How to Find Positivity During Depression (Amanda)

How to Find Positivity During Depression

It's important to let your emotions come and go as they are — trying to change your current emotions is frustrating and stressful. There's nothing wrong with you for having a hard time climbing out of that spiral of negative thoughts. That being said, there are occasions where you're in a depressive bout and you want to find some pieces of positivity to help push you through it. Instead of trying to change your negative emotions, we're going to add some positive ones.

Get Comfortable With Yourself

The only thing you are guaranteed in this life is yourself. Throughout everything, friendships that come and go, career changes, moves, relationships, family, and more; Nothing is guaranteed to stay in your life forever except for you. For this reason, consider yourself your own best friend. Treat yourself as you’d treat your best friend in the world!

You are amazing — and I'm not just saying that. You have persevered so far in life, you have learned, you’ve gone through major changes (either good or bad), you have gotten through your lowest lows, and you are still here, still reading this, trying to continue improving to give yourself the best life you can. It’s hard to see from the depths of depression, but you should be really proud of yourself. This is what you’d tell your best friend, right?

Connect With Friends, Family, or Even Strangers

Being there for yourself is important, but as social creatures, we find so much benefit and positivity in our interactions with others. If you have some friends or family you can reach out to, do it! You can connect with them at a casual level; maybe go see a movie together, have dinner, play a board game, you name it. If you’re not feeling up to visiting, you can just have a chat on the phone or a text conversation.

When you feel that it’s acceptable and if it’s something you want to do, you can open up to them about your current or past struggles. Your friends and family care about you and will listen to you to support you through your struggles. Try to let them know in advance if you want them to help you find solutions or if you just want them to be there to hear you. A lot of people will default to helping you find solutions, but sometimes there are no solutions to be found (often in the case of depression). Let them know what you’re looking for, and make sure to listen to them as well if they want to talk about their struggles.

Lastly, some of us might not have friends or family, or we might not feel comfortable reaching out to them. That is 100% okay, and there are actually a ton of resources available to you for reaching out to strangers! There are online anonymous chats where you can text with others about your life. You can also be there to support them, which can give you positive feelings from giving. Also, don’t forget about your friends here at Letters Against Depression — our purpose is to be here for people just like you. We just want to see you feel better and succeed, and we want to be there for you. You can look into signing up to receive letters from us if you haven’t already.

Gratitude: Appreciate the Big and the Little Things

Aside from interpersonal relationships, there are other ways to help yourself feel better. Practicing gratitude can do wonders for your mind. Essentially, when we’re in the throes of depression, it can be difficult to recognize good things that are happening in the moment. We tend to go through the motions and focus on the negatives or nothing at all. 

To practice gratitude, give yourself a few minutes to think about what you have. This might be your friends, family, a roof over your head, a nice meal you had today, a good show you watched recently, or any number of things. It’s okay if you don’t have all of these things; try to focus on what you do have instead of what you don’t. 

You might not feel good about this list of things you’ve created just now, but with repetition, this attitude of gratitude will start to sink in and will allow you to smile about the things you have in life, no matter how small. Consider writing these down in the journal, and try adding stuff to that list consistently. Before you know it, you’ll have a decent list of things that you can smile about; you have these things in your life.

Finding Your Sense of Purpose

Finding your sense of purpose is incredibly difficult when in a normal state of mind, let alone while depressed. It’s not something you can discover in a day. Your purpose can be taking care of your family, supporting and spreading your faith, treating others with love and kindness, personal successes, doing well in your profession, and more. It can be all of the above. You might not be able to think of anything right now, but over time, that light bulb will come on and you’ll think, “This is what really makes it all worth it.”

Personally, I have a sticky note on my computer monitor with a small list of things that I want to do in my life: “Improve my health, volunteer, build my skills, prepare for a better future, be generous, and make friends.” This list, while brief, encompasses everything that I want to do with my life as of this moment. I see it multiple times a day every single day, and it reminds me that I’m on the right track to do what I want to do with my life. 

Your list will probably end up being pretty different from mine, but having this list and reflecting on it will help remind you what you need to be doing to be happy. Even making this list and looking at it is something to smile about; you know what you want to do, and now you have a brief reminder of what is important to you.

Conclusion: Take Care of Yourself No Matter What

All of the above points have one thing in common: you are in control of taking these steps. While nothing can truly stop depression, you can take these steps and more to add positivity into even your darkest days. Treat your mind and your body with love and care. You have had so many successes, you have gotten through so many rough times, and you deserve care, love, positivity, and hope.

Know that you are not alone. Regardless of your circumstances, there are a ton of people who empathize with and care about you, even if they don’t know you personally. You can contact these people, either through anonymous chats, making friends in odd places, or through your friends here at Letters Against Depression. 

Finding positivity can seem like an insurmountable task, but with perseverance and support, you will get there.