I am a firm believer, obviously, in thinking positive to improve your mood and outlook.  It would, however, be irresponsible of me to say that thinking positive is a fix it for everything.  There are times when you need to talk to a professional.  Depression is a real illness, and like all illnesses, if you are suffering from depression, you should seek the help of a medical professional. 

Everybody goes through ups and downs and has mood swings, but when your downs become so overwhelming and consume your life, it is time to seek help.  Some symptoms of depression are:

If you feel that you are suffering from depression and not just the normal every day blues, please talk to a medical professional.

I’ve had a lot to say this week, but oddly, I haven’t said a thing.  Why?  Because the things I’ve had to share are painful.  I hurt badly, but in the pain there are positives.  And that is why it is very helpful to blog or journal or whatever you choose to call it.  Sometimes, taking those painful thoughts, and writing them down, can oftentimes allow you to find some positives.  Not always.  I’m not so naive to believe that every situation has a sunny rainbow lining, but sometimes there are sunny rainbow linings – you just have to search to find them. 

And so i hurt, but at the same time, I’m learning that with the pain comes growth.  That is a very positive thought indeed, for if we do not grow, we stagnate and then die.  So even though it hurts, I’m grateful, because it means I’m alive, I’m learning and I’m growing.

The Universe has a rather quirky sense of humor, I think.  A short time ago, I blogged about listening to your head, or your heart/intuition.

I’ve been pondering this since that original blog post.  I KNOW I should listen to my intuition, but I always try and quell it and listen to my head.  So I’ve been mulling this over in the back of my mind since my original post, and today, when I was looking for more positive thoughts to send out in the Think Positive 30 mailing list, I came across this:

Listen to your heart and follow your dreams.  They won’t mislead you.

The Universe, in no uncertain terms has provided me with an answer.  A lot of times, the answers we are looking for are RIGHT there, in front of us, we just have to open our eyes to them.

When I was a teenager, I read the book Illusions, by Richard Bach.  It’s a wonderful book filled with many life lessons.  In the book, the character Donald Shimoda talks about how you can find the answers to your questions in any book.  Just think about your question, opena book to a random page, and the answer will be provided.

Granted I didn’t open a book today, I opened a web page, but the idea is the same.  I got the answer to my question, and a reminder to open my eyes to the answer that is right in front of me.

All our lives, we’re faced with choices.  When we’re young, the choices are fairly simple, should I play with the red ball, or the blue blocks.  As we get older, the choices get a little tougher – should I go to the movies, or study, go to college, or get a job.  As we mature, the choices get tougher, buy a house, or rent, have children or wait a little longer.  We also have one very important fundamental choice to make, and the funny thing about it is, nobody ever tells us about this choice.  Nobody ever explains that we actually have an option.  We have to decide whether to be happy, or not.  It sounds kind of silly when you think about it, but it’s true.  We get to decide if we’re going to be happy or not.  That doesn’t mean we won’t have to face difficult situations – this is real life after all.  But it does mean we get to decide how we deal with the situations life gives us.  Not many people realize that. 

Do I still have days where I’m down and things aren’t going well?  Of course I do.  As I said before, I live in the real world, and not in some mystical fairyland – though if anybody knows of a mystical fairyland that’s accepting immigrants, let me know, please – but since I started Think Positive 30, those days are easier to deal with.  I simply look at all the GOOD things that are happening and focus on them.  It’s such a simple tool, really, but it works so well.

When you think about it, it’s pretty empowering.  We get to decide if we want to be happy, or sad.

I’ve been in kind of a gloomy, depressing mood lately.  Okay, let me be completely honest, I’ve been MISERABLE.  Nothing I’ve done has een able to pull me out of the gloomy mood.  I honestly tried everything I could think of.  Nothing worked.  Now I receive many different motivational type things on a daily basis, and even they weren’t helping me.  And then, yesterday, I got this, from abraham-hicks.com

Making Peace with My Today Will Improve My Future… It may sound odd, but the fastest way to get to a new-and-improved situation is to make peace with your current situation. By making lists of the most positive aspects you can find about your current situation, you then release your resistance to the improvements that are waiting for you. But if you rail against the injustices of your current situation, you hold yourself in Vibrational alignment with what you do not want, and you cannot then move in the direction of improvement. It defies Law. In every particle of the Universe, there is that which is wanted – and the lack of it.

Talk about a kick in the behind.  And honestly, it’s all stuff I KNOW, sometimes, you just need someon to drop a rock on you to get you to recognize what is right there in front of you

It’s a question I’m grappling with right now.  On the surface, I’m a HUGE believer in listening to your intuition, the only problem is, I’m really BAD at doing it, and I usually regret it.  There have been many occasions in my life where my heart, or my intuition has said one thing, but I just block it out and go merrily along only to find in the long run that I’d made a HUGE mistake. 

How do you know if it’s your intuition talking to you? It doesn’t stand up and announce itself.  You have to PRACTICE listening to that inner voice.  Exercise it.  Take small steps and you’ll find that your inner voice is growing stronger and helping you to make better decisions.

Have you ever known a person who is perpetually down?  Someone who seems to just suck all the happiness from all around you?  I remember when I was a kid, there was a cartoon on Saturday mornings – The Pebbles and Bam Bam Show.  One of the characters was named Hardrock Schleprock, and he walked around with a storm cloud over his head, bad things were always happening to him and he was perhaps the saddest most depressed character I’ve ever seen.  I always thought he was just a typical cartoon exaggeration, but he wasn’t. There are people like that in real life.  People who are always sad and depressed, or people who are always angry and bitter.    They’re what I call fun-suckers.  They suck the fun out of EVERYTHING!  How do you DEAL with people like that?

It’s simple, really.   For every negative thought or comment they voice, turn it around and make it a positive.  You can do this out loud, or you can do this internally.  Also, smile – a LOT.  A smile is such a great defense against negativity. 

Don’t let these fun-suckers get you down.  Happiness and positiveness are so much more powerful than negativity. 

You can do this – you can put the fun back in life.

Music is such a powerful influencer of our moods.  I mean think about it, it’s SO true.  Mellow music tends to mellow us out, while happy upbeat music gets our juices going. 

One of the first positive messages I sent out on the mailing list went something like this:

A big part of looking for the positives is being grateful for what you have.  Stop focusing on what you don’t have and celebrate what you do have.  Be grateful from the top of your head, to the tips of your toes. 

It is such a great mood enhancer.  When you get up in the morning, be grateful that you have a bed to get out of.  When you’re brushing your teeth, think about your day…what do you have to be grateful for?

Be grateful you have clothes to wear, that you have food for breakfast or that you ahve a job to go to.  Be grateful you’re alive. 

Even if you feel weighed down by stress and responsibility, try and turn it around.  Be grateful you have people in your life that depend upon you.

I’m grateful that I am exploring the limitless possibilities in my life!  I’m grateful for all the friends I am gaining on myspace.  I’m grateful that our mailing list and our daily positive though at thinkpositive30.com/home.htm is growing by leaps and bounds and that people are enjoying the daily positive thoughts.

I’m grateful that you’re taking the time to read this!