10 Simple Reminders To Live By When You’re Feeling Completely Depressed

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1. “Every day starts with a little courage, like getting out of bed.”

You remember that saying, “Whatever you feel, get up, dress up, show up”? Our emotions could get the best of us, even at the start of the day. Just like how we can convince our body that we actually had a great sleep even if we slept late, how we perceive a new day is entirely up to us – either we see it as a new beginning or a continuation of a sad life we thought can never change. Waking up each day is a gift to start again, so don’t waste it

2. “I never liked to be sad, but I realized that sadness, too, is a feeling – a phase I have to go through.”

We think we are okay. We wake up smiling, chatting, laughing, doing great work, getting that huge promotion, or maybe preparing a speech for a big academic graduation. But when we are alone, we become sad, we cry, we look at old photos, and we rekindle memories. We do not need to hide nor overcome sadness, we live with sadness and get used to it not until the pain is gone, but until the pain is accepted – because it is in pain that we realize what happiness really means.

3. “The bad times are best teachers of logic; they tell me where to give my attention to.”

We go through difficult times that make us give up – maybe our dreams, or our purpose, sometimes, we want to give up even our lives. Like our good grades when we were still studying, we cannot remember those clearly, but bad grades we remember. We recall our great teachers but we will never forget the terror teachers. In life, the bad times teach us the greatest lessons we are yet to realize until future comes knocking at our doors. If we are patient enough, one day, we will be very thankful that all those bad times came for they showed us where we have to be.

4. “When I was finally able to put a label on the battle within me, it became a catalyst to open up to my family and friends.”

What makes a battle within us more difficult is the fact that we are trying to avoid it as part of us. Eventually, when acceptance kicks in, it becomes easier to talk about. No matter how it makes us feel, go ahead and talk to your support system about your problems. Sometimes, although we know the answer to our problems, we just wanted to hear it from others as a validation.

5. ”In the littlest ways I can ever imagine, they quietly fought for me.”

That moment we can’t even smile when someone greeted us, or that time when we weren’t able to even show gratitude to a kind gesture of a stranger, realize someone else carried the weight for us. Someone stood up for us. Someone explained to others how we may just be having a bad day. If we look at it this way, that we are receiving a kindness even from a complete stranger without them needing it to be reciprocated, we know we are never alone.

6. ”I realized depression should not hold me down, as long as that safe anchor, that faith in God remains in my inner sanctum.”

 The world has so much to offer, majority, if not all, are paid by money and are temporary. We feel we need to hang out so we go to a coffee shop and pay because we think ambience is nice. We need a night away from our loved ones or we just wanted to have a new environment so we go to a quick hideaway place and pay for everything but leave us going home the next morning anyway. We come to a point when we cannot do anything to be genuinely happy that we are so distracted, forgetting the one peace that we have had since our younger days –the loving arms of God. God, with all His greatness, is and will always be our safe anchor in this worldly generation that we can always go back into and stay.

 

7. “I thought I was a curse and when I finally accepted my indifference and shared it to people, then I realized many are just like me, and that I was never alone.”

When we were too shy to open up because we think we will just get rejections, we are getting it all wrong. Sometimes, our bravery to walk up and speak up is the only sign everyone else is looking for. This is when we realize what we’ve gone through are the same for others, but they need their heroes to look up to, in some cases, this can be you and your story.

8. “Maybe everything is not what I wanted all along, maybe something is better than everything.”

When we were younger, either we wanted to get rich or be famous. When we got what we wanted, it gave us all – money, fame, validation, and power. But why do some of the greatest people we know die of depression? What is it in power that cannot control passion in life? What is it in fame that cannot be found in solitude? What is it in money that cannot buy genuine happiness? What is it in validation that invalidated our contentment? It’s not about rallying through life, but it is in contentment through life that keeps peace at bay. Rich and famous are indeed keys for “everything”, but “something” is from purpose in life. Find your purpose – because purpose needs not money or any material things to survive.

9. “My bravest decision is to continue living when I wanted to continue dying until death kisses my lonely soul.”

We always have one reason to end our lives. But we need to be reminded of the so many people wishing to breathe normally when they can’t unless life support was plugged, of the so many people who have cancer and all they ask for is even for some alms of life, and of the so many people who do not have what we have yet still never give up on life. We are always a step better from yesterday even if we don’t feel it, so imagine what years of living can do to us.

10. “I am my own – I am unique, I am a reason to live for others, and I am a life worth looking at.”

We all have our stories to tell so people can be inspired. We all have our flaws to correct and live with so we know we are imperfect and will always seek God’s mercy. We all have our differences so we can always give perspective a chance to be our judge. We all have problems we think we cannot carry and at the end of each day, when we know we have things we cannot handle, we kneel down and pray, because we know we can ask God for things we cannot do.

Hope is a consequence of faith, faith is a byproduct of love, and as long as we feel love in our hearts, we will always be reminded that God, indeed, is existing, and He will always be greater than our struggles in life.