Defeating Depression Part 3 - Taking Action

Imagine you are sitting alone, in a dark room. You don’t know how you got there, and you don’t know how to get out. You feel afraid, and you don’t know what to do to get out. So you start thinking about what you should do. Perhaps there is a door, but there is no light so you can’t see it, if indeed there is. Perhaps there is a light, but you are sitting on the ground and will not find it until you get up and go look for it.

This is how depression works. You can feel alone, afraid, and not knowing what to do. With a mind shift, you can start to think about ways to get out of your current situation. However, until you actually put those thoughts into action, you will never get up off the floor to turn on the light, and actually find the door that leads you out of the room.

Unless you take action to fulfill your desires, they will be nothing more than dreams. They may well be great dreams, but you can only remain in a dreaming state for so long, before you are going to have to face your reality. The only way to face reality and gain new experiences is to act upon all of the positive thinking you have done.

Sometimes taking action can scary. There are no guarantees of success. Be that as it may, what you will gain from every single action is a result. You can then measure your results according to your goals and values. If you are unhappy with the results, you now have more information about the action you will need to move forward. That information is valuable, and thus, you can never actually fail from taking action.

Taking action is what separates dreamers from achievers. It is the results of your action that will produce your future thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Without this action you can never move forward, as all of your results from the past have only led you to this point. It is imperative to understand this concept, if you are ever to truly step out of the darkness of depression.

You have already learned in Part 2 of Defeating Depression, to look for the positives in every perceived negative situation. It is with this mindset that you should stride confidently into each new action that will bring you closer to your goals. Your actions, if they are in synch with your values, will ensure that you are doing what is important to you.

Action also includes physical exercise. For those who suffer from depression, this is very important as exercise increases energy levels, and self-confidence. If you have ever been depressed, or know of someone who has been depressed, you will know that energy levels and self-confidence are important obstacles that need to be addressed. Regular exercise will go a long way in helping those who suffer from depression to get up, get out, and live!

I am not suggesting that you need to become a body builder, or train to run marathons. I’m simply suggesting that you make some form of physical exercise a part of your daily routine. Walking, swimming, and even stretching can be easy forms of exercise. Some days you may feel like doing more than others, and that is ok. Just try to do a little each day.

In fact, exercise can bring very rapid results for helping depression. Usually you will feel much better immediately after exercise. What’s more is that the results can last for hours.

Is it not fair to say that if you can feel good for a few more hours each day that your life would be much better? Of course! Try it for yourself. Go for a walk, a run, or even do just twenty minutes of stretching and notice how you feel right after. The results will give you something to think about if you are not already including daily exercise in your life.

The important thing to remember is that every action you take will produce a result. Those results are going to give you the information you need to continue to move forward in the direction you want to go.

Wayne Gretzky scored more points than any hockey player in history. He once said that he realized early in life, that he did not score on 100% of the shots he didn’t take. Just as you will not achieve your goals or have the life you want, if you never take a shot by putting your thoughts into action!

Defeating Depression Part 2 - Positive Thinking

In Defeating Depression Part 1, I talked about the importance of choosing to tackle this problem drug free. By having a clear and conscious mind, you allow yourself to remain in control of your thoughts, and your choices. It is your thoughts, and the choices of what you think about, where you must now focus your energy.

Depression is a mental health issue. While at different stages of depression you may well feel physical effects, it is at the thought level and the subsequent feelings created by those thoughts where the physical symptoms were created. If your thoughts are of despair and hopelessness, you are certainly going to remain in a depressed state of mind. In order to defeat depression, you are absolutely going to have to change the way you think.

In preparing for this article, I thought about what I had done to change my thinking. As I went through my process, I realized that I had used 5 personal development techniques to help me. In my opinion, if you use these 5 methods you will be well on your way to having defeated depression.

Positive and Negative List:

A positive and negative list is simply that. A list of everything that you feel is positive or negative in your life, right now. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of the page, and make one side for the positives and one side for the negatives.

When someone is depressed it can often be difficult to see the positives. However, if you take the time to really think about it, you always have positives in your life. It could be as simple as the fact that you woke up today and were alive, or perhaps that you have a roof over your head. Do not take for granted the positives you do have in your life, you have many more than you may be aware of, while in a depressed state of mind.

