For most, depression is like a dark cloud. One that encompasses and surrounds their entire existence. This cloud keeps in the dark thoughts, and emotions, and wears on one physically. There is also the perception that the cloud will never dissipate.

Now think of yourself in an airplane on the ground on a very cloudy, rainy, and dreary day. All seems exactly what you are surrounded by. Thing is, that plane takes off. As your altitude increases, you are amidst those clouds and that storm. Turbulence ensues and the ride is rough. This is typical of flying through any clouds or storms. In life and in an aircraft.

Then, you break that cloud cover as the plane keeps climbing, and you are above all the clouds. The sun is shining in all its glory and the sky is a beautiful hue of blue.

This is similar to depression. The sun is shining. I assure you. We just do not always make the attempt mentally or physically to gravitate toward it. We ignore the lights trickling in through the crevices of our depression as our minds can be defeated at times. The sheer magnitude of the problems, pain, and uncertainty keeps us in that cloud cover.

The first step towards getting out of those clouds is connecting to yourself. Yes, yourself. Let go of perceptions, expectations, and past experiences. Use those as lessons and not barriers. Focusing first and foremost on your body to allow your mind to follow. This includes putting the right foods in your body and getting moderate exercise. This allows you to allow your mind to clear and your body to get out of the fight or flight stage it stays in. This “maze” you have been in, continuing down the same paths and never escaping. All this is due to not allowing ourselves to. Yes, you are the key. No one else.

Relationships, either worldly or spiritual, need to happen. These reinforce our life force and to distinguish what is it important. It allows us the ability to learn where others are blind or deliberately not focusing. Any toxic relationships should be absolved and never revisited. These toxic relationships keep you in the maze. Unfortunately, these can consist of immediate family and very close friends.

When you connect to yourself, you will find the shadow of yourself. One whom you are ashamed of. The person you were that allowed you to live within the maze, clouds, and in a dark state of mind. You have to forgive that person and reassure them that you are ok. That what happened to you that caused you to get there was a speedbump you got stuck on. Now you must eliminate that shadow and as you do, your wins only need to be small in nature but consistent. Such things as getting up in the morning and smiling. Taking care of yourself where you previously did not. Folding your clothes as you typically threw them into drawers before. Small and steady ends up equivalating to big. One minute at a time.

When you release that shadow, you must eliminate the snapshot of what a happy life is in your head. That is what is keeping that shadow there, the clouds around you, and no exit from the maze. This “perfect snapshot” is that picture in your mind that you have felt for years would make you happy. Mine was material gains, money, and power. I left that by the wayside some years ago as I had them and still was not happy. What is yours? If it is something that requires not being the true you, then it is a false reality. Most of these snapshots have been ingrained into us by peers at a young age, culture, media, and Hollywood. The hardest part is letting all that go. Social media has no reality to it, news relies on doom and gloom, and whoever the president is does not matter as they all lie. What you see in a movie or read in a fictional book is exactly that, fiction.

Life is much more beautiful than all the noise around you. Love, compassion, health, and success are something everyone has in one way or the other. It is a matter of realizing it is not what you had instilled in you, and that you created in that “perfect snapshot” of life you chase.

Faith is an important key to all this. Faith that you have in yourself, even faith you have in others. Possibly faith in God. You may not believe in a higher being. I respect your beliefs. I do, however, believe in a higher being. A Creator of all life. Some months ago, I reached out of my clouds and asked for IT to guide me and save me from self-destruction. It pulled me out of the clouds and filled me with the purest and most powerful love I have ever known. Call it what you will, I know and that is all that matters.

Look at yourself in the mirror. Aside from all the negative or derogatory things you can feel, say, or conceive about yourself, they are all a lie. One that you or others started, and you kept believing. Stop living in the dark clouds and start a path toward the light. I assure you; you have a gift and deserve to be happier. You can do this!

Please consider sharing this post with anyone suffering from mental health issues.

dK