HAPPY MONDAY!
Some internal conversations bring us today’s word-of-the-week…
DETACHMENT
God and I have had some conversations recently about detachment.
My feeling, my internal sense of well-being, seems detached from circumstances. Things are going great, but I feel this internal depression and sadness with no apparent source or reason.
Since this blog is about following Jesus through ups and downs, I figured I’d be honest about this odd juxtaposition of happy outcomes and interior despair. Experience tells me I’m not the only person who’s awakened in this strange land.
Some thoughts.
I won’t impose platitudes on myself. Have faith. Jesus came to give you a joy-filled life. God doesn’t want you to be depressed.
All true enough, and all dripping with guilt when lobbed at myself in the midst of struggle. God and I are talking, Jesus and I are friends, and we’ll get through this. More guilt isn’t going to help.
I don’t need a better self-concept. What I really need is self-compassion. I need to take it easy on myself, to forgive myself, to let it be okay when I fall short of whatever expectations I set for myself.
Speaking of expectations, I need to stop! I imagine far too much about what others expect of me, and I set far too many expectations for myself. They’re killers.
These won’t solve the problem. The depression is an illness. I can’t wish it away. If you’re struggling in a similar place don’t let someone tell you you should, either.
But I’m not alone, For a long time, I wasn’t sure about that. It doesn’t make the problem disappear.
It does offer hope, the kind of hope that changes things.
Have a great week!
Please leave a comment here.
Want to receive free updates?
Click below to get Bouncing Back
delivered directly to your inbox.
The depression is a disability. I have a friend who is a double leg amputee. I explained it to him this way. You wear prosthesis to help you adapt to your disability. Sometimes they hurt your legs, sometimes they don’t work the way you want them, sometimes they break and you need to see a specialist to have them fixed, sometimes they chafe and make you bleed. Well, my brain has a disability as well. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn’t work the way I want it to, sometimes (actually regularly) it breaks and I have to see a specialist who can help me fix it. You wear prosthetic legs, I take medication. Just because you cannot physically see my disability, doesn’t mean I don’t have one. You can’t wish the depression away just like you cannot wish your paralysis away, but you can do things to help you adapt to it, just like using a wheelchair helps you adapt to not being able to use your legs the way you want to. I pray to God and ask Him to show me the tools I need in order to help me adapt and so far he has answered every single one of those prayers 🙂
Amy…Well said!