Your Life Is (Still) Worth Living
Your life is still worth living, even though the purpose and people you thought would be with you forever are gone. Even when you can’t possibly see a way forward, your life is still worth living.
You ask yourself, “What’s the point of barely surviving through all this emotional turmoil and hollowness?” You have no desire to continue the monotony of life. You go to work and you see your friends. You go through the day-to-day motions, yet you can’t tell the last time you felt absolute joy.
Life isn’t always beautiful. No, most of the time, life is messy, uncertain, and full of unexpected twists and turns. Life can be cruel and unfair, but in these moments, we learn to relate to others and push each other forward. Life isn’t something that needs fixing; rather, each new experience teaches us qualities about ourselves that we didn’t know. It enables us to discover our resiliency.
Remember the times when the impossible became possible. Remember when you thought you’d never get over an old hurt, and though remnants remain, it’s not as gut-wrenching as before. You’ll be able to get through your heartache again. Remember when you thought there was no way out, yet you persisted? That drive is still within you. Your life is still worth living.
Engage in activities that make you hopeful and refer to them as your “little acts of hope.” Plant seeds and watch them grow. Write hopeful letters. Style your hair. Put on makeup. Move forward like you already have the life you want. Hope is an active process. Sometimes the dreams you once hoped for wear out. You’ll need to find new opportunities to propel you forward.
Life is about being connected to love in all of its forms. It’s recognizing all the unexpected ways love appears in your life, from a stranger’s smile to the flower in spring emerging from melted snow. It’s about how you can show tenderness even though you have every reason not to. Life is about reaching for the full expression of yourself. It’s about leaving your unique blueprint in the world, not by doing anything extraordinary, but by living.
When your depression lifts, you will be able to see life in color. When your depression lifts, this never-ending torture you’re feeling will subside. You’ll start to enjoy some aspects of your life again. When your depression lifts, you will find pleasure again. True sweetness will hit your mouth, tingle down your spine, and pervade your entire body.
When your depression lifts, you’ll realize that so many factors in your environment didn’t work in your favor and getting rid of them was part of the solution. You’ll find moments of peace. You’ll find that your life is still worth living.