Depression sucks. Anxiety sucks. All mental illnesses suck. It’s that simple; life is hard and your picture-perfect existence will not happen unless you make it happen. Nothing will ever be handed to you. It takes work, motivation and goal setting to get there, and that’s OK.
Wouldn’t we all just love it if other people did everything for us? As great as that sounds, it’s actually awesome that we have to push ourselves to get what we want and to reach our dreams. When someone is depressed, they have no desire to do anything at all. I know this from first-hand experience. You aren’t lazy; you just can’t find the point in getting things done. However, there is a fine line between major depression and major laziness. No matter how depressed you are, there is always that desire to feel better and move on. If you don’t have that crave for a better and healthier existence, then you aren’t helping yourself.
I also know from first-hand experience that only you can make these changes for yourself. I remember sitting around my house waiting for the bad times to go and the fun, summer nights to begin. Now I know why that never happened. It's because I didn’t push myself to go out with friends, spend time at family barbeques or even leave my bedroom. I let myself feel the way that I so badly wanted to escape. This feeling went on after I began my freshman year of college. The difference between the old and the new me is that I’ve pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and crossed several boundaries that I never thought I could.
The key to pushing yourself or finding motivation is forcing yourself to try new things. Break away from the crowd, join a club, Greek life, sport team, volunteer, anything! Set goals for yourself to reach, but within reasonable time, and strive to accomplish them. This will give you a great sense of accomplishment and will only make you want to do it again. Make a list of the tasks you need to complete or want to. Take them step-by-step, and reward yourself as you complete something you really didn’t want to do. Reconnect with your friends and family members. Even if you hate the idea of grabbing some ice cream on a Friday night, invite your friends either way. Have someone else hit that send button for you if you need it! As long as you’re making these kinds of efforts, you are helping yourself.
By remembering to yearn for that “I want to feel better” phase, you are off to pushing yourself in ways you never imagined. No one ever said life would be a breeze. No one ever said depression would be fun. No one ever said you couldn’t do it.
