Saying that it will get better is completely overrated and utterly untrue. I am going to be real with you, it doesn’t always get better. The trick is to notice that there are copious amounts of beautiful things on this earth and focus substantially on them. Once you realize the good, it gets harder to see the bad; that’s just the way it goes. Depression is a massive miscreant that strikes consistently and hard. The hard part is getting up, and choosing to be active in your own rescue. Choosing to think “dang, I actually love the fact that I can watch 16 movies in a row.” Thinking about these little perks in life scares depression away, little by little. With that being said, here are some reasons to stay alive; to fight.

1. the laughs that babies make
2. you’d miss all of the dope movies that would come out the summer after you died
3. to see Kim Kardashian try to handle herself aging
4. carbs
5. hearing a song that has been stuck in your head all day
6. so you can tell people your story
7. the smell of fresh cut grass
8. the sound of the ice cream truck
9. so you can see more of the world
10. Chris Delia’s stand up comedy
11. puppies
12. you are needed
13. hot tubs
14. sleep
15. to see how hot Molly Ringwald’s daughter will get
16. snow
17. memes
18. to see guys grumpy reactions when they hear the word “feminism”
19. to learn new things
20. there are 7 billion people that you haven’t met
21. big belly laughs
22. flirting
23. tacos
24. to hear more people tell you that they believe in you
25. to create

Life is incredibly and incorrigibly difficult. Thinking on the little things seems so dumb, but it actually does help. Sometimes you have to cry for 40 days straight, sometimes you have to eat 20 jars of peanut butter, sometimes you have to scream sing to Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” like an idiot. As long as you are feeling, moving, and doing something. Overcoming depression is like forcing yourself to stare into the sun; it is painful especially at first, but soon you adjust to the light, feel alive with heat, and are blinded by goodness it becomes easier.