More Tips For Beating Depression….

I’m not going to fib to you.  It is neither easy nor quick to get over depression.  Most things though, that are worth doing and are necessary for our good health, are worth the effort.

I talked some previously about how walking helped me when I had a bout of depression.  Simple, short, easy walks; around the neighborhood I lived in.  I needed no special equipment, didn’t have to drive anywhere, didn’t have to set aside a block of time, and best of all—I could literally do it at the drop of a hat.

Which means, I didn’t have to “plan it out.”  Which then gives you the opportunity to “change plans.”  I can remember sitting on my couch, feeling lousy, low, sad, blue, unenergetic, and thinking to myself, “I know in my head that if I go take a walk, it will help.  I don’t want to, but I’m just going to get up this instant, and go.”  And I would.  Literally, just make myself stand up, get my keys, walk out the door, and go.  Just go.

Just do it! You may think this is only a company’s marketing slogan, but it is so much more.  Most of us don’t want to exercise.  We don’t want to eat only healthy foods.  We don’t want to do yoga.  We wish we wanted to, but our deep-down secret is that we don’t want to!

Well, you know what?  That’s OK!  It’s OK that you don’t want to exercise.  That’s OK.  Because, it doesn’t matter if you want to or not; what matters is that you just do it.

You don’t need to want to as long as you do it.  Do it anyway, whether you want to or not.  Doesn’t matter.  You will get the same benefit.  And I’ll let you in on a little secret.

Soon, you will want to.  You’ll look forward to your walk.  Or, if not look forward to, at least it won’t seem like such an unpleasant task.  Maybe you’ll not feel like doing it, but once you’re out the door and heading off down the sidewalk, taking your deep breaths, looking up at the sky, consciously feeling gratitude for your mobility, your vision, your hearing, you might find yourself thinking of something else besides what troubles you.   Next thing you know, you’ll be finished with your walk and I can almost promise you that you’ll feel better.

Don’t believe me?  I challenge you to just try it for a couple of weeks.  Report back to me and let me know if it helped or not.  I’d love to hear.

Just do it.

Tagged as: Depression, fight depression, fitness, Gratitude, health, Mental Health, walking