The UPSIDE of Depression

The UPSIDE of Depression

With the failing economy, unpredictable natural disasters, challenging relationships and, of course, loneliness it's easy to find yourself depressed. The cause of depression is all around - or is it? Just for a moment, imagine that depression has nothing to do with what is going on in the world; life can do whatever it wants to do, but you are totally immune to even feeling down.

Depression is not a problem - it is a smoke screen. It is a distraction that keeps you from taking on the limitless and potentially extraordinary game of your life.

The solution to depression is no longer in the plastic prescription bottle, box of brownies or the too much wine or beer you have on the weekends. The solution to depression is inside you waiting to burst forth.

Without knowing you, I know that there is a whole list of things you always wanted to do but never did. Maybe you were once too young but now somehow you are too old and in between you were too this or that. The short story is that you have manufactured one excuse after another in order to avoid your deepest dreams and greatest desires. You have spent a countless amount of energy suppressing the greatness inside you. Despite all your attempts, your dreams and desires continue to secretly haunt you and follow you through your life - even if you no longer remember what they were.

Do you ever suppress your self-expression in exchange for acceptance, love, appreciation or to avoid rejection?

Every time you repress, depress or shut down your true-self in order to get your emotional needs met by others, you are rejecting yourself. You are cutting off the very source of your power and thereby diminishing your natural state of peace, joy and bliss. The result is often what we refer to as depression.

Depression is the long term consequence of not living your life the way

"something inside you" really wants to live it.

Depression is an unavoidable byproduct of not being who you really are and a direct result of repressing your true self.

If you are suppressing or rejecting any part of who you are, you are depressed. You might not notice the depression because you are busy "doing" your life. Maybe when you slow down, you might notice that you also "feel down" but as long as you keep moving you seem to feel fine. Fortunately, there comes a time when everyone slows down - maybe it is because of a change in life, illness or age but sooner of later it happens. And when it does, many of us are left with the reality of a life that was never lived - and we blame it on a number of things including depression.

Your life begs to be lived - through you.

When we put limitations on our expression because of rules, restrictions, religions or fears, we cut off the very source of our life and what will ultimately bring us joy and purpose. Whenever there are rules and regulations set upon us to act in certain ways we are hypnotized to suppress who we are in order to fit in and be accepted - in an effort to avoid what seems to be negative consequences. In other words, we are brainwashed to believe that to be accepted, loved, and get all our emotional needs met, it is necessary to follow a set of rules and regulations that were handed down to us from parents, teachers, religions and society. We are hypnotized to believe that if we follow these rules, we will be happy and successful in our lives. This doctrine of belief is the very reason why so many people are depressed, unhappy and looking endlessly for something more.

You can't live your life according to anyone else's ideas, values or limitations; you must choose to live life for yourself. Every time you repress a desire to try something new - connect with other people, laugh, have fun and create, (even if it is not up to your standards), you repress the life force within you; you shut down the source of a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Don't wait another moment suffering from depression when you own the only permanent cure to what once was a chronic illusion.

The way to live a life worth living is to live it from your heart. You must throw out the concept of right and wrong, good and bad, sinful and saintly and begin to discover your own personal truth that is not influenced by anyone or anything. Impossible you might think - but it is the only way. It is what you have unknowingly been looking for. You will not find the answer to your happiness in anyone else's diary or set of beliefs. You can only find the answer for yourself; independent of everything you have learned. If you want peace, bliss and a life worth living, there is no other way. How far down the rabbit hole of depression must you sink before you begin to question the illusions you have been living?

People who love and express who they really are simply are not depressed; they are the people who go through life smiling. They have made the choice to live their lives from the inside out and not care one bit about what other people might think. They know that in the end, what they think and feel about themselves and their lives is all that matters. They are the people who die with a smile on their face and feel the deepest of gratitude for having lived the best possible life they could have imagined - and they did.

You have the very same choices right now. Deep inside you is a voice (maybe it is a very quiet voice but a voice nonetheless) that is whispering divine directions to you. It is your secret desires, your greatest fantasies, and your creative drive; it is all of that and more. It is the divine blueprint for your best possible life. Anything less is an un-extraordinary use of your life. Your life is a unique gift awaiting your presence. It's time to own your life and live it to the very best of your extraordinary ability. Live it Now.

The only thing that is required for an extraordinary life is bringing your Real Self to the table.What is required to be your real self?

Re-evaluating your life - When you finally decide that the cost of not being yourself is too much to pay, the first step to take is a non-judgmental look at your current life. Notice all the ways that it does fit you and all the ways that it is out of alignment with who you are. It's important to approach this evaluation with curiosity and surrender judgment. Judgment will lock you into what is "wrong" while a sense of curiosity will begin to loosen your past reality and allow you to start thinking about what is possible. A willingness to be honest with yourself is required in all areas of your life in order to determine where you are out of alignment with your real self.

