There are many reasons for depression. Imbalanced chemicals in the brain, circumstances, our thought lives and our personal perspectives…
I spent many years riddled by depression. Just ask my husband! I was a natural born pessimist who always and without fail saw the glass half empty. I had thousands of reasons to be thankful and yet, trust me, I always managed to make huge mountains out of mole hills! I could find a million tiny things to focus on that caused discontentment in my heart and stole my peace.
In January of 1987 I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ and became Born Again. As I entered into my new found life, the Holy Spirit began to lead me out of one facet of this life long depression that riddled my life. He’s a teacher, after all!
One of the first things my attention was drawn to was my tendency to focus on all of the negatives in every situation. That glass half full was always and without fail illuminated before me. Not that the glass was at least half full, but that it was half EMPTY. I always looked at the lack; what didn’t happen; what we didn’t have! It was never about how far we’d come but how far we had left to go. If something good happened (and I’m sure there were plenty of good things), I looked high and low until I found a reason to be discontented and unhappy.
I desperately needed to shift my focus and my perspective and start focusing on the good. No matter how bleak life looked and no matter what was going on, I needed to choose to be thankful for everything. Sometimes it was a challenge and I had to dig deep, especially in the face of difficulties: Car problems, depressing news, appliances breaking that had to be replaced, car troubles and flat tires. I STILL had a home to live in, food to eat, a bed to sleep in and clothes to wear. I had a husband who loved me. I had good health.
I suddenly realized that just like I combed my circumstances for the negative and the lack, I could comb my circumstances and find the good!
When I changed my words and began voicing my thanks, little by little, everything started looking up. Alas, my perspective had gradually been transformed. It didn’t happen overnight, but the most important life changing thing was… that it happened. My heart, my life, my focus and my perspective changed. Suddenly, I wasn’t constantly depressed. I had so much to be thankful for. And THAT became my focus. AND it literally—drastically affected my outlook. And I’ve never turned back. Has it been perfect? Nope! But is it 100% better? It. Absolutely. Is!
