hope when struggling

I just watched a video, and a lot of what I write comes from what Irwin McManus says. Its posted at the bottom.

You might think youre depressed/struggling because you don't have the life that you want. But I want you to know that if you don't learn how to deal with that now before you have success/what you want, you will not have the tools to deal with it when you have success.

Its totally BS to act like we don’t struggle. Hell, my past year has been a struggle. But its also been learningful, beautiful, deep and meaningful. And I am strong because I went through the fire. Im refined. Take opportunity of your struggle, and you will come out refined.

(for the record I am still in the fire. I always will be. But I always will be getting more refined J)

I love the truth that to become stronger, you need to be tested hard. The strongest iron is when it has been through the fire time and time, beaten (literally), and beaten again. Each time, it becomes stronger.

Do you know how your muscles grow? When you “lift” in the gym, you are quite literally hurting and tearing your muscles. You are pressuring them. Youre putting them through the fire. They come out stronger as a result. 

Success does not immune you from depression. Look at Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

My past year in Peace Corps has largely been one big struggle, to put it negatively. To put it positively, I have found consistent happiness and contentment in what I do. I feel fulfilled, purposeful (while struggling! :) Ive learned about how to try my best to be positive, when it sucked.

One day I decided to which I was going to give power and authority to positivity. Or rather, take authority and power, and focus on positivity.

Then sometimes you get to the mountaintop. But Lows almost always come after the highs.

What you can do if you’re struggling/depressed:

Rest. Without rest, when you're down, you just get more down.

Get some food: This journey is too hard without it. One of the best things you ever can do is say to someone, “do you want to get some food together?” Make it a point to never eat alone. (in fact, that’s the title of one of my favorite books: Never Eat Alone).

Get perspective. About what's really going on in your life. The way you do that is by getting it from other people, because when you're down you can't evaluate your life clearly. Let other people give you their wisdom. Let other people tell you how good your life is even if you don't want to hear it.

Get to positive people: You can't live life alone. If you're struggling, you need to be around optimistic people and hopeful. A huge part of healing is human contact and when you spend time around hopeful people, you become hopeful, too.

The reason why you can't see the good in the world is because you can't see the good in yourself. Then when you see it in your, you start seeing it in other people, and all around you.

Then it's time to get back on track. Start living a life of meaning. Not success, not money, not anything will fill that void except you living a meaningful, purposeful life.

Be careful of who you're talking to. Be careful about who's telling you about who you are and what life is about.



Don't let low moments tell you that's what it's gonna be like forever on.

You're created to fly.

I just got out of a year of toughness. Not depression. about 4 months ago I started this new thing in my life. Its called positivity. Ive always been fairly positive. But being positive most of the time doesnt mean shit when you are affronted with challenges. Youre tested. I found my way out because I chose to see the beauty in the things that I previously thought sucked. Because yes, there is beauty in everything. Its just about what you are going to focus on. 

My life comes from positivity. And faith in God who I know will always be with me.

There's a way through this.

I love the idea about being against the ropes. You fight, or you don't. That's helpful for someone like me, for 2 reasons. 1 is because of the black and white perspective I had for almost my whole life. It's one choice, or the other. The second reason is because I'm a competitor. And I love a challenge, and just the phrase alone "backed against the ropes" kinda gets my heart going. It's like... The impulse to… “let's do this.” It's like… “okay, Tom, time to muster the strength. It's time to move forward, because I'm as far as I can go back. There's only one way, and I'm gonna do it. I can do it.”

I didn't post for like a year here because who the hell wants to read depressing stuff. No one. But who wants to read the triumphant stuff? You know, the story where someone struggled and tried and failed and kept trying and failing, making little progresses, but continuing struggling and trying. But then they win. Everyone wants to read that.

But no one wants to read the story without the victory at the end.

The best story ever is one when while on that road of failing, failing, setback, little baby steps, struggling, depression… it’s when they know what they can do it, and that they are going to win.

Then they do.