Soft reminders

In a depressed state of mind, we are likely to imagine the worst out of every situation. It is in this time that we need to remind ourselves of the good times that we have had in the past or how we had overcome similar bad situations- what I call- Soft reminders.

1- Depression is a bitch!

There is no doubt about this and you need to see it the same way in order to combat it. It tells you lies so the trick is to not start believing whatever it has to say.

2- Negative thoughts are clouds, your brain is the blue sky

Whenever you get a negative thought, think of it as a cloud which is passing by in the blue sky (which is your brain). Know that the sky CAN exist without clouds however there CANNOT be any clouds without the existence of a sky.

3- Fail forward to success

Acknowledge that experiences, good or bad, always end up teaching us something. So in case you have had a very bad or unpleasant experience which you keep fretting about, regardless of how bad you feel about it, it did add some value and it did teach you a valuable lesson.

4- Why me?

It is difficult to ignore thoughts such as: I have such a privileged life, loving and supportive family and friends, a decent childhood and upbringing so how could I end up being depressed? On this I would like to say that depression does not discriminate. Hence there is no point overthinking that with everything and everyone around you being alright, how could you go wrong? Depression can hit anyone regardless of age, gender, race, upbringing or background. The only way out is to keep moving forward.

5- You are not alone

There are millions around the world suffering from depression or other mental illnesses. In fact it is said that every one in five individuals will go through depression at some point of their lives. So although you think that you’re the only who has it THIS bad. That is not true. There is always someone who will be better than you and someone who is worse so there is no point in comparing. Focus on yourself, this is your fight, your coping mechanism is unique to you, figure out what works for you and keep going.

6- I want to get better

It may seem like you do not want to try anymore, you want to keep on suffering, you want things to stay the way they are but none of this is true. If you did not want to get better or had you given up, you would not have been writing/reading this. This is something which you may not want to consciously admit but no one likes to isolate, no one wants to keep swimming in shit, no one wants to feel unworthy, no one wants to keep suffering. An acknowledgement of these facts will only make things easier for you.

Please share your feedback on this post in comments. Also, do share some soft reminders that you would like to give 🙂