No One Is Making You Depressed

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"You have the power to change your state of mind, and no one else. / Photo by Laurent B on Unsplash"

Recently I saw a post on Reddit which started something like: "The gaming industry is making me depressed."

This immediately made me pause.

No, no one or nothing is making you depressed. It is very important to realize that you are making yourself depressed. There is no one else who has the power to do that to you unless you give that power away.

Depression is an inside job, and that is true for other mental health issues as well, like anxiety.

The Helper vs. The Fixer

Now I am not saying at all that you shouldn't ask for help if you feel depressed. I wholeheartedly recommend finding a therapist—a licensed therapist that you can feel a good connection with—who can help you. If it is a severe depression and the therapist recommends you take some medication, then by all means take some medication as well.

However, it is important to get back to the main point of "don't give your own power away".

If you think this therapist is going to fix me or this medication is going to fix me, that is not the right attitude to take for deep healing. A good therapist, and the medication as well—they are there to help you help yourself.

The Gentle Pilot

You have the power to change your state of mind and no one else. Everyone and everything else is simply a helper to get you to that point of realization. You may not be able to control the events that happen but you are able to control the interpretation and meaning you give to those events.

So don't be a passenger on your own healing journey.

And of course, always be gentle with yourself. If you could do just that one thing, that would already make quite a significant difference.

When I am saying that it is an inside job, don't beat yourself up about it. There is no point in that. Simply be aware of it and know that you can claim that power back.

Aim to learn or unlearn something new every day.

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The Most Important Thing

I have recently read a powerful book by Adyashanti, and since then I start most of my meditations with the question, "What is the most important thing right now?" And I have found that it's a really powerful practice. He says: You could apply this concept

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How to Be Always Successful?

We could say that most people in the current modern world are almost obsessed with success, with the idea of success. There is so much written and said about "success" or "failure". But what is success or failure really in the world? Is there an absolute

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Sickness Is of the Mind

By the learning of this world, when we think about sickness, we really tend to think about the body primarily. The body does this, it feels this, it feels that, and so on. And then we judge people by the state of their body. However: "Remember, sickness is separation

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Peace Is Not About Productivity

It is natural to feel guilt, demotivation, and anxiety when your actions do not align with your desires and goals. This is from the ego's harsh judgment of yourself. And there is the deeper belief that you need to do something, you need to achieve something to be