Happy New Year & Depression
A Message of Understanding & Hope
Understanding:
I know we all have been going through some difficulties. Our world has changed and it has changed rapidly. There are a lot more angry people in the world that were not there before. I’ve noticed a lot more folks are hiding out in their houses loathing the next time they have to go in public just to get groceries, work, or school. People have been mean to one another. We can see it in the customer service as workers struggle to cope. Wars continue like their common place, mass shootings, political unrest and violence, rapid climate change, corruption, inflation, and global unrest. It’s hard to look at the world with hope when drowning in this chaos.
Yet hope is what we are here to do, right now.
In every storm there is something that is beautiful. It isn’t in the destruction but in the color of the clouds and the way the light bounces through the shadows. It’s in the reflection of a puddle at our feet, that reveals our face and vibrant clouds sliding in the background. It’s in the excitement we feel when the thunder pounds on our chest or it’s in the lightening that strikes the tree out in the field in front of us.
From these beautiful moments we can calm the storm and find beauty, peace, happiness, and hope.
Hope:
It is easy to get fixated on the destruction. This has lots of painful emotions like fear and hate. When we fixate on how it’s not working well, we tend to get stuck. We tend to believe that the whole world is like this and there’s nothing we can do about it. This is simply focusing only on half of what’s happening and lacks the complete picture.
In reality, this is a glass half full and half empty situation. What do we choose to give our attention to. If we focus on the half empty, this becomes a life situation of dearth and vacancy. If we focus on the half full, this becomes a life situation of hope and abundance. Both are true but only one is helpful. In Cognitive Psychology, they call this cognitive reframing. We are simply clearing up misunderstanding and seeing our life situation for what it really is. We start making informed decisions about life.
Focus on the beautiful moments in the storm and you will weather it just fine.
After the storm, it is good to show gratitude. Look around you and find the things you appreciate and love. Take a big breath and give them your attention. Do this as often as you like. This helps to cultivate more of what you love in your life.
Wishing you all a beautiful new year filled with everything you love.