#greencirclecolumn #greenerpastures #lifestyle #depression #lifepurpose
Hi guys, am sure you’re wondering why we (greencirclecolumn) did not put something down on Saturday….Well, to be honest, I went playing soccer on Thursday under a heavy rain, (funny right? ððĪĢ), so I had a little cramp which knocked me out for the better part of the weekend.
I promise to make it up to you guys this coming Saturday.
So today’s business:
One of the hardest thing to find in life is our “PURPOSE” on earth (yeah, even harder than finding true love). We might be very successful in our respective fields, but later realise that it wasn’t our purpose. Finding happiness in what we do is a very valid sign that we’re serving our purpose on earth (not in all scenarios).
Lets focus on me a little bit in the next paragraph.
Can one have more than one purpose in life?, absolutely.
One out of my many purposes in life is to use what God has imbedded in me to pass a message, touch lives, and influence people via my weekly post on this blog. Have I always known of my ability to write?, you bet ya, but I have been procrastinating about starting this blog for years,but the coronavirus pandemic made our government enforce self isolation and lockdown for the better part of the past 3 months, which brought about excess boredom and an increased level of depression to me, and I had no choice but to embrace this beautiful God given talent. And believe me when I say that it has been a beautiful experience, and I haven’t regretted a second of it, because whenever I take a look at our (Greencirclecolumn) comment section, it gives me so much joy that we have been able to touch so many lives in such a short period of time.
One of the most debilitating things about having depression is that it robs you of a sense of purpose. Iâm the kind of person who needs to be working toward something at all times to feel fulfilled â yet my depression makes me feel aimless, like Iâm wading through an endless swamp with no final destination.
Depression impacts our ability to make and stick with decisions, removes the sense of pleasure from activities we used to enjoy and challenges us to find our motivation to get out of bed, let alone work toward a goal. Thatâs why behavioral activation is a major part of depression recovery: scheduling pleasurable activities into your day helps you rediscover that sense of purpose again.
But what about purpose on a grander scale? No one talks about how depression makes us question our life or career choices, wondering if we can trust ourselves to know whatâs best for us. Or, how depression affects our decisions, leading us to stay in unhealthy relationships or at a job we hate for far too long.
Depression presents the following question: how can you find and work toward the life of your dreams when you can barely summon the will to live? I firmly believe that discovering your life path and feeling like you are consciously working toward a life you love is an essential part of recovering from depression.
Although it probably feels far-fetched right now, I believe you CAN discover your purpose when life itself feels purposeless â and hereâs how to do it.
DISCOVER YOUR GREATEST STRENGTHS
When we feel depressed, we often lose sight of all the wonderful things about ourselves that other people love. Thatâs why recognizing your strengths can help bring meaning back into your life.
To discover your greatest strengths, you have a couple of options. Firstly, you can try taking a test like the High5 Strengths Test, which will give you a list of your top five greatest strengths based on your instinctual answers. Or, if you donât have the attention span for a long quiz, try keeping a brag book filled with all the compliments you receive throughout the course of your days.
If youâre really stuck, try asking your therapist or a loved one for help discovering your greatest strengths. Depression distorts our worldview, so sometimes, all it takes for us to see ourselves more accurately is a little shift in our perspective!
BUILD MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES INTO YOUR DAY
Iâve often talk a lot about behavioral activation with people, but never the theory behind it â which is that behavior actually precedes motivation. While you might be waiting to feel âmotivatedâ again before getting back to your daily activities, researchers have found that small actions actually motivate us to do more.
When youâre clinically depressed, it can feel challenging to fill your days with meaningful activities when literally nothing feels meaningful. In this case, it helps to look at a list of pleasurable activities and circle the ones you used to enjoy, way back before you began to feel this way.
Even if the last time you remember feeling true happiness was when you were a child, ask yourself: is there something you used to do as a kid that would bring you a tiny spark of joy now â for example, coloring in a coloring book or sucking on a popsicle until your lips turn purple?
