Depression Support Group
Depression is a real and debilitating condition that is often misunderstood by family and friends. Its meaning can range from a prolonged period of sadness to an actual mental illness with specific symptoms. Find and share experiences with others who are going through the same struggles.
I wanna beat this depression crap, any advice>?
You WANT to beat it and you will :)
(true enough but a wise-sounding way of also saying havent' figured it out yet)
Finding value in each day
What do you desire from life? What are your dreams, your goals, your ambitions? Think for a moment about the most ideal life you could imagine for yourself. Where would you live? What people would be around you? What would you do with your time? What things would you own? What kind of work would you do? What challenges would energize and inspire you? What contribution would you make to the world?
How do you get from where you are right now, all the way to that ideal place in life that you have imagined for yourself? There is only one way, and that is by making full use of the days and the moments available to you.
Right now, you have what it takes to begin pursuing any goal you're able to imagine. And what is that? What does it take? It takes one day, one day at a time. Right now you have one day with which to work, one day in which you can begin to add value to your own life and to your world.
Achieving your goals and creating the life you envision for yourself is a matter of making the most of each day. To get where you want to go, you must get the most value from each moment and from each day. And getting the most value from each day is accomplished by putting the most value into each day.
So let's look at how to do that.
One essential part of getting the most from each day is to prioritize your life and your activities. Everyone has the same amount of time available to them each day, and yet only a relatively few are able to make the most of that time and to advance themselves in the direction of their dreams. Why aren't more people able to make more progress?
One big reason is that they fail to prioritize their time. They get distracted by petty gossip, by worthless television shows, by overindulgence in food and drink, by things which bring instant gratification but which provide no lasting value.
Keep in mind that your time is the most valuable thing you have to invest. So it makes sense to invest it in activities that will bring continuing, long-term returns for that investment. An hour wasted in front of the television watching a rerun of a show that wasn't of any value when you saw it the first time, is an hour that will be gone forever. You'll have nothing to show for it. Yet when you spend that same hour learning a new skill, or making follow-up calls to prospects, or working out to improve your level of physical fitness, the time you spend will pay dividends far into the future.
So what are your priorities? How do you want to be investing your precious time? What are the most important things, the things that will bring the most value to your life? Focus on those important things. Keep them at the front of your mind. Remind yourself of the good things that can be yours when you put your efforts into creating them. The fact is, you can transcend all those time-wasting distractions when you choose to do so, and when you keep your highest priorities in mind.
Another way to put the most into each day, and therefore to get the most value from that day, is to focus on getting results. Anyone can be busy, but what are you busy doing? In the end, results are what count. Are you getting them?
Did you ever have a teacher who gave you an "A" for effort? In school, it is often a good idea to encourage effort, even if that effort doesn't produce very good results. After all, in school you're focused solely on learning, and learning to make the effort is part of that.
Yet effort alone is not enough. The only efforts that will bring you the life you desire are the efforts that eventually produce the results you desire. If your efforts are producing no results, or the wrong results, you've got to be willing to change your approach.
Be firm and resolute when it comes to the goal you're following. At the same time, be willing to make adjustments to the way in which you get there. Be persistent about reaching the goal without being stubborn about how you attain it.
Pay attention to the results you're getting. Remember that results are the object of your efforts. Make your goals clear and measurable. Otherwise, you'll have trouble knowing whether or not you're moving toward them. If your goal is to have a "nice house in a good neighborhood" that's just too ambiguous to produce any effective action. You've got to get more specific. "A two-story, four-bedroom, three-bath, 2,700 square foot home on a cul-de-sac in the Water Valley School District" is the type of specific goal that will enable you to evaluate your results and make the adjustments necessary to reach them.
Direct your efforts toward achieving clearly defined, measurable, specific results. Then evaluate whether or not you're getting the results you want. Make your efforts count. Enable your efforts to get results.
Of course to get results you must take action. So a key component in getting the most value from each day is the willingness to take action and to continue taking action. To get somewhere, you've got to be moving.
Get momentum on your side. Get moving and keep moving. When you're standing still, it's somewhat difficult to get going. Yet when you're already moving, it is much easier to keep on moving. So start each day early with positive, result-oriented action and keep it up all day long. That will enable you to get the most from your time.
Imagine traveling 100 miles in your car at 60 miles per hour. On the freeway, it would take you about an hour and forty minutes and you'd use about four gallons of gasoline. But what if you traveled on a road that had an intersection with a traffic light every ten miles? Even if you moved at 60 miles per hour between the intersections, the trip would probably take 20-30 minutes longer and use more gasoline because of all the stops and starts.
The same dynamic is at work as you go through each day. Once you get going, it's much better to keep going. The fewer stops you make, the faster you can get things done and the less energy it takes. It's all that stopping and starting up again that really wears you out and slows you down. So put your life on the freeway rather than on the backroads. Take advantage of the speed and efficiency of momentum.
The more you continue taking action, the more good things will come your way. You'll come across more and better opportunities, learn more things, and become more skilled at getting the results you want. Yes, you're going to make mistakes. You will regularly need to adjust your approach. But that's no reason to avoid action. In fact, it's a good reason to get started as soon as possible. If you're going to make mistakes, it's better to get out there and make them, to get them over with and learn from them, than it is to sit inside and avoid action because you're so worried about the possibility of mistakes.
