My experience of depression. (Hint-it is not a chemical imbalance…)
It is now understood that there are many causes of depression, not just the standard (“it’s a biological”/”It’s a chemical imbalance in your brain”).
Although I knew it deep down, I have only recently established the root cause of the depression I experience.
While biological factors can be a factor for some people, I am almost certain they are not for me. I went through heavy doses of various anti-depressants over extended periods of time and I only felt numb. While I am thankful they stopped me from suicide, they left me feeling empty and disconnected. They are not for me, but please do not discount them as an option for you. Anti-depressants do work for some people and save lives. Please consult a medical professional.
However, I have come to realise that for me, the root cause is a misalignment with my purpose and nature.
Purpose
Since I was a child I could not see why people followed the standard model of: go to school, get a job you dislike or can tolerate to pay the bills, get a house, hope your pension is enough, retire in your 60s. This is an overgeneralisation (many people like their jobs or are content with their situation following this model), but there are key parts I could not accept. There had to be more to life than this.
I could not understand why people were so keen to tie themselves to a huge debt for a property while only in their 20s, before they really knew what they wanted from life. (My view is now different-if it is an investment, it could lead to freedom from work in the future…)
I had come across people who had a fire for life who were not accepting jobs they were just okay with or worse, did not like. Your working life takes up the majority of your time in life. Why would I want to be unhappy or just okay during that time? If I was unhappy every day at work, how would that affect the people I love? Why do I have to wait til I am old to enjoy leisure time? Will there be a reliable pension when I get there?
Through great teachers at school, I began to discover things that made me feel alive when I wrote or talked about them. I started on a path of following those passions, but somewhere along the way I took a detour. Due to responsibility and following what I thought was a passion but turned out not to be, I followed the path of security and ended up too comfortable while not enjoying what I did. Step by step I got stuck in a rut and began to accept my situation. I am waking up to the fact that I am not okay with that and that in order to improve my life I need to take action. I will discuss this later.
Nature
There is a plethora of evidence that shows nature is important for mental health.
Growing up in the countryside, I felt a deep connection to nature, but due to my profession and personal circumstances, I have lived in a city for many years now. Detachment from nature is soul-crushing for me. I try to get close to nature as much as possible, but nothing compares to living in the countryside. Being in a completely natural place away from artificial noise and structures is where I am in my element, especially if there is water.
Passions and purpose can change and that is okay
I have recently come to realise that the passions of my younger self (Latin America, learning, and travel) remain, but I also realised that I am developing new passions for writing, self-improvement, mental health, and building wealth.
I have allowed myself to be okay with these developments. It is okay to change course. We need to focus on enjoying life now. The present is the only time that truly exists. It is more important to me now to focus more energy on the things that bring me energy, my passions.
Passions, however, are meaningless without action. That is how you bring passion to purpose.
Passion->faith->purpose->goals->action
I now have clearer goals. I am working on making those goals even clearer and bigger each day through visualisation. SMART goals have their place, but for a dreamer like me, the A&R can be so limiting on your imagination and what you believe is possible. JFK promised we would go to the moon. Elon Musk believes it is possible to go to Mars. For the average person, a SMART goal would make these things unthinkable. It suggests that, for the average person, you will fail if you aim too big. Do not be the average person-life has so much to offer. You have so much to offer.
Now I am more focused on be/have/do.
What do I want to be?
What do I want to have?
What do I want to do?
Who do I have to become to achieve these things?
Go big or go home. Failure is not an option. If I can think it, it is possible. Passion, faith, a higher purpose, clear (but huge) goals and action will make it possible.
Current reality
I still have responsibilities, however, so I will not be simply quitting my job to travel, write, learn and live in nature all day, but I am fine-tuning my life to increase activities that bring me closer to my goals and reduce activities that take me away from them. That means I need to keep getting clearer and visualising what I want. As I progress, the meaningless activities will reduce (but not disappear-everyone still has to do some things they do not like-do you enjoy sorting out the trash?).
My main focus now is on wealth building. Not getting rich. Wealth building.
The difference is huge-being rich is simply about having a lot of money. Wealth building is longer-term and forces you to improve your life and become someone better every day. Achieving wealth will allow me to choose what I do or do not do, and reach and help more people. One of the keys to wealth building is giving more value than you receive.
Dream big, take action every day! You get out what you put in…
Inspiration:
thejourneyx 