Motivation

Christmas is only days away now bringing joy to many but also a seasonal depression for many others. In times like these it’s important to remember that time is linear and constantly moving forward at the same rate for everyone on Earth. Just because you are feeling awful or down now doesn’t mean that you will feel that way

forever. It may not feel like it but eventually you’ll be in a different space that is hopefully better than your current situation. Of course things can keep spiraling and getting worse but that will be much more likely to happen if you expect it. I don’t believe in mindsets or thought processes being a cure all, especially when I know of a handful of mental illnesses that are caused by chemical imbalances. I wouldn’t go as far to paint them as useless either. The human brain is fascinating and even with a 100% scan and in depth studies covering how all the synapses connect to each other and the body, I don’t think humanity will ever figure it out completely. 

This isn’t my attempt to make you feel helpless or trapped in your mind, I’m simply expressing the complexity that comes with talking about emotions and how to give yourself an extra lift. You can’t do everything just by “picking yourself up from your bootstraps”, there are many forms of therapy for all sorts that I highly recommend pursuing. If you’re stubborn or just want to try and figure out something on your own then come with me while I tell you how to keep going and get motivation to do the things you love. The worst way to deal with depression is to wallow in it and surround yourself with the concept that no matter what you do you will always be depressed and never get better. If you spend your time doom scrolling and making memes about how depressed you are and how you see no motivation to life you will never find a light at the end of a tunnel. If you’re in an echo chamber where you are constantly exposed to that kind of thinking you’ll feel comfort in the companions you find in the gallows but you’ll all be walking in a straight line to the hangman's noose. As hard as it may be, you have to force yourself into the world and things you have enjoyment in. A large part of depression is watching it suck the joy out of everything you used to love and coming to terms with the numbness you feel towards everything. You can’t make joy appear out of thin air but you can trick yourself into thinking things will be different if you do the same activities but with all new gimmicks. Play that same game a different way or go about your hobby with a new means and you’ll be surprised how something so little can make a big difference. 

Lying is seen as an overall negative moral activity to engage in but I disagree. From the white lies you tell to comfort people to the lies you tell yourself to soothe yourself make some types of lying acceptable. The brain is tricky and if you believe a lie long enough it can become the truth. If you spend everyday telling yourself how beautiful it is outside, rain or shine you may start feeling a sense of freedom and happiness when you look outside. If you feel like you have no motivation or creative urge look back at all the things you’ve done and remember the things you felt while doing them. Telling yourself over and over that you’re going to make a masterpiece is going to fill you with a sense of dread and failure, prohibiting you from finishing anything because it won’t live up to your standards. Instead make the littlest of things first, start smaller than small and just make whatever you want just for the heck of it. This way you have something tangible that you made and you may even end up making your own little masterpiece that is special to you. 

It’s good to have a healthy amount of skepticism but if you're wondering about feeling like you stole happiness because you feel happier now because you lied to yourself, why? Every feeling anyone has ever had is valid because they felt it, emotions are not rational so something manifesting out of lying isn’t always a bad thing. If telling yourself every morning that you're happy and want to live works then great. The negative thoughts and the downward spirals may not go away at first but now you have something to pull yourself out of it with. We have a tendency to make everything a major issue because our physical and social issues have been streamlined to make us feel there are only extremes in life but this is just untrue. Life as a human is extremely mundane in modern life and that’s by design our ancestors all gave a little of themselves to grow a future where we can relax but our nature will always want us moving. This creates a conflict in all of us but don’t take this as me saying just relax your whole life and never challenge yourself because that may be the worst kind of depression. Little steps and little phrases everyday are how you build meaningful change in your life and how some are able to make living seem so easy and even joyful. Don’t let the holiday season get you down and if you’re drowning in loneliness I care about you and want to see you succeed and get what you want from life. This has been Connie wishing you all happy holidays.