Remember your successes
Webmaster January 6th, 2008
By Cindy L.
Today, my friend shared with me through sms that she had found some purpose to live for. She reminded me that now long ago, she was feeling that there was none that she wanted to live for. I am happy for her and wished that she would always remember the experience - of having survived the low point of her life where she felt purposeless, to the higher point where she felt she could live for something. Somehow this sms conversation reminded me of my own experience. Although the nature and severity of both our experiences are different, I saw some similarity in what both our experiences might teach us about life, so I made a mental note to do some reflections when I return home tonight.
Not very long ago, somewhere starting Oct, I felt overwhelmed by feelings of stress, incompetence, lack of recognition and alienation. In an area of my life that used to mean a lot to me. I lost direction, hope and motivation. I have never felt like that before. From someone who had always looked forward to the next day, to someone who dreaded it. And it didn’t help that I lost my usual sense of hope and optimism that had always helped pick me up when I fell. Everything added together, and I started becoming depressed.
But I am glad this loss was temporary. Fortunately, things turned for the better just the last week. I am still searching for direction, but at least now, I feel slightly more assured, more hopeful. I may need more time to be back on track with my usual optimism, but at least now, I feel stronger to battle my setbacks.
Back to the lesson that my friend and my experiences offered — I hope we will always remember how the low points of our life are not permanent, and that we will be over it in time (whether long or short). These experiences will not be the end of all the setbacks we will ever encounter in our lives. But they are opportunities for us to grow stronger. And for us to learn what we will need to do to pull ourselves out of these lowest points much sooner, the next time it happens. I really hope I remember these.