Then, write out a behavioral activation schedule and start to fill it in with a handful of small actions you can take to bring meaning back to your days. You might be skeptical that doing any of these things would actually bring you pleasure â especially when pleasure feels like such a foreign concept â but often, all it takes to begin feeling better is to bite the frog and take that first step, even when you donât quite feel like it.
IF YOU CANâT LIVE FOR YOURSELF, LIVE FOR OTHERS
From Oprah Winfrey to Jim Carrey, the history books are full of people who worked their way up from humble beginnings by turning their pain into passion. Oprah was abused; Carrey was homeless â yet both went on to become wildly successful. How, exactly, did they do that, despite facing tremendous odds?
So many people find their passion by discovering an outlet for their pain. Many people diagnosed with chronic illnesses find meaning by advocating for others with their disease. Others are able to turn their pain into beautiful art through drawing, painting, dancing or songwriting â and in turn, their art brings meaning to others who might be going through the same things.
When youâre in the midst of depression, itâs difficult to imagine this devastating disease ever having a positive effect on your life. But if you are able to turn your pain into passion, if you are able to turn your heartbreak into a means of connecting with or helping others, depression can actually become one of your greatest assets. Itâs about working with, not against, your depression to create something meaningful and constructive.
EXPAND YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK
Above all else, depression is a disease of isolation â which makes sense! After all, social connections lend meaning to our lives. Human beings are not meant to be islands, yet todayâs virtual world can feel lonelier than ever. Nowadays, we can connect with hundreds of people online every day while still feeling like we have no true friends.
One of the things that helped me most during the worst of my depression, which Iâve talked about it to people, was offering to help people who couldn’t help themselves. Actions like this and other voluntary aide will encourage you to be social, open up to others and make new connections with people in the same boat as you. If youâre anything like me, this probably sounds super terrifying â but youâll never reap the benefits if you never give it a chance!
I was able to champion my depression by starting this blog. And I bet you can surpass if you can just make that one bold and terrifying move.
And, if all of this feels impossible, I encourage you to consider whether social anxiety could be contributing to your depression. If social situations give you panic attacks or unreasonable levels of anxiety, including physical symptoms (i.e. shaking; sweaty palms), you might consider seeing a therapist who can help treat you for social anxiety disorder.
Air your views and complaints in our comment section below, or you can chat us up on IG @greencirclecolumn or via our direct e-mail on greencirclecolumn@aol.com
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Am astonished.
This has almost all the condiments anyone needs to succeed. We rarely tumble upon post like this. This is just super.
Thank you very much Lanre.
We promise to always bring the best at all times. Cheers…
Yeah I definitely missed you guys on Saturday. And am proud that after not feeding us on Saturday, you have overfed us with this magnificent piece. Thank you very much, everyone needs to read this, because we all face depression one way or another, and how we deal with it is a big ask. I never knew that I can channel my frustration to something great in my life.
It’s a pleasure to know about greencirclecolumn.
Conway from Canada.
Thank you so much Conway. We always appreciate and welcome your suggestions and applause.
Do well to share this with Canada.
#staysafe
What I love most is how u gave us a little bit of you, and you also explained in details how you were able to champion your depression by providing us with greencirclecolumn to help people who have also been in a situation that you’ve been. I love all I have read from greencirclecolumn but this is by far my best so far.
Thank you #greencirclecolumn.
Greencircle will always tey as much as possible to put something that will affect lives positively.
Share this with others and also try and encourage feeble minds that they can champion and trump their depression.
We’re definitely headi g to #greenerpasturesð.
Finding purpose in life is also a purpose, it’s a topic that should be taught in schools, worship centres, etc.
Am honestly thrilled about this article. It’s right from the top drawer.
We agree with you @peterson that finding purpose is a purpose as well.
And that this should be talked about more often.
Priceless article.
Thanks for sharing this, and I am moved by your story as well.
Priceless article.
Thanks for sharing this, and I am moved by your story as well.
Thank you Florence. We appreciate you.
This is a magical touch.
My most favourite work from greencirclecolumn.
Thank you Clara,we promise to put more good things for you here.
