Depression Can Happen

What does it look like to be a hero to someone?  What qualities must one have to be a hero?  No you do not have to wear a coat of armor, no you do not have to be the strongest person in the world.  Being a hero to someone is all about being there for them.  Yes others may have the same struggles that we do, but have you ever stopped to think about if you brought some light into their dark world, that it just may help them more than you could ever imagine?  The spark is inside you to overcome what you are going through, yes the road is a long and tough one, but once you press forward you will find that you can become the hero that someone else is looking for.  Where you are in your journey with beating depression and anxiety may be further ahead than others.  What tools have you learned along the way that could help bring someone who is not as far on their journey out of the darkness and into the light?  First (in my opinion) is that you recognize...

There have been times in my life where I have felt as if there is a hurricane coming against me.  The winds and the rain are trying to wash away a foundation that I have already set for myself.  Most of the things that we come against feel as if they are going to just wash us away.  The depression of a certain situation can feel as if it can destroy everything that you have worked so hard to create.  Most of the time I feel that the foundation that I have built for myself can withstand anything, but there are some times in this journey that I feel that my walls will be shattered and I would not be able to get back to the place that I am now, however if the foundation you have created for yourself is strong enough, you will be able to withstand anything that depression and anxiety can throw your way.  So my question for you today is: How have you created a shelter for yourself?  What tools did you use?  Is your foundation strong enough to make sure tha...

Do you ever stop and think about the power your words and thoughts have on the outcome of your happiness?  Has anyone ever yelled at you or have they criticized you before?  How did that make you feel?  Well if you are anything like me, you might feel about an inch tall.  Many times in those situations I feel that I am shrinking and the person above me is a giant (almost like antman minus the powers and all).  Have you ever stopped to think about the words that you may say to someone?  Did those words make you the giant and make them smaller than they needed to be?  For this post I wanted to focus on the power of words.  Words have the capability to destroy someone.  Words can leave a lasting mark on someone's life and they carry what was spoken to them.  Sometimes we carry those words as if they are who we are because someone decided to speak negatively over you.  But I promise that whatever negative words have been spoken over yo...

"Wave goodbye to your past, you have your whole life to lead"...  Every time I hear that verse I think about the power that is in the words.  The strength that we can gain from those simple words is immense.  We first have to look at ourselves and see how we have gotten to the point where we are today.  Being strong does not mean that you have to be able to lift the most weights in the gym, being strong does not mean that you have to take on the world by yourself.  Although many times it may feel as if you are alone in this world, just know that you are not alone.  There are many people out there who share the some of the same struggle you do.  I understand that not every personal story is the same but there could be aspects of your story that line up with someone else's story.  As I sit here typing this message out, I often wonder why I let my illness get the best of me for so long.  Why it took me so long to face the past and begin the jou...

Well it has been a while, lately I have been trying to find the motivation to post something.  A lot of times I feel as if I have nothing to post about and or I do not want my post to all sound the same.  Typical me starting something strong and then fading out with it, but I will keep posting in hopes that this will reach one of you who reads it.  What I just described is a trial that is occurring in my own life, I start with these great ideas and never finish them.  I always find a reason to quit or to not give it my all.  It feels as if I have let my trials get the best of me and it is easier to just walk away from a dream of mine or a circumstance than to stick with it.  I know that for me I feel embarrassed to post about this topic because not many people knew about it prior to me posting about it.  Depression and more prevalent for me Anxiety, were and still are something that I struggle with on a daily basis.  Everyday I face a situation t...

Sometimes I feel as if I am sitting here holding onto a cliff and as I look up, I can see my finger tips turning white from the strain of trying to hold on.  Many times we are faced with that same scenario, we feel as if we are barely holding onto what we have.  If you have ever seen someone in the movies and or TV fighting to stay afloat you tend to notice a couple of things.  Well how in the heck did they get to this point?  What went wrong or what happened that put them in this circumstance?  Many times it is our own thoughts and fears that put us in this situation, however we have the strength in each one of us to pull ourselves up.  Imagine that you are waking up and not knowing what the day will bring and then the events of that day lead you to a place where you are struggling to hang on, what could we have done differently to make sure that we did not end up in that spot?  Sometimes there is nothing that we can do differently at all, but other ...