Now you can make your negative list. This is the time to let it all out. Put down everything that you perceive as negative in your life. This list is going to be just as important as your positive list, so make sure you list everything. Remember nobody has to ever to read your list.

Once you have your lists completed, take a moment to reflect on what you have put down. If there is anything you feel is missing, go ahead and add it now. Perhaps you feel there is something you want to take off of your lists, and that’s ok too. This is your list, so make sure it’s a representation of how you truly feel.

Now that you have your two lists, you can tear the piece of paper in half. You will now use each side for different purposes. Start with your list of positives and make note of all the positive people you have in your life. It may only be one, but that’s ok. What’s important is that you recognize that they are a positive part of your life. Those are the people you are going to want to surround yourself with, especially in the early stages of defeating depression.

Also take a moment as you look over your list of positives, and really feel thankful for having those things. Gratitude is a positive feeling, and you should make as much time as you can each day to feel thankful for the positives in your life. This is one simple step to help focus your mind on positives.

Now it’s time to look over your list of negatives. Are there people on your list? If so, it’s time to take a stand for yourself. Unless you feel you can change your relationship (and by all means you should try where possible) with these people, it is time to let them go. They may have been an important part of your life at one time, and it may not be easy. However, in order to move forward you need to let go of the past.

For every single negative on your list, try to come up with a positive that could come from that perceived negative. Perhaps you have lost your job you had for the past 10 years. You don’t really know how to do anything else and this can feel like a horrible situation, especially when there are bills to pay.

What could possibly be positive about that situation? Well for starters, you may have been unhappy with your job. You could have been working that job simply to pay the bills, without getting any real satisfaction from the work you were doing. Now that you have lost your job, you have the time to look for more satisfying work, or perhaps go back to school.

That job is done, and therefore so is that part of your life. You can only control how you choose to see things from this point forward. Why not look at your situation from the most positive perspective possible and work towards a better future?

When I wrote my first positive and negative list, I was sitting in a jail cell. Obviously one of the negatives on my list was the fact I was imprisoned. What I did was to change the way I perceived my situation. I was in jail, but I was no longer on the street doing drugs. I now had a chance to get healthy. I was in jail, but I could use all that boring time alone to wallow in self-pity, or to make plans for a better future. I chose to make plans for a better future.

You too, have the ability to choose how you perceive every negative on your list. There is a positive to be found from every perceived negative. Every negative can be seen as a challenge, and an opportunity for growth. So find the positives in your list of negatives, and what you will be left with, is a new way of looking at the challenges you face, and of course, two lists of positives.

Identify Replacement Thoughts:

Sometimes depression causes what seems to be an endless stream of negative thoughts. These thoughts can cycle over and over in your mind and leave you feeling tortured. Often you will experience sleepless nights, and difficulty focusing when you really need to. One technique that I used to combat this problem was to identify replacement thoughts.

Replacement thoughts are simply positive thoughts that make you feel good. The idea here is to have these replacement thoughts planned ahead of time, so that you can summon them when your mind is under attack from negative thoughts. By replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones, you will train your mind to focus on the positives.

This is a simple technique to set up, however depending on the severity of your depression; it can be very difficult to do. Be aware that in the beginning when you intentionally try to shift your thoughts, your mind will wander back to it’s old thinking pattern and bring more negative thoughts. Replacing your thoughts can be very frustrating and tough to master.

When I initially began using this technique, I was only getting 2 hours of sleep at night. I simply could not shut off the negative thoughts. I prepared a list of replacement thoughts, and started using the technique so I could get some peace at night. What I found was at first I had a battle going on inside my head. While I attempted to implement a new thinking pattern, the old pattern resisted.

It took me an entire week of using this technique before I was finally able to increase my sleep time to 4 hours a night. Eventually though, with persistence and determination I was able to shift my thought patterns. There were times when I let my mind wander that the old negative thoughts would creep back in, however I was able to overcome them much easier.

I encourage you to identify very meaningful positive thoughts that you can use to replace your negative thoughts. Also, when a negative thought does come, try practicing what you did with your positive and negative list. Find a way to see a positive in the negative thought. In time if you practice this technique, you will prevail.

Identify Your Values:

Simply stated, your values are what are important to you. These are the things you need in your life for you to be happy. Your values are personal, because they are what are special and meaningful to you! Values can be anything from love and peace, to wealth and success.

