You won’t just wake-up one morning in great spirits after a lifetime of depression and suddenly find yourself better.

You won’t just wake-up one morning in great spirits after a lifetime of depression and suddenly find yourself better.

Then again, you might. There have been people who experience one-minute-to-the-next miraculous cures. They are few and far between, however. Most people have to work at recovery.

You’ll probably take some detours as well. There will be times you just want to give-up.

But challenge yourelf.

Examine your beliefs.

Are your beliefs yours, or are they hand-me-downs from others, your parents, your pastor, your friends or God forbid, news media and personalities? And I’m not just talking religious beliefs. Whether you are religious or not, it’s still important to know what you believe and how you came to those beliefs.

Examine your behaviors. Are they diminishing your depression or are they contributing to it? We do so many things on auto-pilot never questioning why we are doing them.

When we start behaving and talking the way we want to feel, we want to be, we build some momentum. We begin to see ourselves as happy, fulfilled, and content.

For example, would you reach for that decadent brownie if you envisioned yourself as slim and in great health? Would you park yourself in front of the TV for hours at a time if you saw yourself as a productive person with creative abilities?

Aristotle said:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.”

When we start to develop habits where the end results are that we feel better, depression will start to wane. Decide you want to be a person free of depression and develop daily habits with that person in mind.

There is actually a technique that many mental health professional suggest to their patients. It’s called “acting as if” and is very applicable to the treatment of depression.

Listen to the words you speak. Are they diminishing your symptoms or making then worse. We almost never listen to ourselves so this will feel strange in the beginning. It might even feel of narcissistic.

When we are actively in God’s presence, when we’ve brought Him in on the process from the beginning, we are in a safe place to engage in some self-reflection.

We might pray a prayer like this:

This is hard, Lord, this looking within. I’m afraid of what I might learn. Protect me from condemning myself. Reassure me that you can take whatever I discover and cause it to be for my good as your word promises. I want to be healed from depression, Lord, and with your help I know I can do this. You have brought me thus far. I am trusting you to take me all the way to wholeness.

Make this the week you decide to take the step to move out of depression and into the Sonshine.

You can do this.

God bless and have a good day.

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