Finding Joy to Crush Depression

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by.

I have a question for you. Have you ever been really happy one day and everything seems to be going
 great then the next day...


you start feeling down again, really down, and you don't even know why. Some might say it's a symptom of being Bipolar or just being depressed.

Every week I try to write something Joyful and inspiring, but the truth is some weeks I don't feel Joyful and inspiring, and to be honest I don't even know if what I write is Joyful and inspiring, but I try. And to be even more honest it really wouldn't be fair to you to try and blow happy, joy smoke up your... well, you know... when I don't really feel that way. So why I was thinking of what to write I looked up a few things that I found interesting.

First off have you ever wondered if you were Bipolar? I do. John M. Grohol, Psy.D in a post titled What’s the Difference Between Bipolar Disorder and Depression? Gives the symptoms associated with both being Bipolar and Depression.

Being Bipolar or Mania:

• Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
• Decreased need for sleep (e.g., one feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
• More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
• Flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
• Attention is easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant items
• Increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
• Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)

Depression:

• Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day
• No interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
• Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
• Insomnia (inability to sleep) or hypersomnia (sleeping too much) nearly every day
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
• Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
• Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

Can you see yourself in any of these or are you looking at the list and feeling grateful that none of them apply to you. Click on the link above to read the whole article. 

The other thing I looked at was a quiz I found that gives you an idea how depressed you are right now. It ask you question on how you are feeling based on the past week. So depending on how your week goes, one week you may be severely depressed then the next week you aren't depressed at all. I think the point of the web site is to track your depression, which makes sense, because according to 

Dr. Grohol, diagnosis for clinical depression is after being severally depressed continually for longer than two weeks. If you want to take the test for yourself here is the link...Depression Quiz. 

After reading about what the symptoms are for both bipolar and depression and taking the quiz I have to say that I am defiantly depressed (this week at least) with a touch of bipolar. If that makes sense. So now what? I guess I can go to the doctors and get meds to alter my physical and mental chemistry and num the feelings I have inside or I can continue to work on finding joy in my life and slowly crush that demon of depression. 

I choose to crush!!!

The last few weeks I've been quoting out of the book Finding Joy: 101 Ways to Free Your Spirit and Dance with Life by Charlotte Davis Kasl, PH.D. and the reason why is because there are so many good things in it. Today I was feeling really down and couldn't think of anything to write and so I said a little pray in my heart that I might share something worth while and I read this from the book. 

Section 1 - Awaken Your Inner Fire.

"Joy is a source of personal power. Joy awakens as we open ourselves to the wonder of the universe both inside us and around us.

"Joy leads us to the heart of our spiritual journey.

"Finding Joy doesn't mean life will always be easy, rather life will be rich because we live near the pulse of possibility."

In just these few lines there is so much strength and the premise for the month of  August. If you remember, I believe it was in my last post, I told you about my co-worker and friend Tameka and I decided to take August and really put the powers of positive thinking to a test and really improve our lives by thinking positive and manifesting positive outcomes through the month of August and beyond, starting on the 1st. During this time I will be writing a daily post to track how things are going. 

 Some of the things I really need to work on and manifest a positive outcome are the way I treat others close to me and the way I treat myself physically as well as mentally. Continue to focus on finding Joy and Crushing my depression. Having a more abundant life spiritually as well as financially and physically (getting healthy). I also want to focus on my writing and manifest a positive outcome for where that is going in my life. Which goes along with focusing on my dreams. I've discovered that I've let my dreams die and it's time to find them and resurrect them.

What about you? Are there things in your life you could use more of or would like to have a better positive outcome? Do you need a better job or position in that job or just a change? How about finances? Do you believe just by believing you can receive it? 

Receiving these positive affirmations don't always come the way you think they will. My friend Tameka has been focusing on having an abundance in her life and she manifested and was blessed with a security system worth over $2,000 for free. So like I said it may not come as you think it will, but you can make it happen if you really believe.   

Well, there you go. I went from being depressed to thinking positive in just a few paragraphs. I told you I have a touch of bipolar. Any-who, I hope you will join me starting August 1st and focus on positive things happening in your life and manifest positive outcomes.

Well thanks again for stopping by. What positive things do you want to focus on in your life I would love to hear about it and your journey. Comment below I would love to hear from you. Until next time (which will be Monday) take care and be safe and remember; only you can make up your mind and do it.