What tools do you have to cope with your depression and anxiety?  Do you use those tools for when you feel yourself starting to slip?  What tools can you add to your tool box to ensure that you have everything necessary to complete a task?  Let's look inside your tool box this morning and see what we can add to help you along with your journey.  The most basic tool that you can have in your box is a hammer.  Many things start with using a hammer, take building a house for instance.  If you look at the house and as it is being constructed, notice all of the hammers that are being used.  Without a hammer those tasks would be increasingly difficult to complete.   But if we use our "hammer" we can start to establish a strong base for ourselves.  We can construct many things in our minds and a lot of times we let those fabricated thoughts stand in our way.  But if you build your house with a strong base and foundation you will be able to wit...

A million miles away....  That is a heck of a distance.  Think about that for a second, how far is that really?  Well it is about the distance of some satellites in space...  So what does the world look like at that distance?  Well you can make out the land masses for sure and you can obviously see the oceans, but you cannot see what is really on the surface.  From a million miles away everything looks the same, there is no struggle, no depression and anxiety...  Just a big picture, a clean picture.  From a million miles away it seems as if everything that has ever held you back is minute, every struggle that you have faced is so small that in the bigger picture of the universe it is only a speck of dust.  Putting things into perspective for us is important, because a lot of times we can only see what is right in front of us and miss the big picture.  Think of the world for a second, look at everything around you.  What do you see?...

The aftermath of what we are facing can bring you down.  It can tear you apart, it can be your worst enemy.  How can we win against the demons we face on a daily basis?  For those of us who feel the burden of the world, what can we do to lighten our load?  What options do we have to bring a light into an ever fading world?  The change has to being with you, you cannot expect someone else to save you when you are not willing to save yourself.  The struggle we all face is that of our own and we cannot expect someone else to know the exact struggle and come in and rescue us.  Now I know that may seen a little harsh, but it is the truth.  How can we be a light to the world when we cannot even light our own path?  The change starts within you, you have to find what makes you happy.  What makes you feel the most free with your circumstance and can you reasonably achieve that level of happiness.  For some of us, it takes just a simple ste...

Have heart....  One day you will be faced with something that will change you, however it is how you face that obstacle that will help define who you are.  Many of us are faced with the urge to just run away from our troubles and we think that that will solve them.  However that only causes more problems.  If you are sitting here reading this and you are down today and feeling that the world is against you, I have some words for you.  Give yourself a chance, give yourself the chance to see if you can overcome whatever you are facing.  Do not let the thoughts of not being good enough or the possibility of failure stand in your way.  YOU are worth it, YOU are worth the fight.  YOU can do anything and everything.  If at times you just want to curl up and watch the world fade away, please know that you are only hurting yourself.  No one wants to see you fade away into what you fear.  We often times can be our own worst enemies, but ove...

Good morning everyone,  I wanted to focus today on the good, the bad and the ugly with depression and anxiety.  First let's start out with the ugly and get it out of the way, there are times through this journey that all hope may seem lost.  You may feel as if the world is against you and that nothing will ever take away the burden you feel.  Those days are the worst, thankfully I myself have not had too many days with the ugly, but if you have you know the feeling all too well.  The ugly can bring us down to our worst, it can feel as if the life is being sucked out of us.  It can leave us broken beyond repair- or what we believe is not repairable.  The ugly can consume you, it can make you change into a different person.  Many times I find myself not wanting to go out during the week because I am worried about not having enough time at home.  I think along those terms because I often do not look forward to the next day and by going out for ...

Think back to a time when you were a kid and had a feeling that you could do anything.  Did this special feeling come from getting that gift you had been longing after for so long?  Did that feeling come when you were reunited with someone you fell out of touch with?  What was going on in your life when you caught that feeling for happiness?  What has changed now?  Well for many of us the answer could be that life happened.  Many times in life we are faced with situations that shape who we are, we are faced with having to grow up earlier than expected.  Some of you may have been the back bone for your family from an early age, but regardless of what has happened, there was at least one point in your life where you felt accomplished.  I want you to focus on that time and how it made you feel.  If we can think of a time where we overcame an event and or did the unexpected, we can start to change our mindset when it comes to your daily battle w...

