The statement that most depressed people don’t want to hear is “Just get a hold of yourself and pull yourself out of your depression.”

Or some such version.

Depressed people hate that but not necessarily because they aren’t willing to work on their depression, but because they have no clue where to start. (Neither do the advice-givers, by the way. If someone were to say to them to “Just get ahold of yourself and pull yourself out of your headache, backache, stomach, etc.” , they would look at you like you are nuts.)

But there’s another reason you may act negatively to that statement. You don’t think it’s possible to get better. I mean, if you thought it was, you would have already done it, right?

No necessarily.

You have probably dealt with your depression for awhile and you don’t see any way out. It’s like walking down a winding path. You get so far down the path, when you look back you can’t see where you started.

When you’re feeling really bad, it’s hard to remember how you used to feel. The whole process of getting better probably seems hopeless and helpless.

But It isn’t.

You were mentally healthy once. You can be again. Don’t get all defensive when someone suggest you can get better. Why would you not want to believe that anyway?

Believe that you can get better.

Believe that you will get better.

Don’t wait till you feel like it before you try. If we all waited to feel good before we did something, we’d never do anything. You know that to be true.

We don’t need to “feel” a certain way before we take that first step. We just need to do something, anything.

There are so many Scriptures I could insert here. But instead, I encourage you to read an easy version of the book of Proverbs. It is such a practical book and chocked full of simple suggestions.

If you are new to this blog and even if you’re not, read some older posts to see what some of those small steps are.

I hope to start opening the toolbox of ideas for you very soon. But you already know some of the things that make you feel better.

So far today, ask yourself, “What did I used to do that I really liked?” I mean really think about this. When we’re depressed, we forget that there were things we used to really like to do. But there were.

Can you do any part of it now?

Do you still have the needed supplies?

Could you get them out and just look at them and maybe organize them?

Some people love to organize just for the sake of organizing. Could you organize one drawer? One small part of the garage?

Anything to divert your attention. Anything to remind yourself that you did have interests. Some people might think, “Is she kidding? That would just make me feel worse.”

It might. But I’m betting it might spark a little interest.

This is how you “pull yourselves up by your bootstraps.” By doing something, anything.

Here’s the sad truth. No one else is going to do it for you. No one is going to zap your depression. No one is capable of making you feel better. Your happiness is dependent on no one but YOU. (I had a really hard time with this myself.)

It’s hard to hear all this. It was for me, too. Don’t forget, I’ve been where you are and I know how depression feels. I’m not suggesting you do anything I haven’t done.

God bless and don’t allow depression another moment of your life.

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