Let the Healing Begin

“We think that depression is a negative thing, but really it’s a chance to go inside and do some deep cleaning. It’s a time to rebalance and remember who you are.” Janet Wuthrich Stuart

Those aren’t Janet’s exact words, but they are close. Janet was my friend and she died a few years ago after a long illness. I believe she was well acquainted with depression.

Most of us have dealt with depression at least once in our lives. There are different kinds of depression. There is the kind that seems to come from brain chemistry and there is the kind that comes from challenging circumstances. Sometimes they come together.

In today’s world, there is a quick fix road for depression that includes prescription medication. I can tell you from experience that it is anything but quick. For some, it can support healing, when combined with other kinds of treatment. For most, it is not a long term solution.

When I think about my friend’s words, I realize that there is much more to healing than medication. Going inside is often painful, but crucial to healing. Deep cleaning is difficult but essential if healing is to be complete. At times we all need to rebalance in meaningful ways. I can’t think of anything that would do more for us, than remembering who we are.

Today a close friend told me that he is depressed. My reaction was not what you might expect. Instead of worrying about him, I rejoiced. My thought was this. Thank goodness. You are beginning to feel again.

Have you ever buried your feelings because they were too painful to deal with? Have you ever masked your hurt under a blanket of apathy? Not caring is a way to cope, but it doesn’t serve you well in the long run. You can only hide your feelings for so long. When the light reaches inside, those hidden feelings must surface. Will it be painful? Yes. Depressing? You bet. How long will it take? Who knows.

But the good news is, this is the first step to healing. You may want to get some help, but much of this is a do-it-yourself project. Who but you can go inside your head and rebalance? Let the healing begin.

Grab your cleaning supplies, and get ready to scrub. Couldn’t we all use some deep cleaning?

Linda Garner

Is This You?

Is this YOU? Is your calendar out of control? Can you squeeze one more thing into your day planner? Are you addicted to your “to do” list?

Do you ever feel like you are in charge of everything and in control of nothing? Reminds me of the sign in my aunt’s kitchen: The hurrier I go, the behinder I get. If something goes wrong, are you the first lady of solutions? Are you the family fixer? Are you a general authority (an authority on everything in general)?

How’s it working out for you?

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Loving yourself is the key. It is not conceited to love yourself. It is essential. How can we hope to love anyone else if we don’t first love ourselves?

We take care of the things we love. Loving ourselves helps us to take care of ourselves. One problem with being too busy is that we don’t have time to take care of ourselves. If we aren’t careful we can become worn out and depleted. No good can come of it.

Another problem with being too busy is that we don’t have time to feel things. We need to feel things. We need to face our uncomfortable feelings so that we can make positive changes. If we cover up problems by filling up our “to do” list, then we miss the warning signs that things are amiss.

When we are too busy to feel, we don’t have time for feeling good about ourselves. We need to feel valued. We need to feel loved. We need to feel beautiful. We need to feel important. We need to feel that we are good enough. And most important, we need to feel peace.

How are you going to schedule that into your dayplanner?

Feeling good about ourselves doesn't come from what others think or say. It's an inside job. What we believe about ourselves carries the most weight. Others may complement us, but it won’t mean a thing until we believe it.

Believe in yourself. Believe in your worth. Believe that you are beautiful, important, and enough. Find peace.

Today, take time for you. Take time to feel.

Linda Garner