When you hear the phrase- "take your time", what does that mean to you?  Does it mean the obvious and slow down and make sure that whatever the task is, is done correctly?  Does it mean to slow down and smell the roses?  Many times in life we are faced with that same phrase- "take your time", I tend to tell myself that a lot.  See I want my dreams to come to pass like yesterday, but it is a learning curve to realize that things in life are not always fast.  The results we get may not always line up with what was needed or wanted.  However if you "take your time", you can accomplish anything you set out to do.  For instance, let's slow down on trying to recover from depression and anxiety and focus on winning small battles before the war is won.  If you have defeated yourself before you even get started, you will never accomplish what is set out in front of you.  My hope for today is to slow down, slow down to the point where yes I can overco...

Sometimes I like to sit here and picture myself as Atlas holding up the world.  Funny thought really as I would finally be in shape again...  If only.  But to me picturing myself as Atlas holding the world symbolizes much more than the obvious.  Yes a lot of times we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.  Many times we feel as if the burden of everyday life is more than we can ever overcome, but instead of looking at the obvious, we should try to take a different approach.  So let's go back to Atlas- He is holding up the world, he carries the weight of billions of people..  One person carrying billions and billions of issues and never breaking.  Yes the task is a daunting task, but the strength comes from knowing that yes the task at hand may seem impossible, but we all have the strength inside each one of us to overcome our depression and anxiety.  Many times I see that picture and see the world as depression or anxiety, and how m...

What would you do if you woke up this morning and all of your depression and anxiety was gone?  What would you do with your new freedom?  Would you smile?  Would you look at the world in a different manner?  Why wait...?  Why wait until that feeling comes, why wait until the possibility of that day happens?  Why not start today?  In fact if we start living today as if the anxiety and depression will not hold us back, we can have a different outlook on life entirely.  Today we woke up, there are some families out there that would love the opportunity to have their family member wake up, but some people simply do not wake back up.  Now I know that is morbid and I know that with depression the last thing you want to do is fill your mind with those thoughts, but I promise I have a reason for including that message for today.  So recently I found a song that I have been listening to, I heard it on a show that my wife and I watch and when I h...

I want to help you this morning by trying to give some encouragement.  I have decided that yes this blog will be geared towards how to overcome the struggles of depression and anxiety but some of the post will be more of an uplifting message.  I know that many times we get burdened with the things that we face each and everyday and I know that life at times can seem to be spiraling out of control, however we do not have to let those chains bind us to our circumstance.  Many times you hear of people who have overcome (Any feel good life time movie) many odds that have been against them.  At times I picture many people with chains around them, those chains represent the struggle of everyday life.  A lot of times with those chains we feel heavy and cannot move.  But if we break the grip of one chain, the rest may follow.  It is not an easy process, because breaking chains that have been in place for years is something that will take time to overcome, but...

Many times over our lives we have heard, "choose the right path" (I am picturing some booming voice that echos stating this... it helps).  Many times we are faced with decisions that will lead us down a certain path that we may not have wanted to go down.  Other times we take a path that will lead to success.  So my objective today is simple...  What path have you gone down?  Did you anxiety of stepping out make you choose a path that you did not want to go down?  Did the thoughts of not being good enough hold you back from taking that path?  Where are you now?  I challenge each one of you to look at the events that have lead you to where you are now in your journey with depression and anxiety.  Did you let those two so called friends of ours shape you into the person you are today.  Did you let depression take you to a place where all seems lost?  Has the anxiety of overcoming something stop you before you even started?  My h...

