Benefits of sharing

I could not wait to share with you how beneficial sharing my recent depressive episode was for me.  Not only was it helpful in reducing the power of the depressive thoughts and beliefs by exposing them for what they were, but it also was helpful to hear from so many of you that you share a similar struggle.

In preparing to write the previous blog outing my depression, I had set some wheels in motion, so I was beginning to make the shift out of feeling like a victim of circumstances into looking at it from a bit more of a balanced, detached, and larger perspective.

Writing the blog, along with a few other synchronistic events, catapulted me from the beginning of the shift to completing the shift.  The score today would look more like Reaching Out = 5 to Depression = 1.  I like that score far better.

It has occurred to me in the past week that the events of the past 1 ½ years, particularly the past year, have perhaps been better preparing me for whatever I decide to create next for my life.

Having to deal with my symptoms of PLS for the first time in over four years last year with the pump swap, then dealing with depressive symptoms I hadn’t had to deal with in nearly six years seemed to be a bit more than a coincidence.  At least it seems so now more than it did a few weeks ago when I was a victim.

Such “coincidences” from my usual perspective signal me to pay more attention to the inherent lessons.  Allowing illness, pain and depression to have my power seemed to also take away my ability to look at the series of events since July 2010 with the larger perspective in recent months.

While the physical part of the story does not appear to have an ending quite yet, I am always more interested in being able to see things from the bigger picture perspective along the way. 

Seeing situations and events from this perspective always helps me to detach a bit, find my balance/footing and to better manage whatever may be happening in my life.

Reclaiming my personal power has given me back control over how I choose to create what happens next.  While I know what some of that entails, I am finding that I also have a renewed excitement in my role/responsibility in determining the rest.  That is quite a benefit from writing one blog if you ask me!

For those of you who took a risk and courageously shared how much you could relate to my previous blog, I hope you found equal value in sharing your struggle with me.

The value in processing and sharing thoughts and feelings goes beyond reclaiming your personal power.  It strengthens personal relationships, improves immune function, enhances social support and often opens doors to new relationships. 

Most importantly, it can move us back into operating from a state of gratitude and love instead of fear by helping us to see the bigger picture.