Beating the Blues

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of suffering

-??????Helen Keller

Have you noticed how often life has a strange way of creating unexpected problems and challenges? Do you ever feel weighed down by the pressures of life? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the stresses and challenges of the daily grind? Especially today. But don’t worry. You’re not alone. For many people, stress has become the new normal.

We’re living in unusual times where familiar patterns of daily behaviour have been uprooted and millions of people are facing new sets of anxieties. There’s a disturbing increase in stress levels around the world today that’s clearly reflected in the numbers of individuals who are experiencing the effects of long-term anxiety. Do you feel that you might be one of them? It’s a serious issue and the bare facts are sobering. There are more than three hundred million people today who are already suffering from depression – and the numbers are growing. And whilst there are many pharmaceutical products being prescribed every day to help people cope with the condition, the underlying causes of the problem deserve far more attention. Let’s take a closer look at what we can do to prevent our stress levels from getting out of hand.

At least three times every day take a moment and ask yourself:

What is really important?

Have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer.

-??????Lee Jampolsky

The transition from feelings of being stressed and anxious to a state of depression is often associated with a numbing sense of a loss of control. Depression is often described as a state of hopeless despair where people feel powerless to exercise any influence over their lives. This state of powerlessness extends far beyond physical fatigue and leaves its mark on how people think and feel and behave.

Life can certainly be very challenging, even when we feel strong enough to influence many of the outcomes. From the numbing inertia of depression, the world can appear to be an extremely intimidating place. That’s why depression is often recognised as a form of paralysis, a condition where we no longer see clearly how we can move forwards and how we can escape the crushing sense of despair.

You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.

-??????Rumi

Clearly, depression can take many forms and it’s always wise to seek professional advice from an experienced counsellor or from a suitably qualified medical practitioner.Yet, one of the surprisingly effective antidotes to many forms of this debilitating condition is to get active.

At first glance, it might seem far too simple to be worthy of consideration but this is a surprisingly powerful pathway that has helped many people to experience recovery. And what does it really mean? It means getting busy. It tells us to perform some kind of physical activity. It leads to seeing the results of one’s labours. It connects the expenditure of effort with a tangible outcome. It leads to an understanding through the medium of sweat and physical exertion that we can really make a difference to ourselves and to our environment. Witnessing the results of our actions. Learning that, in the midst of a difficult challenge, we are capable of making a difference. Reinforcing the sensation that we have all the power we need to do things, to make things happen and to determine how our lives unfold.

Depression is focusing on yourself; on your troubles and what is not right. You can't be depressed if you are focusing on others. It's impossible.

― Elizabeth Bourgeret

Becoming active and getting busy provide physical responses to the feelings of being bound and limited. But there’s another ingredient in the formula for overcoming feelings of helplessness. Can you guess what it might be?

So far, we‘ve described the feelings of powerlessness that reflect our internal landscape. These feelings are bound up with our own interpretation of our problems and our individual circumstances. The answer is to turn our attention towards others. That’s right. By doing something to help someone in need, we turn our focus from our own issues and learn to widen our perspective. By helping others, we can appreciate the profoundly powerful fact that we are entirely capable of making a difference to other human beings. And that means we can make a difference to our own lives too. It’s a beautifully virtuous cycle where we discover the benefits of altruism whilst delivering a shining message of hope to our own circumstances.

Work is of utmost importance in a person’s life and not only as a means of meeting one’s needs at various levels of Maslow’s pyramid. Believe me, I speak from experience when I say that good, focused hard work is also one of the most effective remedies for depression.

― Indu Muralidharan

If so much of despair and its darker cousin, depression, can be traced to a sense of being powerless, then the antidote is to take action and do something practical to help ourselves – and also to help others. This simple advice has been interpreted in countless ways. It can be launched in something as mundane as cleaning a room and bringing order to a chaotic part of the home. Each step on the pathway towards taking control of the environment leads to a sense of achievement. We appreciate the unmistakable connection between effort expended and the changes wrought by our activities. If we can change and improve one thing, we can change and improve other things. Turning our hearts from our own predicament and devoting energy towards the needs of others can produce deeply healing reactions in our mental and emotional frameworks.

Become aware of yourself. Everything will come to you when you are in that most wonderful place on earth, the centre of your being. If you learn just one thing, let it be that once you are aware of yourself, depression cannot hold you back any more than a tiger can be trapped in a spider’s web.

― Indu Muralidharan,

It’s often surprising how an appreciation of other people’s problems can help us to put our own situation into a clearer and healthier context.?So, whenever you experience those old, limiting feelings of frustration, powerlessness and despair, be bold. Take a deep breath and take action. Refuse to be bound by the chains of fear. Break free. Show yourself that you really are capable of doing something to make a difference, either to your life or to the lives of others. And shatter the illusions of powerlessness with a focused burst of energy.

Only when you illuminate others, without expectation or reward, will you truly understand how to illuminate yourself

― Mark Marsland

Greg Parry created the Cognitive Empowerment Programs specifically to help people master their stress, overcome their limitations and explore the power of their true potential.

If you're ready for a major upgrade in your life, that's great! Because now you can enjoy the CEP courses for personal growth and transformation online via Zoom. It’s like having Greg alongside you in the comfort of your home.

Get in touch today to learn more:

[email protected]

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