5 Blessings Depression Has Given Me

***The information shared on this website is not meant to replace professional help, but rather to be educational, sharing personal struggles and experiences and to let you know you are not alone.  If you, or someone you know, is having suicidal thoughts, seek medical attention at your local emergency room or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.***

When you hear the word “depression”, you don’t typically think about it being a blessing or even connected to a blessing. However, after living with depression for over 40 years, I can honestly reflect on my life and see how my depression has indeed blessed me in many ways. Today I wanted to share my 5 favorite blessings.

*Blessing 1: People I have met through my journey. I have always been very open about my depression since the day I was diagnosed. I think I was so relieved to have a name for how I was feeling for so much of my life, that I just needed to share it with the world! From day 1, I wasn’t embarrassed and never felt any shame. However, I quickly realized that this wasn’t the norm. As I continued to share my battle with depression and anorexia with others, I began to meet others who shared a similar journey. This would lead to a certain connection that we would instantly share. My depression has allowed me to cross paths and become friends with some of the strongest and most incredible people I may have not otherwise met. When we are open and honest, the world will bless us with those we need in our life. We will be surrounded by others who understand us and support our journey. Often, we will get to do the same for them. 

*Blessing 2: The strength I have gained. One thing depression will do is make you stronger. We don’t feel strong when we are going through it. Usually the feeling we get is that of weakness. Both physical and mental weakness are what we tend to believe and feel. However, the more we push through our depression, with each episode we experience and come out on the other side, and each time we find our way through the darkness and back to the light again and again, we get stronger and stronger. We build up our confidence. Our techniques and strategies we use to manage our depression become more refined and perfected. For me, I have realized that since I can get through my deepest and darkest moment and come back into the light and joy again, that I can push my way through any difficult situation. Sure, it may take me a lot longer than someone else. I may be a little more beaten up from my latest episode. But in the end, after each bought of depression, I come out a little stronger. That strength carries me through other difficult events in my life. 

*Blessing 3: Becoming persistent and learning to never give up. Never. If I have learned anything from living with depression is that being persistent and never giving up is always worth it. When I was younger, I would give up easily. I wouldn’t stick with things very long. My attention span can be short, but I would also get discouraged easily and stop believing in my ability to do whatever it is I was trying to do. Over the years, my confidence in my ability to conquer difficult and new situations became stronger and stronger. I have also become more persistent. Giving up on a goal or dream simply doesn’t enter my mind now. Sure, I reassess what I’m working towards and tweak or pivot where needed, but I don’t quit simply because I don’t feel in like it. My journey with depression has blessed me with the skills of persistence and never giving up and remember that tomorrow is a new day and with every sunrise there is a new beginning.

*Blessing 4: Appreciate the good days and happy times. When you wake up every day and you aren’t sure if you are going to have a happy day or a depressed day, you start to really appreciate you good days and happy times. When I have a string of upbeat, happy days, I take full advantage of them. I do the things I don’t feel like doing on my depressed days. I take advantage of my extra energy and joy and take in the world around me. I even try to make plans with friends. In my 20s, I was still under the misconception that my depression would eventually just disappear and never come back. That turned out not to be the case. I began to realize that I was going to have to learn how to manage my depression and navigate my life when my depression came back. This has taught me to appreciate all the good days and happy times. I never take them for granted. 

*Blessing 5: Learning not to take most things too seriously. This may be one of the greatest blessings. I used to get upset and stressed out about every little thing. If events didn’t go as planned, if something unexpected came up, if something mildly upsetting occurred, I would become very upset and cry. This would usually trigger my depression. What depression has blessed me with is the ability to not take things too seriously.  Now I ask myself a few questions whenever something upsetting comes up. I ask myself, “is this a life or death situation”, “can this be fixed with minimal effort”, and “how will this affect my life”? Putting events into perspective is something I am now able to do easily. It allows me to put life events into perspective. The majority of the time, whatever just happened is not serious. Laughing my way through life is easier for me now. And laughter helps to boost our endorphins. By not taking things too seriously, I have learned to be able to let the little items slip away. 

 Depression has allowed me to learn SO much about myself. It has changed my perspective on life and the unexpected events that can get thrown in our path. 

If you or someone you love lives with depression, I encourage you to reflect over your journey. What have you gained from your depression? What have you learned and what blessings can you see that your depression has given you? I know the initial reaction is usually “none”, but reflect on what habits, strengths or behaviors your depression has maybe given you. I’m willing to bet you can find at least one. 

If you haven’t joined my Self-Care and Mindfulness Group yet, I’d love for you to come join this community. We encourage and support each other on our journey to live a more joyful life through self-care and mindfulness. You can join the group by clicking HERE.

Be sure to also grab my FREE 10 Day Journal For Depression HERE.