Archive for the 'Determination' category

15 suggestions to alleviate your depression this May

Apr 30 2010 Published by under Decision, Determination, Inspiration

May is here! What can we do differently this month to alleviate our depression and start enjoying life again? Small changes followed consistently go a long way.

Here is my list of suggestions to implement in May:

1. Eat outside (alfresco) whenever weather is permitting. Eat by the open window, if it’s raining or windy.

2. Stop wearing black-coloured clothes for the whole month, except shoes, belts and bags/briefcase. If you need to wear a black suit/uniform for your work, just follow ‘no black’ rule outside your working hours. Use navy, brown, purple, dark green, grey, denim and lots of white, pastel and light colours during this month. Enjoy the art of colour coordination.

3. Create a new focal point in your favourite room. Paint/paper the feature wall in an inspiring colour. Hang an inspiring picture. Create a shelf to display some inspiring and uplifting objects.

4. Have fresh flowers around your house. Buy some inexpensive (in-season) flowers. Ask any enthusiastic gardener you know if he/she would be able to supply you with flowers this month. Collect flowers in the wild. Change them as soon as they start wilting.

5. Move your bed to a new spot in your bedroom. Chances are your bed is located in the most convenient place. However, we sometimes need a new perspective the moment we open our eyes each morning.

6. Give up your favourite chair/sitting spot for this month. Create a new place to sit or move your chair.

7. Reduce TV watching by as much as possible. Record your favourite shows and watch them on your terms.

8. Step outside barefoot on the grass daily.

9. Find a scenic spot nearby that inspires you. Commit to visit it daily or as many times a week as it is reasonable. Note: it does not matter how you get there (drive, walk, cycle etc.). The key point is to get there and spend some time breathing, balancing and taking the beauty in.

10. Start practising smiling daily.

11. Take up photography and share your best pictures on the web. I would like to use your photos on my blog!

12. Plan your next day the night before. Write it down.

13. Don’t watch the news. Let other people tell you what’s happening for a whole month.

14. Take time-off or reduce contact with your negative friends and relatives.

15. Focus on building connection with positive and inspiring people. Join their blogs, twitter, teleseminars.

Apologies to my friends in the southern hemisphere, as some of my suggestions are out of season for you.

Maybe this list triggered some of your own ideas and suggestions. We want you to share them with us. Please do so by clicking on the ‘Add new comment’ button.

Stay strong, remain hopeful and seek inspiration!

Photo by: 123RF Stock Photos

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You will make mistakes and that’s OK

Apr 27 2010 Published by under Determination

We all make mistakes throughout our lives. It’s normal. It’s human. If you try to avoid making mistakes, you will run into all kinds of trouble, ranging from indecisiveness and stagnation to severe depression.

Allowing yourself to live fully would inevitably lead to a few mistakes being made by you and that’s ok. Learn from your mistakes and cherish this knowledge. It is yours to help you recognise the same mistakes in advance and to make the right choices in the future.

Don’t beat yourself up, don’t shame or punish yourself when you mess things up. Of course, you will feel many different emotions arising within you when you know that you were responsible. Don’t try to suppress these emotions. They are there for a purpose! Let them flow and run their course.

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Lift depression by making choices in favour of fascination

Apr 05 2010 Published by under Decision, Determination, Inspiration

Do you remember the last time you felt fascinated? Did you ever feel fascinated by a form or a colour, a reflection of the light or a natural phenomenon? What about by an intricacy of design? Or by people and their behaviour? It is probably not too hard to recall moments of total absorption before you got unwell. But what fascinates you these days?

Looking back at my own experience of depression, the magical feelings of being fascinated with the world around you fade away pretty fast once the depression descends upon you. The world rapidly turns bleak. Day dreaming, imagination and our innate curiosity evaporate. Emptiness invades our heads and hearts. We slow down. We shut the world out. We lock ‘the door’. We throw away or misplace ‘the keys’.  Continue Reading »

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Your parents did to you…what?

Mar 29 2010 Published by under Decision, Determination, Inspiration

What is one of the most common things any psychiatrist or mental health professional asks during your first meeting? I think it’s ‘Tell me about your childhood’.

So, you tell your ‘story’ and it gets written down and filed in your notes. The next professional comes along and asks you to tell it again. Some of them will try to ‘dig in’ deeper and deeper to find a cause of your depression.

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You have the right to remain hopeful!

Mar 17 2010 Published by under Decision, Determination, Inspiration

Last week British newspapers reported the suicide of Victoria Nye. She was a bright and beautiful 22-year-old trying to get her mental illness under control. She had plans to become a doctor. All she needed was to heal and develop new habits, strategies, skills…

She sought help. For the first time in her life, she agreed voluntarily to go to the hospital to get better.

Her hopes for recovery were interrupted by a rushed discharged. According to her father, she was told that she was normal and should not be in the hospital. She was told by her doctors that they cannot help her.  Continue Reading »

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