Gifts

I was blessed by being born with a happy disposition.  I wake up in the morning excited about a new day.   I don't know any other way to be.

A couple of years ago, I was given a medication that had a terrible side effect.  The medication caused depression in a very small number of patients.

I believe this is the only time in my life I was clinically depressed.  It was so hard.  It was like all of the color had been washed out of my world.  I didn't want to get up in the morning.  I wasn't excited about anything.  Life felt so very hard.

I was lucky in that I knew something wasn't right, and so started looking for what had changed.  I read up on the drug, and found that depression was a rare, but documented side effect.   I called my doctor, and stopped taking the medication, using lifestyle changes to manage the condition the drug had been prescribed for.

It was then that I realized what a gift it is to not suffer from depression.  While clinically depressed, none of the usual methods I use to cheer myself up worked.  I could get temporary relief from exercise, but it was really hard to make myself start.  Thank God for my dogs.  They at least got me outside and walking every day.

You would think that knowing the walk was going to provide some relief from the darkness would be enough, but that is not how depression works.

I realized at that time that while I had always understood the need for medication to treat depression, I had never had genuine empathy for those struggling with the disease.  I believe I always had sympathy and compassion, but truly did not understand how crushing depression is.

What is the point of all this?

None of have a complete understanding of life on this planet.  We all only have the life we have lived, and what we have learned from it.

Every day, people around you are struggling with burdens you can't see, and can't understand.   Everyone needs love and compassion.

Choosing to celebrate your gifts, and to show gratitude for them by being kind to others is a good start.

Choosing to gently respond to anger, or impatience, or meanness may help the other person see a better way.

We can all be beacons of light and hope.  We can choose to find the subjects that unite us, rather than those that divide us.  We can actively choose to lift others up through our interactions with them.

Kindness is a multiplier.  Compassion is a multiplier.  Encouragement is a multiplier.  Optimism is a multiplier.

We will all have days when we need another's kindness, compassion, encouragement and optimism to get through our challenges.

On the days when you have more gifts than challenges, feed the good karma in the universe.  Be kind.  Be compassionate.  Be encouraging.  Be optimistic.

You end up living in the world you create.   Choose to create a world that shines as a beacon of hope for those who cannot create their own light.  If a time comes when your light falters, you will be surrounded by the reflections of the light you created in the past.

No one can shine your particular light in the world besides you.  Shine on.