Good morning all,  I just wanted to say that I hope everyone had a great weekend.  The weekends are typically my time to just let go and relax and gear up for another week.  I wanted to start off today by saying that I have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights.  I have constant thoughts running through my head of the worst case scenarios of Monday and I forever fight sleep on Sunday.  I woke up at the fine hour of 04:30 and could not go back to sleep.  I was picturing the negative events of the past and claiming that they would happen to me on this day.  I often times just lay in bed thinking about everything and driving myself crazy for no good reason.  This process has been with me since I started working with people.  I am an introvert and often times it is difficult to let go and just be myself around a group of people.  I try to avoid social interaction when I can and it is a curse that I have given to myself.  There is no ration...

Do you remember when your teachers would ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up?  What was you answer?  Are you doing what you set out to do?  If your answer is NO, then what happened to lead you off of the path you set for yourself?  Was it the necessity of paying bills?  Was it just not the right time for you to pursue that dream or did you find yourself becoming interested in something else?  Regardless of the above listed questions- What dreams do you currently have?  What are some ways that we can ensure that we accomplish said dreams?  I know that that was a lot of questions on this fine morning but to me those questions help set up where I want to go with this post.  Over the years I have had many dreams placed on my heart and most of which I have never pursued, a lot of times I would just get down and say to myself "I do not have the time and do not have what it takes to do that"...  That is my anxiety speaking these neg...

Hello everyone,  I just wanted to start off today and say a big thank you to anyone who has come across this and stopped to read it, even if you only read the title.  I was hesitant at first to write any of this down because I was fearful for how people would react.  I was almost ashamed of having anxiety and depression, but at the end of the day I realized I was not the only one.  The more I spoke about my problems the more I found that a lot of people share the same struggle.  It made me feel better, not better that there are other people who suffer but better in the fact that people can relate to what I am experiencing.  I find it odd how many times in life it is almost taboo to speak about certain topics, but lately I have found that this issue has become more of a talking point than ever before.  It is a shame to see a child who is diagnosed with depression and anxiety, but if that child grows up with the notion that they are not alone and they a...

From the outside I appear to have all my ducks in a row, however on the inside there is a war that is raging.  A war between depression and anxiety and happiness.  For the most part the happiness wins out, but there are some days where you have to carry a fake persona to make it through.  On those days I simply do not want to have any interaction with anyone.  At times I want to curl up into a ball and just sleep and watch the world go by.  However now that I am typing everything down for the world to see, I feel some sense of relief.  I no longer have to keep those thoughts to myself and no longer have to carry the burden that I have created for myself.  I was listening to a song the other day and there was a lyric that really stood out to me and brought a lot of things to light: "the silent stand tall but usually hurt more"- Worthwhile.  That statement is true, most of the time you would have no idea of the struggles that person makes each and ...

I know that it has been a while since my last post and I am sorry for that, some of you may not have even noticed at all.  However with the recent developments of hurricane Matthew, I have been without power for a few days.  But over the past few days I noticed something, something that I may not have noticed before and that is how incredibly lucky we are.  Now hear me out, some of you may be looking around going- "I'm lucky"???  But yes you are lucky, we woke up this morning.  Do you know how many people would kill for a chance to wake up or have a loved one wake up?  We are the chosen ones that have been given this day to use to our advantage.  I am not going to preach to you about how you should always do good in your life, no you have heard that all too many times.  I know that some of you may read this blog and run to the vices that have you by the throat.  To each their own, we all have our own personal battles we face each and every d...

When something in your life comes against you, do you run and hide and let the thoughts of that past event take hold of you or do you keep a front up and try to make it through the day.  Many times in life we are handed different situations that define who we are.  The events of the past reflect who you were but not who you have become.  I realize that each of us has a different journey in life that we take, but at the end of the day we are all faced with issues.  Those issues can have a major impact on you, you can carry the weight of those past choices like a crutch.  The message that I want to convey today is to forget about the past issues.  You CANNOT live in the past, you CANNOT change what has already happened- if we could, I'm sure plenty of people would have done so by now.  Why let those past decisions define who you are today?  So for today the message is simple, be good to yourself.  Above all else in this world, you are the one ...

