Why is there a Self Help category on a Stress Relief site?
If I am ever in town with time to spare, I always end up in a book shop. So, when I was ‘up, enough to start looking for ways out of depression, that was where I headed. I don’t know why, but I didn’t head for Self Help or Psychology first.
I was attracted to the Mind, Body, Spirit section. It may have been something I had read on the internet but I don’t really remember. It seemed that the new millenium had sparked an interest in this sort of thing that in 2005, I was unaware of.
The shelves were full of books on seeking enlightenment, expanded consciousness and new outlooks on life, the Universe and everything. I say ‘new outlooks’, but what they were tlaking about is actually very old. I had read some of this stuff in the past but I never really got it! But now I found myself drawn to particular books and this was where I started on the road to recovery. I realize that this might not be the case for everybody.
Flights of fancy
What worked for me might seem a bit New Agey and off the wall for some people. I did have a few sessions with a counsellor and bought one really good, helpful book about getting out of depression, but their purpose is to get you back to a ‘normal’ life. I was attracted by the idea that there is a better, more elegant way to live.
I had been ground down by too many things to do and no time for myself. I was in a job that was too far from home and I couldn’t see beyond looking for a job that was closer.
Change of thinking
Now I started to realize that there were other possibilities. The pressure I had been feeling was coming from me and the limits to my horizons were self imposed. My thinking, not my situation, was the problem.
After eighteen months of solid study and development, I have a genuine belief that I can design my own life, suited to the needs of my wife and myself, and not dictated by someone else. I highly recommend to anyone who is where I was, that when you get yourself out of the rut, keep climbing and take a look at the bigger picture.
For those who find this all a bit fanciful, I will recommend more traditional approaches that helped me, but the key for me, has been to make a real commitment to personal development. This is why I now regard my time in depression as one of the best things that ever happened to me and I wouldn’t change a thing.