I want it. I'm not exactly depressed, but I definitely have tendencies. I was extremely depressed as a teenager and I feel like it's been an upward climb out of it ever since... but I still feel far from the top. I want to view life as an awesome experience, as some do... not like a dull gloomy thing that I have to put up with. Any success stories or advice in this department?
I found when I changed my diet to something healthier it changed my mood alot. Still a long ways off from acheiving any sort of true happiness.
Yeah, diet has a lot to do with it. I'm technically mildly hypoglycemic, although I'm told most Americans are anyway... so I'm not totally sure if that plays a role. I know I'm anxious because of the amount of coffee I drink, but being a tad bit depressed on top of it just sucks.
My problem is laziness. I want to accomplish so many things, instead I sit around all day, listening to music and commenting on forums.
Sorry to here you're depressed, I usually beat it by occupying my time with something that I enjoy, or changing my surroundings for a little while. If it gets to be unbearable you should consult a doctor just to be on the safe side. I hope you start feeling better(happier)soon:sunny:
I had an awesome experience yesterday. I went to the laundry room to get my clothes out of the dryer. There were like a few dozen or so doves munching on the grass seeds that were just spread on the ground. I slowed my walk to try and not scare them too much. Some flew away, but a few stayed. I stopped and watched them eat. Soon more returned to eat again. After a while I was surrounded by doves pecking away at the seeds, lol. But the best part was when I heard a raspy little voice above my head, kind of chirping. It was a hummingbird in the tree above my head. It was like four or five feet above me, yapping away. Nature is the best medicine! I still feel good about that little experience!
I dunno. When I was your age I had my up moments. Like being with friends that I knew I could trust, camping out in the mountains, simply enjoying nature and life. Yep. My health improved when I got rid of pork from my diet. First was alcohol. Then pork. I dunno what to say. Either you want to do them or you don't. If you do get off your cherry ass and do them. If not, then who cares?
I equate happiness with contentment. Having a partner that treats you well if very important. I was married for 22 years to an egocentric, insecure woman whose goal in life was to fill a bottomless pit of need at the expense of those around her. I wasn't content nor happy because I deserved better. So choose wisely. Making some goals and achieving them gives a sense of accomplishment and enhances mood. Helping and being good to others is a great mood enhancer. I do agree with the posts on health improvement. Exercise makes me feel good. Cut out eating as much processed foods as possible (toss those potato chips out). Eat natural meats, if you are a meat eater. And, maybe most important, you are just 21. Your moods should stabilize as you age.
I've been fighting depression all my life to some degree. When I was around your age I started paying more attention to my thought patterns, and I started to see how I depressed myself. I started making a conscious effort to catch myself thinking negatively. I tried to think of ways to think about things that I could believe and that made me feel better. Then when I caught myself thinking negatively again I would try to start thinking the positive thoughts instead. With practice I got better and better at it, and was able to put myself in a better mood faster and more easily. I wasn't always successful...sometimes I seemed to WANT to be depressed. But at least I knew the way out of hell when I wanted it... Now I'm living in circumstances that are ten times harder than anything else I've ever experienced it. It's as if the universe decided to help me with my positive thinking practice by giving me harder and harder exercises to practice with. And I still get depressed a LOT...but the weird thing is, I can still be happy a lot too, in the midst of all this hell, AND when I'm in an up mood, it's better than anything I would have called happiness in my youth. Novelist Chuck Palahniuk said, "The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly." Maybe that's what has happened to me, I dunno.
Happiness to me is simply being alive and having friends and family to relate to... though, me, I've had a few falling out periods with friends... parents tell me it's just a stage of weeding people out and figuring who your real friends are, but it seems sometimes like I'm just letting them down. But I have my reasons I guess... Sadness and fear is an illusion, mostly created by propaganda and the world around us. I've had quite a few points in my life where I just wanted to call it quits. The person that I am, I would never go upon acting or committing suicide or anything... I just know that in order to get to anything great in life, you have to trudge through the cold rain and snow. It's hard sometimes walking uphill all the time, but while you're walking you can't see what good things lie beyond the crest. You just have to keep on keepin on, when you get there, you'll realize why you never gave up. Love is true happiness. Spread the love and you're sure to get more out of life than you could ever dream of.
So much good advice here, I don't even care to share. But you need to find peace of mind first and foremost. Maybe you can realize a stand still in your mind is peaceful, and you can inch your way towards true contentment, and be able to experience the happier feelings of life. By the way you can't own happiness. It's a fleeting feeling.
