It's MY party and I'll cry if I want to!

For a long time, I have struggled with anxiety and depression. This seems to be a more and more common experience, if the number of prescribed anti-depressants is any indication. I don't take drugs (anymore). Not saying I'm against them - some people legitimately need to be medicated - but I believe they are vastly over-prescribed. I know in my case, I wasn't allowed out of the depression ward until I had gone through several rounds of medication to "see which one worked."

The truth is, there is no magical pill for happiness. It's too easy to merely assume that there's something wrong with the chemicals in your brain. Maybe that's the case for some, but for the vast majority of people you can make profound changes in your mood with changes in your lifestyle. All it takes is the will to change. And maybe a good push from someone that loves you.

If I make it sound easy, know that that is not my intention. It is extremely difficult to change your life. Doubly so with clawing your way out of depression.

The truly insidious thing about depression is the way it grips your reality. It makes you feel like you've always been unhappy, and you always will be. You get tricked into thinking all those times you WERE happy you were just lying to yourself, pretending. You feel hopeless. What's the point in going forward if you're physically incapable of squeezing even a shred of enjoyment out of life?

Know that it passes. Also know that feelings of despair are part and parcel of the human experience. One of the worst things you can do is allow yourself to fall into that spiral of believing that you've always felt like this. You haven't. Understand that just because you feel sad right now, it doesn't mean there's something wrong with you

It's okay to feel sad when sad things happen. Allow yourself to be human. Realize that this feeling will pass and that you will come out the other side a little bit stronger.

You will be happy again. It may even surprise you when it happens... you might wake up one morning and things will be okay again. Maybe you'll feel the sun on your face and realize just what a beautiful world we live in, and how blessed we are to be a part of it.

Go be a part of it!