Good morning everyone and I hope that your days have started to shift to brighter ones.  For today I would like to focus on courage.  Ah what a word, when I hear that word I automatically think about someone doing the impossible and standing in the face of fear and not backing down.  Courage is a beautiful emotion that can help drive our depression and anxiety out the window.  With courage you have the strength to face your toughest demons and work towards a resolution.  You might be thinking: "well, you can type the words on a computer and tell everyone what courage is, but how do I find it for myself?"  Courage is something (to me) that is a learned behavior.  Courage can start out very small and build to an emotion that can take you anywhere.  If you are struggling with finding courage, what are some ways that we can gain courage over our depression and anxiety?  For everyone is different with their emotions, so it is important to find wh...

Letting go...  Let go...  Remove..  All pretty simple terms in any language but the practice of these terms is one of the toughest things that we face on a day to day basis.  If we hang onto the negative events of the past, we will never be able to move forward.  If those events hold you back because they act as a constant reminder of how you have failed, we will never be able to see the great things in front of us.  If we are constantly living in the past, our future will suffer because we will not give 100% towards making our dreams turn into a reality.  There are things that we carry around with us that weigh down our minds and even our physical well being.  What are some ways that we can learn to let go of the past and focus more on the right now and the future?  Let's face it the events of the past have already happened, they were a moment in time that will stick to us like glue, but that glue does not have to be the bond that holds our...

Good afternoon, Have you ever had a dream that you really wanted to accomplish in your life?  Has that dream come and gone?  Did that dream move past you and you could not catch it?  Well if that is you, have you let the thoughts of losing that dream over run you?  I have, I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid- However I was afraid to fly (go figure).  But I also put limitations on myself as well, telling myself that I was not smart enough to become a pilot because of the intense courses that each individual has to take.  I would get down and think that I will never amount to anything, but maybe that was not the plan that is set forth for me.  Maybe there is a bigger and better plan out there waiting on me to have that dream. Those thoughts of not being good enough may be silly and I know that they are not true, but one can't help but sometimes think that way when something falls through.  I know that many times we see ourselves in a certai...

Hope is a funny and fickle word.  It can be used in many different ways- "oh I hope my team wins this weekend", "I hope my car starts", " I hope my grand mother feels better"... All and all hope is word that we use on a daily basis but may not give the meaning of it much thought.  If we look at the word HOPE we see that it is comprised for four letters- four simple letters, but the real meaning behind the word can drive a person to overcome anything that they are facing in their life.  One must believe in themselves enough to take advantage of HOPE.  I know from my own experience that HOPE can help drive out anxiety and depression.  HOPE can save a life, HOPE can bring joy, HOPE can bring light into darkness.  It is with HOPE that we find our strength, our strength to overcome the barriers that we have placed in our lives.  I know that many times when we are faced with our own demons that HOPE may seem non existent, but it is always there.  I am ...

Good morning all, I hope that this message finds you well, I just wanted to reach out to all of you today to see how you are getting along on your journey with anxiety and depression.  I know that there are struggles from day to day, but I was curious to see if you had taken any steps to help reduce the symptoms any?  I know that this is a lot easier typed out than it is to put it in practice, but as a community with a common theme, I am hoping that we can come up with some strategies to help alleviate the overwhelming feeling we get.  For those of you who don't know, I have been battling depression and anxiety my whole life and it was not until recently that I took the step to seek help, because I finally realized that I could not do it on my own.  Now a lot of times we hear, "oh I am going to speak to someone" and then we never follow through.  Today I wanted to encourage you to speak to someone who you trust that can sympathize with you.  I have found ...

Hello world!!!!!  Well at least today I have the ability to at least feel somewhat happy.  I mean why would I not be happy, I woke up...  I have a beautiful family who loves me unconditionally and I am generally a happy person.  So now you must be wondering why I am writing this down for what could potentially reach the world.  Well that answer is simple, sometimes depression happens.  I work in a field that is very demanding, as a matter of fact I manage other people's healthcare, but sometimes it is tough to manage my own emotions let alone 200 different people's.  Such is life though, we all have to put up a false front a lot of times to just make it through the day.  However at the darkest times of my own self loathing (depression), I found that there was always a way out.  I know that for ages people say the same old thing of "oh there is a light at the end of the tunnel"...  Do you know how many times I have heard that, or a perso...