“It gives strength to anyone who asks, in limitless supply.” –Course in Miracles
A person very close to me is struggling right now with depression. Since I used to believe I, too, had depression (To borrow a Prince moniker, I now refer to myself as “Joy Previously Masquerading as Sorrow”), I wrote him the following letter:
Dear________, (He refers to himself as a committed Christian which explains the terms in which this missive is couched)
I’ve been thinking a lot about your current depression. Because I have also suffered the debilitating “dis-ease,” I feel that I can understand and perhaps help in some way.
Here’s what I now know: The only thing “wrong” when I’m depressed is my thoughts. My thoughts start their incessant yammering, telling me I’m bad, that something is wrong with me, that life is hopeless.
But what I now believe with complete certainty–and what Jesus promises—is that these thoughts are false. They’re the tool of the devil or what I call “the ego.”
The Truth of which Jesus speaks is that He is stronger than the devil or those erroneous thoughts. At any time, I can throw those thoughts overboard because in God’s Truth, they are powerless. They are as insignificant as a dandelion blowing in the wind.
Luckily, I’m now able to laugh in the face of those thoughts. They’re simply NOT TRUE. And I refuse to buy into them.
God promises me an abundant life, a life of joy, purpose and peace. That’s the only Truth.
The thoughts of worthlessness are imposters. They only get away with their bald-faced lies to the extent I let myself believe them.
Quite frankly, I view them now as downright ridiculous. There is NO WAY I can be worthless or bad or unloved because God made me in His image and likeness.
The devil and the “evil thoughts” he puts in my heard are a giant bucket of bull.
Furthermore, they have no power except the power I give them. As for me, I choose to let them go, to see them for the posers they really are.
The only, only Truth is that God loves me as His precious child. He adores me and wants only good for me and for all His children.
As for the devil and his thoughts of worthlessness? They can kiss my beautiful, adored-by-God ass.
And so it is.
Pam Grout
Pam Grout is the author of E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality.
3 Responses
You and I both know it is not that simple. Please enlighten me if I am missing something.
Absolutely LOVE this, and sincerely appreciate this post, Pam!Wendy….after 20+ years in nursing, and extensive mental health research….I felt compelled to reply to your post. Self-Talk….is one component of therapy that I really got ‘hung up’ on when working with a multitude of patients. Self-Talk is….at it’s core, intended to ‘Re-Train’ our brains. We tend to focus on how ‘difficult’ EVERYTHING is, and that anything ‘simple’ can’t possibly work. Our healthcare system is busting at the seams with Mental Health issues because everyone is looking for an answer as to ‘What’s wrong with me?’ Changing that question….that focus to ‘What’s RIGHT?’ is absolutely a game-changer! Remember the songs played in Sunday school….listen with the ears of the child inside all of us (before we believed something was wrong) – “Jesus Loves Me” & “This Little Light of Mine” – Channel changed…..a whole new program begins!! Passionately embracing life with sincere gratitude for ALL of it’s abundance with my ‘Rocket of Desire’ for our society to change the channel to this awesome new program! Lol <3
I know this is necessarily something you want to hear while you have depression, but I consider my depression as a gift. It was painful at the time, but it set me on a spiritual path that made the next twenty years so much sweeter then they likely would have been.