Still Recovered!

Well, it's been two months since I've written here, but I'm busy with two jobs and I am now enrolled in the Nedley Depression Recovery training program. That's right! I'm going to become a director so that I can hold seminars and help other people recover as I have!

I'm so grateful to God for directing me to real and lasting recovery that I feel I would be a fraud of a human being if I didn't help others find the same healing. So, I have three more sessions and then I'll be certified.

If you haven't yet checked it out, don't delay in going to www.drnedley.com to order the DVD and workbook set for yourself. It's worth the cost! If you are not ready to take that route, at least read through my posts from the very beginning and you'll pick up some highlights from the course and from my own journey to recovery.

For now....breathe deeply, eat your omega-3 (see my earlier posts for sources), get in the sunshine (the earlier in the morning the better), and exercise! Did you say you didn't want to exercise? Umm...I think I heard you say you don't want to exercise. Hmmmm.... that's up to you. But do you want to keep feeling like you do now? :-) Exercise truly does lift your mood. Just one factor in recovery, but an important one.

Happy healing!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Well, it has been a year since I began the depression recovery program and I am still doing great. As you have seen (if you have read my archives), I have had some setbacks here and there, but all in all, recovery has carried through! This is the longest I have ever gone without falling back into major depression, including unhealthy weight loss, anxiety, ocd, and the ever present darkness. In fact, I am far from it. And here is the very encouraging PROOF that I am recovered: I still have problems in my life. Some of them are the very ones I had during "The Great Depression." In fact, some may even be more serious now than they were then. HOWEVER, I am not falling into major depression. I am sad, yes, because I have reasons to be sad. I am concerned, yes, about some situations because I have reasons for concern. But I am dealing with these things with a mind that can focus better and approach problems with honesty and not constant fear, anxiety, and second-guessing. This is huge! So, I just wanted to report this as an encouragement, I guess. Because as I was pondering the things that are bothering me very much right now, I also had to notice that I wasn't bracing myself for the plummet! It is a reminder to me (and to you) that there is a difference in being depressed (normal) and having depression. Realizing this is a very welcome anniversary gift, which I'm warmly embracing. Bring in the cake and light the candle!

Validation!

I'm so charged! I just got off the phone with one of Dr. Nedley's associates. I was asking her a technical question about something I wanted to add to my blog, and while we were talking, she began to share with me the success of other people and I found myself realizing she was describing me! So long I found myself fitting into the description of the depressed person, nodding my head and saying to myself, "Yep, that's me." But now I am in the new group. Or RE-newed group, I should say! Just wanted to share that with you. Hang on! There's a place waiting in that group for you too!