Unconditional Self-Acceptance - Offering yourself unconditional self acceptance, creates an energy in your life that extends out beyond your current reality and allows you to be yourself in everything you do. When we judge ourselves, it actually becomes more difficult to change because we are afraid of our own self-criticism if we fail to meet our expectations. Unconditional self acceptance does not mean that you don't change - in fact, just the opposite. Self Acceptance allows you to look within, uncover your own truth and then take that truth and manifest it in your life in ways that support your greatest and most extraordinary self. Unconditional self acceptance is an essential key to give you the freedom to be yourself.

Vulnerability - Being vulnerable means that you stop hiding who you really are in order to feel emotionally safe. Vulnerability creates the space for you to be the same on the outside as you are on the inside. When you allow yourself to be truly vulnerable without apology or excuse, you discover an intrinsic strength that rises up from within and that strength is real and indestructible - you realize that the safest thing to do is just be yourself.

Soul-Worth - When you base your self-worth on your possessions, accomplishments or how you think others see you, your worth is transient and depends on things you can't control. This type of worth brings fear and anxiety with it because it is dependent on something external. How can you be your real self if your self-worth is dependent on external things? On the contrary, if you base your worth on your highest self, then it doesn't matter who approves of you or what you acquire or accomplish. Your worth is guaranteed and unconditional. You have worth just for being - this is soul-worth. When worth is guaranteed, you suddenly have a lot more freedom to discover yourself and be who you really are.

Re-aligning current relationships - When you make the choice to be the real you, it means that you will likely disrupt the dynamics in all your relationships where you have not been your real self. Some of your relationships will begin to shift to support you while others will naturally fall away. Yes, there will be relationships that end but the ones that remain and the new ones that will arrive will be more satisfying than you ever imagined. It is only by being who we really are that we can connect with others. The most essential piece of any connection is the real us.

Speaking your truth - Once you start telling yourself the truth, the next step is sharing that truth with others. Even when we don't speak, we are still communicating something. It's time to stop being afraid of the consequences. The greatest consequence is to sacrifice the beautiful gift of our lives because we are too afraid to stand in our truth. Now is the time to start speaking your truth - especially in those areas that you were silent before. What truth do you need to start saying to the people in your life? And, yes, you can speak the truth from a space of love.

Stop caring what others think - Every time you alter your behavior because you worry about what others think, you are not being your real self. The truth is that you can't please everybody no matter how much you monitor your behavior. So why not just please yourself. In order to be your real self, you must stop caring about what others think. Caring about what others think is different than caring about others. You can still care about others and give up caring about what they think about you. As long as it matters what others think about you, you will never be free to be yourself. You are the only one imprisoning you. When you stop caring about what other people think about you, you also give them permission to be themselves as well.

Take chances and make changes - If you haven't been your complete self, you've based your life and relationships around a false image. Taking chances and making changes means that you start recreating your life around your most authentic self-image. Being your real self means taking chances and making choices that support you regardless of whether others approve or not. It means that sometimes you go against the grain and do what is right for you simply because it feels right. The people in your life might negatively react but it is your life we are talking about and your life is more important than any reaction you will get from anyone else. When you make changes that support the real you, a new freedom emerges that will carry you forth to an amazing new life.

Boundaries - Boundaries allow you to be more of who you really are. It allows others to understand what is acceptable and not acceptable to you and what they can expect from you. When you say "no" and mean it, it frees up time and energy to say "yes" to those things that you really want to do because they are an expression of who you really are. What boundaries do you need in order to be your real self? Keep in mind that some of the most important boundaries are the boundaries that you will set with yourself.

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At first you may not be able to discern between the real you and the false you because you have grown accustomed to acting in ways that support the false you. Being the real you requires an almost daily analysis of what supports you and what doesn't. It's like using an internal navigational device to set and re-set courses over and over again - until you finally know your destination and you are committed to arriving. As your path becomes clear and the real you naturally emerges over time, your choices will seamlessly align with who you really are. You will know that you are choosing your life from the real you because it resonates deep within. Until then an act of faith is required. Fortunately, there is a guiding intuitive force helping you uncover who you really are.

When we make a commitment to being ourselves, magic begins to happen and our lives begin to take on an effortless flow that brings us fulfillment in every moment.

When you master "being yourself," your life becomes the life you have been dreaming about from the time you were very young. You see, even our youthful dreams revolved around the act of being who we really are. We carry those dreams with us into adulthood but they often seem to grow further away because what is required in order to attain your dreams is the courage to be the real you. Your dreams are nothing without you and it is impossible to attain them without bringing your whole real self to the table. Whatever it is that you want in life requires the courage to be your real self.

When you first begin to reclaim your identity and choose to be yourself, you will discover that many things in your life really don't fit and you need to begin to release and say no to all those things (and people) who don't support your most authentic self. This might mean changing courses, re-negotiating relationships or even ending some. It might take an entire overhaul of your life - or at least the life you were pretending to live. It might be a challenging path at first but if you really want a life that is full of joy, bliss and fulfillment, there is no other choice. No matter how young or how old you are your dreams are waiting for you.

The answer to joyous living is simply exploring and expressing the life that wants to live through you Are You Depressed? Take the quiz. Click Here.

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In grace & gratitude,
Nanice