Your in the middle of the Ocean will you SINK or Swim??

Depression can be like being stranded in the middle of the ocean with no rescue boats, floats, or life saving devices in sight. Just you and an endless stretch of water in all directions. The hopelessness can seem infinite, the resources can appear to be invisible. You are in the middle of the Ocean you can't see survival what do you do. float until you sink, or swim by faith, swim into the unknown, swim for your life?

So I had amazing time at the beach the other night with my family. When you have kids you find yourself doing crazy things for love, like purchasing all of them boogie boards at a whopping $40 a pop. No not because they're ultra retro fabulous, but simply because that's what happens when you buy boogie boards on pricey beach blvd! The kids of some friends of ours were the proud owners of said price hiked boards. Of course The joy on their faces as they were laughing and playing against the beautiful dusk skyline, and the ocean back drop was priceless. When the evening tide came in however, one of the boards slipped the hands of a young man and was carried into the ocean. their was a moment of complete shock filled dredge. He dove forward into the vast waters ahead of him, he even swam outward a bit, but was immediately halted by the shrieking sounds of our voices yelling out things like "NO" "COME BACK" "IT"S GONE" and "LET IT GO". Just like that the $40 Boujie Boogie Board was gone.

There is a distinctive aching pain that comes with buying something and breaking or losing it in the same day, specially for parents who feel this ache often, and their children who gaze upon that broken thing with complete dread of the punishment and repercussions to come. I'm sure watching that board float down the ocean instantly brought about waves of emotions like these for both parent and child. These moments in our lives occur more often then we realize, not as equally obvious, nor equally intense, but never the less they are equally important moments where we have to decide to hold on to something, or let it go, even where we decide the value of one thing over the risk of another. I know I don't need to tell you the boys life far outweighed the value of boogie board.

I thought in that gut wrenching moment, that something horrible was going to happen and that this young man was going to dive into waves he couldn't handle to save his toy. The first thought was "oh no not the board" but instantly it turned to "OH GOD NO THE BOY"! When it was all over and we all were sighing and laughing and shaking our heads I realized something. The board was worth loosing, but we would have all jumped in after the boy!

please just meditate on this reflection for a moment. Your comfort zone is the board, your peace of mind, sanity, and happiness is the boy. Far too often people stay stuck confined in the same place of mental and emotional distress and suffering from depression because the illness itself blurs the vision. You feel as if there's no rescue, no one has the answers, and no one can erase the cloud of sadness that rains constantly inside your head. You are in the middle of the ocean sinking because it's too scary to do anything else.

We are here, people who love you because we truly believe the creation of you was no mistake, people who have dedicated their lives to riding recovery vessels all over the ocean looking for survivors who might be swimming looking for us. We are the Doctors, therapist, councilors, pastors, family, friends and the list goes on and on. that voice that tells you we aren't here is lying. We're screaming on the shore yelling at the top of our lungs "KEEP SWIMMING".

Be as pro-active about your mental health as you are your physical health. Take it seriously and research, and press through the days where your whole body is crying. Whatever you do DO NOT JUST SINK. As long as your body has breath in it you have the opportunity to decide to stop sinking and swim for your life. There are people who are looking forward to pulling you from the water so splash shout make some noise my beautiful friend, SWIM....

Seek & you shall find,

Depression Help