When there is no light in sight.

[TAnnetta]

Are you in a dark place with only thoughts of failure and maybe of dying?  Well know this; You are not alone! Everyone fails at some time or other and everything dies eventually. SO WHAT?!. Life is part of an eternal education. Negative thoughts are a part of that education. Take whatever time you need to have negative thoughts but remember, they are just a part of a whole. There is only one thing that continues forever and that thing is change. Rekindle the positives of your past. Goals are what made you move forward before and they can do so again.  Look for new goals. One goal could be for you to find the person who understands you. The universe has a positive balance for every negative. Make it your goal to find yours!

[TAnnetta]

Dear Geoff,

I find the conversation with your psychologist interesting. I agree with your statement that a person's strength plays a big role in dealing with bad thoughts.We are all different and due to our genes, experiences  or upbringing have different ways and levels of coping.  We don't appear to be  born depression, do we?  In normal situations we are  looked after as babies and all is great until we lose some of that wonderful care we enjoyed. In science everything  is relative to it's opposite.Through the process of evolution and natural selection, we became creatures that want to survive that's why we have  come this far.   We are biased towards life so we fear death.  After a hospital stint where I went under for an operation I related my state of unconsciousness  to being dead. During this I had no thoughts and time meant nothing. Since then and believing death is like that I don't fear it so I can  stop it putting weight on my positive thoughts.  Anyway....Those things taken from us that enforce our will to survive and to move forward  need to be identified and dealt with accordingly.   Depressed people should be helped with understanding and shown that there are still future positives in store.  There is merit in believing this fact; Each day, in the world, there are  people whom you don't know, never met and never will meet that are working on new discoveries. Discoveries that may impact on your terrible state.

[hairyca]

Thoughts are so sneaky, and they often creep up when I least expect them.. actually a lot of the times when I am alone. Which may be a reason why I try and be around people a lot, but this exhausts me, and time alone is sometimes all that I want. Which of course is the time when the (negative) thoughts come in. I'll try your tip, thank you 🙂

[TAnnetta]

Yes hairyca thoughts are sneaky and it doesn't take much to trigger a bad one which can then start a downward spiral. That's why we must try to stop them as soon as there is a hint of starting. There is truth in the saying "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure."  I do hope what I mentioned earlier does help  but don't give up  if it doesn't work this time.  Experiment with different types of distractions. I have worked on puzzles as a distraction and in particular Cypher Puzzles from the internet. They are not too difficult and there are wise sayings amongst the ones I found . The internet has something for everyone....we are an example. 

[hairyca]

Hi TAnnetta,

Thank you once again for your reply.

Will definitely try what you suggested.

I try to distract myself by keeping busy, but this eventually tires me out. I will also have a look at the Cypher Puzzles you mentioned. And you're right, the internet is an amazing space.

e.

[TAnnetta]

Dear hairyca

Try googling mad ciphers

[BKYTH]

I recall a line from a poem I once read written by a stockman which went,. "Don't wait for the light at the end of the tunnel go down there and light the bloody thing yourself"  I will leave it to those that read this to make of that line what they will but for me it is something I reflect on quite often. Philip.

[TAnnetta]

Dear BKYTH

Would love to see the whole poem, if you could find it's title.

Although I dare say if you have a means of lighting the end of the tunnel you could light the spot where you are. Good on you if you have the will and strength to get up and make a  dark place lighter for yourself. I'm new at this but I imagine there are those who are so far in the darkness with so much fear and anxiety that  they may not even know which direction the end of the tunnel is. I have had a small taste of that feeling. I'm fine  because I can sense the negative thoughts coming on don't give them a chance to feed on themselves by doing something to distract.

[BKYTH]

Dear TAnnetta. I don't know the title of the poem nor the name of its author. I've never seen the tunnel nor found the means to lighting its end. In my posts I try to offer something that may be of use to others and to not indulge in self-pity, a state of mind that I have not grown out of, but one that I have never found any use for........... I have learned to live in the darkness and to accommodate despair - As to the details of all of that I have nothing to say................To finish on something that is worth saying. "No one and nothing can free you but your own understanding" Ajahn Chah.

[JessF]

Hello Bkyth, I haven't heard that quote for years! I remember I loved it when I first heard it. It's such an interesting thing, that when we hear the phrase 'no light at the end of the tunnel', it does suggest that we are waiting to be rescued somehow.

Even though I realise it's just a turn of phrase, perhaps it is also worth thinking whether the metaphor of being a in a tunnel to start with is helpful. Tunnels are fixed structures with the path and entry/exit points predetermined, and out of your control, and life is not like that. It is more like an open space, where you are vulnerable to the elements, but also free to choose your path.

[BKYTH]

I agree entirely. What I like about that quote is that it challenges one to act. The words used are not important and the tunnel/light analogy is, as you say, a passive position where one waits for something to change.                                                         I am suspicious of many expressions that are in general use. Language contains so much possability but it can also be used to create "slogans' and "truisms" that upon scrutiny say nothing at all - What does the statement "everything happens for a reason" mean?  I wonder if your use of the term "path" is vulnerable to the same problems to that of being in a tunnel. Philip.