lived through times such as these before and we will come out the other side having learned what ever lesson this era brings. Trust yourself, trust those you love, and trust your higher power, whatever you perceive that to be, and we’ll get there together.
© Dr. Dina Bachelor Evan 2017. All rights reserved. No part of the intellectual property of Dr. Dina Evan may be reproduced, placed on mechanical retrieval system, transmitted in any form by electronic, video, laser, mechanical photocopy, recording means or otherwise in part or in whole, without written permission of the author. Contents are fully copyrighted and may not be owned by any other individual or organization.