On our bellies, we scratch and claw, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. In time, we become convinced there’s no hope for depression and anxiety. And we thought we’d never give up.
But you quit – gave up. And now all hope is truly gone.
Family members and friends can say, “Never give up.” ‘til the cows come home. But doing so can remain an attractive option.
Among the many reasons for never giving up…
Hope for depression and anxiety: Never give up too soon
What if we give up too soon? I mean, for all we know there really is hope for depression and anxiety – hope for all sorts of good things in our lives.
And a load of it was about to be delivered.
Heather’s story
Heather is 27 years old and has done her best to manage depression and anxiety since she was a kid.
As an adult, they’ve cost her plenty vocationally, as well as in relationships.
Two years ago, Heather met Marty and decided to give dating one more go. They were a great match; however, when it came to Heather’s symptoms, Marty struggled with empathy and tolerance.
That was hurtful to Heather. And as a result, she became tense and cautious around him.
Fact was, though, they were in love. So much so that Marty proposed. And with his commitment to work hard on his attitude and behavior, Heather accepted. They were to be married in nine months.
The dinner
Marty did the best he could, but then came the dinner with his family. Heather had a major panic attack and dashed out of the restaurant.
Marty went after her and found her pacing in the parking lot. He proceeded to go off on her, shouting some horrible things.
It was more than Heather chose to take. In tears, she told Marty she didn’t want to see or talk with him again. Marty knew she meant it and honored her wishes.
And that’s the way it was, at least for several months.
Lesson learned
What Heather didn’t know was Marty did some serious soul-searching after his tantrum. He knew he loved Heather. He also knew he had a lot of learning and maturing to do.
So he decided to work with a counselor. And it wasn’t long before he was a changed man. Wanting to put the past – the pain – behind him, Marty moved – far away.
After several months of reflection and a good bit of healing, Heather wanted to try again. She reached out to Marty, but he was gone. She had given up – too soon.
But you know what? Heather learned a life lesson, and began working even harder on becoming comfortable in her own skin.
She’ll be fine.
That close to success
“This is hard. I want to give up, yet I know I can’t – I won’t.”
Consider the words of Thomas Edison…
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Edison’s observation has meant a lot to me over the many years. By the way, replacing “are” with “happen to” works better for me.
I remember the utter hopelessness and helplessness I felt as I was enduring – battling – panic, anxiety, depression, and alcoholism.
I mean, I’d work and work and work some more; however, I just couldn’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Throwing in the towel
And you’d better know I thought about throwing in the towel plenty of times. But some sort of stupid blind faith well beyond my conscious awareness kept my nose to the grindstone.
And it’s the same with Chipur. I devote so much time and energy to the project and (unrealistically) can’t imagine why I don’t have 1,000,000 hits a day.
I mean, there have been times when I post an article and say to myself, “Okay, so who’s even going to read this?”
But give up? Nah.
Do you have hope for depression and anxiety?
So what about you? Whether it has to do with a mood, anxiety, or substance abuse issue – or something else entirely – have you ever felt like giving up?
Maybe you do right now. Perhaps you already have. Yes, in spite of your emotional, mental, physical, relational, and financial investment, cashing out seems to be the only option.
But consider this. Sure, you may not be getting the results you long for. Heck, you may not be seeing any positive results whatsoever.
What if?
We so often use “what if’s” to express our catastrophic thinking. How ‘bout we use them for purposes of strength and hope.
What if all this time something incredibly positive and powerful was building way down deep inside – again, well beyond your conscious awareness?
And what if it all was about to blossom within days, taking you to a wonderful place you could never have imagined?
But you quit – gave up. And now all hope is truly gone.
We can never give up
On our bellies, we scratch and claw, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. And as episodic as our suffering can be, it could be a frequent activity.
But as convinced as we may be there’s no hope for depression and anxiety, we have to intervene and strongly refute the myth.
Absolutely, we can never give up.
Hundreds of Chipur mood and anxiety disorder inspiration and info articles await. Just peruse the titles.