By identifying your values, you can focus on those things that are important to you. If you are living in accordance with what is important to you, you will feel happy. To not live in accordance with your values is stressful, because you are literally living in conflict.

Many times when I talk to people who are feeling depressed, they tell me they don’t know why they feel that way. They simply know they do not feel good about life or themselves. The first thing that comes to mind in these situations are that people are not living in accordance with their own values. Perhaps they have never identified their own values.

There were times in my life when I did not know why I felt so miserable about life. Looking back at those times, I can see that I was living a life that went against everything that was important to me. This explained why I did not like myself, or who I had become. During those times I was completely oblivious to the fact that I was not living in accordance with my values.

As an example health is a very important value to me. However, in almost every case of depression in my life, I was using drugs, drinking alcohol, or both. To someone who values their health, it is difficult to feel good about life, if you are abusing yourself with the use of drugs and alcohol.

The goal is to identify what your values are, and then make sure you are living a life that is in accordance with those values. This will go a long way in ensuring your own personal happiness. I’m including a list of values to get you started thinking.

Love
Confidence
Empathy
Communication
Success
Abundance
Honesty
Liberty
Growth
Happiness
Honor
Humor
Challenge
Bravery
Health
Ambition
Motivation
Peace
Respect
Passion
Sensitivity
Perseverance
Patience

Set Goals:

Goals are the things you want to achieve, or experience in your life. Your goals give you the drive to move forward in life. By setting and accomplishing your goals, you grow and gain a sense of confidence. Identifying and working towards your goals gives your mind a positive focus.

Goals and values work best together. In my article The Values Of Goals, I talk about how a goal should have a value behind it. A goal without a value is simply an empty goal, which will be difficult to obtain. So make sure that when you are setting goals for yourself, you find out what perceived value you are getting from achieving that goal.

Many people, who suffer from depression, also suffer from a lack of direction in their life. They may feel stuck or hopeless in their current state. Your goals are your dreams in action. Surely chasing your dreams is a great direction for your life to take. In fact, what could possibly be better?

There are many great ideas to help you set goals. The one idea I want to focus on for the purpose of defeating depression is to make easy to achieve goals. By keeping your goals simple and easily achievable you allow yourself to gain confidence. It’s important that you celebrate all of your victories, as this will help develop a positive outlook.

It is ok to make long-term goals. However, when you do make sure you set mini goals as steps along the way. In this way you are allowing yourself to be continually successful. If you simply set a long-term goal, it can sometimes be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and you can become discouraged. In order to avoid that keep one important factor in mind, it is the journey that is to be enjoyed, not the destination. Once you do achieve a goal, you will continue to set new ones, so enjoy the process.

Affirmations:

Affirmations are a creative way of asserting something is true in our conscious mind. The goal is to repeat the affirmation so that it impresses upon your subconscious mind and changes your thought patterns. One analogy I like to use is that of a garden. See your subconscious mind as a garden, you as the gardener, plant seeds (thoughts) from your conscious mind into the garden. As with any garden, the dominant seeds planted will produce the dominant plant (thoughts).

The key is believing what you are affirming. Otherwise you plant one seed of thought, but your actual belief will plant another seed of thought, and you will end up with conflicting results. Allow yourself to feel worthy of that which you are affirming. Also, allow for what you are affirming to be possible in your mind. After all until something fails, you cannot know it to be impossible.

Here are a few forms of affirmations.

Writing positive statements that you repeat to yourself.

Creating a vision board with pictures of a desired goal.

Telling others about your goal or desire.

Recording yourself reading your affirmations and listening to your own voice affirming.

Visualizing a desired state or goal.

Your imagination is the only limit to how you can use affirmations. Using them repeatedly will eventually change the thought patterns that you are currently cycling through and causing your depression.

Some will suggest using simple short statements for affirmations. They are easy to remember, and can be done anywhere. Certainly this is a practical technique in a busy world. However, I believe that the more creativity and time you spend on your affirmations, the deeper the impression made upon your subconscious mind. This in turn will yield more effective results.

Using the five personal development techniques I have discussed in this article will go a long way to helping you finally defeat depression and live a positive healthy lifestyle. I recommend that you try these techniques for 45 days. If you follow them day in and day out, I have no doubt you will be much more focused on the positives in life.

In Part 3 of this series I will talk about the action stage. In the meantime, get started right now, going to work on your thoughts. Be awesome!

