I read a story somewhere about a man who owned a grocery store. And, despite the fact he'd been robbed twice and shot one of those times, he always had a smile on his face. One day some one asked him how he was always so happy. He said: "Every morning when I get up I say to myself 'today I have a choice. I can either be happy or unhappy. Ask anyone 'would you rather be happy or unhappy?' they of course say 'happy'. It's the only logical answer. After all who'd want to be unhappy? So I choose to be happy, because I am not a fool and it would be foolish to begin the day unhappy"
I've struggled with depression for many years, and people who don't have it, don't understand. But I use that story to help me out of it. I allow myself to be down for a while, I think to try to never be unhappy is like trying to carry water in a colander, it eventually will leak out.
Allow yourself moments to be sad, but set a limit on it. I allow myself enough time to "get it out of my system" then i say,
"ok now I'm no longer sad, I'm just wallowing. And wallowing is foolish, when I've allowed myself time to let it flow it's course. Now, I have a choice, keep wallowing, or get happy, which would i rather be?"
Then I start trying to change my behaviors that are contributing to my wallowing (staying home, not calling friends, not having fun, or watching something funny, etc.) And I start finding fun things to do. This is a bit of a over simplified version, but I hope I can convey my point.
Sadness is sometimes necessary, so that it doesn't build up (like punching a punching bag to get out frustration so it doesn't build). Let it out, then reign it in. Know what I mean?
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