And by the way, in order to learn from your mistakes and make adjustments in your approach, you must keep yourself moving. Otherwise those adjustments will not have any effect. The rudder on a large ship will turn the ship only when that ship is in motion. If there is no motion, you can turn the rudder all you want and nothing will happen.
The longer you do something, the better you become at doing it. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "learning curve." An excellent way to get more value from every day is to put the learning curve to work for you.
This can be accomplished by grouping similar activities together. For example, if you have several reports to write, work on them one after another. After the first one, the efficiency of the learning curve kicks in and increases with each subsequent report you write. It's a much more efficient use of your time than spreading them throughout the day. So look at what you're planning to do and group the similar tasks together to invest your time for maximum results.
Another way to get the most value from each day is to take some initiative. Don't wait for results to happen. Make them happen. Don't wait for good things to come to you. Get up and go after them. Go above and beyond what is expected of you. The value you obtain from each day is directly proportional to the value you create for others. What are you doing to create real, substantial value? What could you do that would create more value? What initiative could you take that would add substantial value to your work?
It is essential that you do what is expected of you and that you take care of the things for which you're responsible. That creates a fundamental base for your efforts. Yet to achieve your dreams you must go beyond that base. You must be willing to do more. You've got to explore new ways of doing things, open your mind to new ideas, work on improving your performance and your ability to get results. Initiative means going beyond what is expected of you.
When you think of a better way to get something done, don't just think about it and wonder if it would work. Put it into practice. See for yourself what will happen. When you have an idea for an improvement, don't let it forever be imprisoned as an idea. Speak up about it. Offer to implement it. Promote it and make it happen. Sure, it's easier to just sit quietly and do things the way they've always been done. That's what too many people do. The few who achieve spectacular success do so because they're willing to take some initiative, to put themselves on the line. They're constantly looking for ways to add value to whatever situation they find themselves in. And they take the actions necessary to make it happen.
To get the most value from this day, you're going to have to take some initiative. If you continue going along the way you always have, you'll continue getting the same results and won't get any closer to those ambitious goals you've set for yourself. Step up and take the initiative.
To get the most value from each day, you need plenty of energy. That means taking good care of yourself. The foods and drinks you put into your body have a profound effect on your short-term and long-term energy levels. Your level of regular physical activity also plays a major role in determining the amount of energy you have. When you eat a nutritious, balanced diet and get regular exercise, there's more energy available for making the most of each day.
Your energy level also depends on getting enough rest. Have you ever noticed that after a relaxing vacation you come back to work filled with ideas and energy for getting things done? Though it is important to get in motion early each day and continue effective action, it is just as important to get enough good, quality rest and relaxation after the workday ends. If you push yourself too hard, and avoid getting enough rest, you'll burn yourself out and lose your effectiveness. Balance your work with periods of rest. Get a good night's sleep every night. Spend at least one day each week away from your work. Take regular vacations. It will make you vastly more effective.
Something else that greatly affects your energy level is your attitude. A negative attitude sucks energy out of you and actually prevents you from getting things done. Think of a time in the past when you had an angry outburst and remember how drained you felt afterward, how unable you were to get anything positive accomplished. Those brief moments of anger probably used up a whole day's worth of your energy. Negativity consumes your precious time and energy, and it leaves you nothing of value in return.
Most negativity is directed in some way or another at other people. Think of the enormous amount of energy consumed by anger, blame, envy, spite and disrespect. The way to move beyond such wasteful negativity in your own life is by taking more responsibility for yourself. Imagine what would happen, for example, if instead of getting angry at someone who has wronged you, you said to yourself "I'm responsible for moving beyond this and turning it into an opportunity."
Is it fair that you should be responsible for repairing the damage someone else has done? No. It's not fair. Is it the best course of action for you to look ahead with a positive focus rather than looking back with a negative focus? Absolutely yes.
When you let go of your own negativity, you'll notice that the people around you become more positive as well. Why is this? Because your attitude is contagious. The people with whom you come in contact will, to a large degree, mirror the attitude you project toward them. Friendly, positive people meet up with lots of other friendly, positive people.
The people around you can make a significant difference in the value you're able to get from each day. So it makes sense to foster a positive connection with those people. Respect, and you'll be respected. Cooperate, and you'll receive cooperation. Teach, and you will learn. Offer, and you will receive. You can exponentially increase your positive effectiveness by spreading it to the people with whom you live and work. Just think of the enormous value that could create!
Today is a day filled with opportunity. It's up to you to make the most of that opportunity. Today can be filled with action and value, or it can be simply endured and thus forever wasted. Fill it with positive, focused action. Follow your highest priorities. Concentrate on getting results. Keep yourself moving and full of energy, and spread your positive attitude to those around you. Put maximum value into this and every day, and your days will be rich indeed.
Ralph Marston
Copyright 2008 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All rights reserved.
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I've found writing a list of all the things I want to overcome and taking it with me to the psychiatrist has helped, they'll help you come up with a way to beat them
You have knowledge to seek help and talk to people about your situation and this is something you should deffinately do as any support you can get is great!
You also need to keep regular appointment with your personal physician and maybe look into councilling as this did wonders for me especially if there is any chance there is an underlying reason for the way you are feeling.
Asking for the help is what i found most difficult but once you have overcome that hurdle the rest is so much more simpler.
Just make sure everyone around you have the information they need to support you through this time otherwise they may find it very difficult to understand what it is you require and why you need it.
I really hope you come though this quickly and find a way to change your thought process and block out the negativity! I know it wont be easy and im behind you 100%! :o)