Defeating Depression Part 1

The first step in defeating depression is to realize that you are indeed suffering from depression. As with any problem you may face until you acknowledge that you do indeed have a problem, you cannot possibly overcome it. Therefore you must be honest with yourself and determine if you have any of the symptoms that go along with depression. You may also wish to see a doctor, and get their opinion.

If a doctor does diagnose you with depression, it is important to ask questions about the diagnosis. Do they feel it is a chemical imbalance of some form, or simply a state of mind due to unresolved issues? I want to be clear when I say that I am not a doctor, and I know nothing about treating depression that is connected with chemical imbalances. I do however know all about beating depression that stems from unresolved issues. I know, because I have done it, and that is the experience I wish to pass along to you, in hopes that you too, can defeat depression.

So, you are depressed. You realize it and you decide you want to do something to stop this endless feeling of despair. Realize that you have already made the first, and most important step of defeating depression, and living a positive, healthy lifestyle. Celebrate this victory, as it will be the first of many for you on this journey. You have already made the biggest step of all. Congratulations! Now what do you do?

Defeat Depression Drug-Free

Unless your doctor has told you that your depression is a chemical imbalance that absolutely needs medication, then resist the urge to use the many forms of medication available to help you “feel better” day to day. The type of depression I am talking about is a state of mind. This state of mind can be from countless unresolved issues. What is imperative to realize, is that you are going to need a clear mind to fight through this.

Taking drugs of any kind alters your mind, and your body chemistry. Any relief provided by drugs, is temporary. Choosing to simply remain on drugs will only serve to trade your depression for an addiction. Which is a choice you are certainly free to make, that also carries it’s own set of consequences. If you are with me this far, I’m going to assume you have better intentions for yourself.

In order to defeat depression, you are going to want to live consciously. You want to be aware of how you are feeling, so that you can make choices about how to deal with those feelings. What often happens with drug use is that you feel better in the moment, and thus you don’t really deal with the issues that caused the problem in the first place. In order to move forward and gain control over depression, you absolutely need to remain aware and make conscious choices. In doing so you will gain the feedback needed to make any changes in your choices as you progress.

Nobody can make this choice for you. You and you alone must choose to overcome depression without drugs, prescribed or otherwise. However, this choice in itself is an empowering one. By choosing to live consciously through the journey, you gain a sense of not allowing the depression to make the choice for you.

Essentially, you gain a foothold of control back, in your own life. You have decided that you will have control over your thoughts, which will eventually change your feelings and actions. This is a much better position to be in, than to allow your feelings of despair that comes with depression to make your choices for you.

When I decided to come off my prescribed depression medication, I decided to have a talk with my doctor. I told him that I was sick of feeling like a walking zombie. I felt numb to the world around me, and while I did not feel depressed I didn’t really feel much emotion to anything at all. I no longer felt alive. I had gone from simply existing in a state of depression, to existing in a state of indifference.

I told my doctor, that I wanted to be able to feel my feelings again. I did not care if they were difficult feelings, or joyous feelings; I simply wanted to feel something. I told my doctor that I thought I didn’t need to take medication any longer, and that I would be better off without it. To my amazement, he agreed with me! The same man, who had prescribed me medication, was now agreeing that I did not need medication to deal with depression.

My doctor told me something during that meeting that I will never forget. He said that when I had first come to him, I was in despair. I had come into his office overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and had lost my passion for life. I had told him that I needed something to help me deal with these feelings. So he started me on a low dose of anti-depressants. At that point, I thought I needed medication to fight my depression. So he said that’s exactly what he did for me.

Now, there I was some five years later declaring that I thought I did not need medication to fight against depression. Once again, my doctor was working in accordance with my thoughts. What I actually thought I needed, he was going to go along with. He said that generally, it is whether or not a patient does or does not think they need medication that will determine if they actually need medication.

I found this to be remarkable! What I thought was what I needed. In that moment, my doctor was confirming was countless personal development books and articles have been saying all along. It is our through our thoughts that we determine our lives. So if you are in a state of depression, surely your thoughts have led you to that point. What’s more is that if your thoughts have led you there, they can surely lead you away from there.