When I got a notification about a new post from greencirclecolumn, I took time and rounded up what I was doing, afterwards I sat to read this (which I read more than 5times) what first moved me was; If one can have more than a purpose. The other was if we can’t live for ourself we should live for others,which if you look at the life of Jesus, He lived an died for us. Now what I got from living for others is that; living for others might actually be our purpose in life. Another attraction here was the reference of Oprah Winfrey, how she defeated the odds and channelled her depression to more than just suicide thoughts to become one of the most influential figures on earth.
I’ve been thinking for over 2 hours now since reading this.
I’ve fixed a weekly date on Wednesdays and Saturdays with greencirclecolumn, because this is a class and the author is a teacher, it’s more than a blog post. Thank you @greencirclecolumn.
Well Tobi you have said virtually everything I wanted to say. I am not someone who does much reading, actually I accidentally stumbled upon this blog, the first post I read was “the dark side of social distancing and self isolation”, which I loved and I had to force myself and read the previous posts and i have been a lover of greencirclecolumn, bacause its very very aducative and it directs to us.
The first post I read was What women Want, and I saw a lot of truth in it, so Ivwent ahead and read every single one.
Thank you so very much Samuel.
Try sharing greencirclecolumn with others, so they too can benefit from our little piece.
We feel more accomplished when we end up championing our depression and fork our way through to the top.
We’re glad that after reading this you took out time to reflect on yourself.
We at greencirclecolumn just want you to know, that there is no adversity that you can not outclass. Your definitely heading to #greenerpastures
Thank you Tobi.
What a lovely piece. This really got me thinking, and made me plan out what I want to achieve for myself
Thanks a lot ðâĪ
Thank you very much Precious, we’re always looking to get you comment whenever greencirclecolumn drops a new post.
ðð
Honestly speaking, after reading this, if greencirclecolumn was a blog that we have to pay to view, I wouldn’t mind spending my last dollar on it. Am thrilled with the post, I can’t fault anything from it, it’s magnificent.
Now I know I can have more a than one purpose in life. And like Tobi said maybe one of my purpose is to live for others (my mum). She only smiles when am with her, she constantly tells me how i bring joy to her whenever am close to her.
You are blessed @johnavery and your mum as well.
Thank you.
It seems you guys know when exactly I need an answer to some questions. Been struggling with a lil bit of depression, and it has held me down from making some moves for myself. But after reading your own story, it has really moved me.
Thank you.
Thank you Habeeb, it’s only the Lord almighty that can be praised for the gift he has given to us to be able to put something like this.
We got your back always.
I have never sat down to realise the Oprah story, not until today have I known that she must have been depressed one way or the other. But even after all she went through she is now celebrated.
Even Joyce Meyers was physically abused, but look at her today.
This is a real stuff right here.
One thing you gotta know is that, if they’ve been figures people can look up to, then nothing can and will stop you from being great as long as you do what needs to be done.
One things you should always confess is that “I CAN DO IT”
ON RAGE RETREAT AND DEFEATING DEPRESSION
â – Diamond Hard – â
â I Contemplated Suicide; then I Decided I Love MySelf too much and I Don’t Want to Leave Loved Oned in Pain, Agony and Angst…so, instead, I Chose Forgiveness; so can YOU!!!
â – Diamond Hard – â
…âââ…
⥠Sad really how so many continue to Rage and Delete; sadly I AM No Longer Following this Blog
…âĄâĄâĄ…
Nobody is raging.
Some comments people put out kills the spirit of others.
⥠Changed My Mind as EveryOne is Entitled; so I AM Following Again
…âĄâĄâĄ…
Tha k you for following us
ON RAGE, RETREAT AND DEFEATING DEPRESSION
â – Diamond Hard – â
â I Contemplated Suicide; then I Decided I Love MySelf too much to Kill MySelf and I Don’t Want to Leave Loved Ones in Pain, Agony and Angst, Asking “What more could we have done ðĪ?”…so, instead, I Chose Forgiveness of MySelf and Others; so Can YOU!!! ðĪ
nisi mortuus nec neque nolite vicit
â – Diamond Hard – â
…âââ…
Perfection
Am thrilled
Incredible work brother…
More grace I pray for you.