The key is to remain free of drugs, which will alter your mind and provide a temporary alternate reality. Once the drugs effects wear off, reality will still be there, and you will still have to face it. You can certainly change where you are with your conscious mind. You will simply need to do it with different thoughts than those that caused you the problems in the first place. Embrace your own personal power of liberty. You are free to choose to defeat depression, drug free!

Defeating Depression Introduction

Depression is a mental health illness affecting approximately 1 in 10 people per year. It is a serious condition that impacts the quality of life in almost every area. Those who suffer from depression often do not know why and this can make it a very difficult illness to overcome. In fact depression can last for years if it is not treated.

Symptoms of depression may include:

Prolonged feelings of sadness or hopelessness

Changes in appetite and weight

Withdrawal from social interaction

Sleeping for abnormal periods and feeling fatigued

Loss of interest in activities and hobbies

Concentration difficulty

Suicidal thoughts

As a person who has suffered from depression in the past, I have a strong desire to see people overcome this illness. I myself was so crippled by depression that at times I would lay in bed for up to 18 hours a day. My thoughts were constantly negative. I became addicted to drugs in attempts to escape the constant despair. I had no feelings of hope, and in fact attempted suicide at one of my lowest points.

My doctor diagnosed me with depression, and I was put on medication to help treat it. However, years of trying different medications were not working, and I was becoming more depressed. Some of the medications actually had negative effects on my everyday life. What’s more, coming off some medications caused serious withdrawal effects.

The road to defeat depression was a long one indeed. Yet, I am here to say that I absolutely did overcome depression. Not only did I overcome the illness, I did it without drugs prescribed by a doctor. I managed to do on my own, in a little under a year, what 5 years of prescribed medication could not.

Today I am absolutely one of the happiest people I know. I wake up early each day, and I am thankful for my life. I am full of energy. I love to go out and try new things, and meet new people. No longer do I simply exist, now I actually enjoy living my life. It is an amazing feeling, and it’s a feeling that I hope to help others who suffer from depression achieve.

So what was the secret that helped me to overcome depression? Well, what worked for me was a process of positive personal development. By growing, and winning personal victories my confidence has grown by leaps and bounds. In this series of articles I am going to share some of the methods I have used and how they have worked for me. It is my intention to inspire and help those who suffer from depression, and give some understanding to those who may know someone who suffers.

Cheer for Positive Change

The recent news of Michael Vick’s conditional reinstatement into the NFL has caused quite a stir. Public opinion on Vick’s return to the NFL is split it seems. While many fans are happy to have the talented quarterback reinstated, there are many others, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), that vehemently oppose Vick being allowed back into the NFL.

For those of you who are not football fans, or perhaps have not heard about this story, I’ll recap. Michael Vick was the quarterback for the Atlanta Flacons. He was talented, and one of the rising young stars in the league. However, in August of 2007, the National Football League suspended Vick, for funding and participating in a dog-fighting ring. Vick himself was involved in the killing and torture of losing dogs.

Now as a dog lover, and animal lover in general, I would like to say that I find what happened more than a little disturbing. I do not condone dog-fighting rings, and I especially do not support the torture and killing of animals.

Be that as it may, Michael Vick was sentenced to a 23-month prison term, which is now over. He has been released, and he has paid his debt to society at large as imposed upon on him by the people society pays to make these decisions. It is time to move forward.

On Monday the NFL conditionally reinstated Vick, and he is free to sign with a NFL team should he find one willing to hire him. He is allowed to participate in practices and the final two pre-season games, however, he is not allowed to play in a regular season game until at least week 6, when the commissioner of the NFL will re-evaluate the situation.

With that announcement has come a wave of public outrage, with PETA leading the charge. Many people seem to feel because of what Vick did, he should no longer be allowed to play professional football. Some feel that these athletes and are role models, and that Vick no longer is able to fill that role.

Look, I understand that what Vick did was wrong. However, I would have to disagree with those who feel Vick should not be allowed to play in the NFL because of his crimes that he has laready served his sentence for. In my view, Michael Vick has an opportunity to be an example of making positive changes, and in doing so become an excellent example for others who have had made poor choices in their past.

I wonder what purpose all of this anger and negative energy really serves? I mean, if you are for animal safety, why not focus your energy on creating safe environments for animals. Perhaps put some time into saving the wetlands so that we don’t lose more species. What I can’t agree with, is condemming this man for all of his existence. What he has done, he has done, and no amount of anger is going to change that reality. Thus, the focus now, should be on how to protect animals in the future from these types of abuse. Not only that but on helping and supporting a man to change his life and make better choices in the future.

What gain is there for society if everytime somebody commits a crime, they are obstucted from ever changing their life for the better, and becoming a valuable member of society? I can see no gain. In fact, if this were to be the case, we would simply release people from prisons, only to have them commit another crime and go back. All that creates is more victims.

Now I realize that there is a high return to prison rate. However, I wonder if society has not created some conditions that make this likely to happen. Stopping a man from working because of a criminal background, means he is going to have to find some alternative way to live. It’s safe to say that unless someone can find a way to live on his own, it will come at another person’s expense.

I for one hope Michael Vick does make it back onto the football field. I also hope that he finds it within himself to make changes to his lifestyle, and become an example of positive change. It is my belief that the world needs more of these examples, if we are to give any hope to the kids that are struggling and perhaps heading down the wrong road today.

With so many people focusing their energy on anger towards this situation, they are only harming themselves, and bringing those around them down. Anger can not change what happened to those dogs. So why feel angry? Why not make your own positive change, and turn your anger into love for the animals and go do something that will make a positive impact on future animal safety?

Personally, I choose to hope for positive change.

You Are Appreciated

Thank you for being angry with me.
I learned to have understanding.

Thank you for robbing me and leaving me broke.
I learned to find happiness without money.

Thank you for isolating me.
I learned to love myself.

Thank you for turning your back on me.
I learned to handle rejection.

Thank you for the times you made me wait.
I learned to have patience.

Thank you for laughing at me.
I learned to be humble.

Thank you for attempting to control me.
I learned to stand for liberty.

Thank you for leaving me.
I learned to love someone else.

Thank you for the time you yelled at me, and slapped my face.
I learned to have self-control.

Thank you for pushing me down into that hole.
How else would I have learned to climb out of a hole?

Thank you for the time you told me I would not succeed.
You gave me just the push I needed to accomplish my goal.

I appreciate all of you that gave me opportunities to learn. You have been my teachers in this world, and I am grateful to have been your student.

Freedom Fighting

To live free, is to have complete control over your life. The alternative is to exist in a state where you allow others to take control for you. True happiness can only be found in breaking loose from the chains of restraint, and living in freedom.

Allowing someone else to have control of your life is the same as voluntarily living in prison. Every time you accept someone else making decisions for you, you allow them build another wall in the prison that keeps you locked in. Unless you can be happy living in a prison, where your choices are made for you, you must decide to fight for your freedom. You must decide to be the one in control of the boundaries of your life.

If you are not in control of your life, who is? Better yet, why are they in control of your life? You are the one who must live with the feelings and consequences of the choices made in your life. So it only makes sense that you should be the one making those choices. Freedom is what allows you to control your own life. It is a conscious choice you must make in order to ensure that you are deciding your own experiences, attitudes, and behaviors.

In order to be free, you must be somewhat defiant. You must be willing to stand up for your own beliefs, values, goals, and choices. Your choices may not be the ideal choices for others, but they are certainly the best choices for you. Even if a choice does not produce the desired result, you will have made your own mistake and not someone else’s. This way you are learning lessons, and growing based on what is important to you.

Imagine a goal you have for yourself. Perhaps it is having a fancy sports car, your dream home, or going on an exotic vacation. Whatever your goal, it is yours and it is something you want. If someone were to tell you that you could not have that goal, they are trying to take away your freedom to have your goal. They may not be doing it intentionally, and perhaps they simply do not see a way for you to achieve you goal. However, if you accept what they say, you are surrendering your freedom to them.

Many people have been in a relationship their parents did not approve of. Usually the parent’s intentions are good, as they are simply trying to protect their children. However, they are also attempting to control their children to live in accordance with their ideals. If you listened to your parents and did not have relationships that did not meet their approval, you not only gave up your own freedom, you also very likely were not happy about it.

You see, when you are making your own decisions, you are making your own mistakes, and you are winning your own victories. You are literally growing into the person you want to become, and having the experiences you wish to have based on your decisions. When you are in control of making your own decisions, you can be happy, because at the time you are doing what you want to do. The outcome does not matter.

This is your life, and one day it will end. When it’s all said and done, will you have been a passenger in your own life, or will you have given yourself the freedom to sit behind the steering wheel, and control the gas pedal?