All posts by Hugh Smith

12 Step Meeting, DA Literature, Fellowship

Your emotional wellness starts today!

April 11, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

A HIGHER THOUGHT FOR TODAY

AFFIRMATION

I am going to treat myself with the same respect that I afford others.

“The pain that other people inflict on us can be very great, but the pain that we inflict on ourselves can be even greater. While many of the people who get depressed, despite the temptaition, do not kill themselves, and many inflict on themselves the long, drawn out pain of taking pride in keeping yourself to yourself.” D.Rowe.

CLARIFICATION OF THOUGHT

When I continue to isolate myself and keep to myself, I am continuing to serve myself nothing but a life of emptiness. I am living a life that is so predicatable that it is like being frozen in time and left there all alone.

No person is an island. The more that the belief that I am no good, bad, worthless, unacceptable to myself and others, grows in my consciousness. the more that belief crowds out the hope that possibly there is a way out of this awful isolation – this self imposed hell.

Keeping to ourselves perseveres the predictableness of our small universe. It is steady, never changes and it is a prison. Isolation, aloneness and being unsupported is what my depression is all about. Now my new words are fellowship, togetherness, support.

I can move out to those like myself who are in the pain and the throes of depressison. I can learn how I can work my step program and assume a new relationship in my expanded world. I need not worry about the depression coming back. I just try and live one day at a time. Survive the now and I will survive the tomorrow.

MINDFUL of THE HIGHER POWER

God, you have created a universe full of cousins, namely the beetles, lots of them, butterflies, snails, fish and all sorts of lions, tigers and bears. We are not alone now and intend no longer to keep ourselves to ourselves. We want to get connected again. We never really were connected to anyone, or anything. It was all too frightening. But, we know, we believe, we feel your presence hovering over our hearts and we feel strong and willing to risk ourselves with others. (Personal comments)

SOURCES: Copyright(c) Higher Thoughts for down days: 365 daily thoughts and meditations for members of Twelve Step fellowship groups. Dperessed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. April 12

Copyright(c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

Depressed Anonymous, Higher Thoughts for Down Days

“The teacher arrives when the student is ready.”

April 10, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

My thought for today

AFFIRMATION

I believe more and more that my Higher Power will help me trust in it’s daily direction for my life.

“If you want to give up being depressed, give up your belief in a Grand design of rewards and punishments.”

This is not to say that you should give up your belief in God. You simply give up your beliefs of God as the great accountant and judge in the sky, and see him, instead as the mystics of all religions have seen GOD –as a great power beyond, above and inside us, a Power of which we are part and which we take on trust.” D. Rowe.

CLARIFICATION OF THOUGHT

The myth from my childhood is that if I am good, then I will be happy. I want to learn how to believe that my universe is under the guidance of God who wants the very best for me. This God of my understanding is a God who, if I let it, will lead me out of my misery and provide me with the understanding and direction that I need to live out my life, if I but let it. This is not to say that my journey will be an easy one, but I must start somewhere and at sometime in my life. I am convinced that it is my involvement with the group and my time of daily prayer and meditation that can provide me with the strength to live one day at a time and in the present moment.

As I become familiar with the Twelve Step program I can be assured that some power greater than myself is gradually providing my life with a balance and serenity.

Step Two of Depressed Anonymous tells us that we “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

MEDITATION

It is only when we know and believe that some Higher Power in our lives can restore us to sanity will we be able to let the God of our understanding lead us.”

(Personal comments).

SOURCES: Copyright(c) Higher Thoughts for down days: 365 daily thoughts and meditations for members of Twelve Step fellowship groups. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. March 10.

Hope, Mindfulness

A rabbit had been showing up in our backyard–exactly on Easter morning for the last two years

April 5, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

An Easter bunny who kept coming back!

This year is very different. We have moved to another part of town and so we can’t know if our friendly bunny got to our backyard this past Easter Sunday. I do wonder though. I can just imagine him sitting in the grass along our back yard fence. I can at least think that he might have missed us as we miss him. For a moment, I wish I would have gone back to the old home place to see for myself if he actually arrived last Sunday morning. To have shown up two years in a row, just like the last two Easter mornings. The first appearance was just too weird. And then again, right on time, right day, he shows up. I mean, a bunny, showing up, out of the blue, at Easter. This on the one day when bunnies show up. They come in all sizes and shapes. They come mainly made of chocolate. And most of us have had them delivered, when we were children, in a basket with every form of chocolate and candy available.

I got to thinking: Was he disappointed, possibly troubled, as was I, by the thought that he could have possibly missed us? Did he wonder “where are the excited children hunting for eggs and chocolates?”

Sometimes it happens this way. We hope that a beautiful encounter we have experienced will happen again, just the way it has happened before. On Easter Sunday I was wondering “What if” the bunny did show up today and I missed him? This recurring thought could have made me feel sad because I don’t know for sure that he wasn’t there. But I did learn an important lesson from my bunny friend. I learnt that I need to be grateful for any and all enriching and exciting encounters that come my way, sometimes in mysterious ways, but mostly in ordinary circumstances.

The moral of the story, for me, is that if something pleasant and mysterious happened to you once–it most probably can happen to you again. And who knows, that Easter bunny could possibly show up at my new home. And, it doesn’t have to be on Easter! I think he misses me too.

Hugh

Choice, Compulsion, The 12 Steps

The Twelve Steps: A powerful means of recovery

March 31, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

“The Twelve Steps are the essential beliefs and at the very core of Depressed Anonymous. The Depressed Anonymous recovery program, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous, which originally developed to help men and women deal with their addiction to alcohol, one day at a time. The Twelve Steps have ben found to be a potent means of recovery for those who desire to free themselves from their compulsions. The Twelve Steps are basically a program of letting go of our compulsions and handing over our will to the care of God as we understand God. Essentially our program is a step by step way to change not only our addictions but our way of life. Change happens when we choose to change. The fellowship of the group and our desire to make changes in our lives is what provides our life-giving spiritual experience. Many people get organized religion and spirituality mixed up and Depressed Anonymous achieves strength from spirituality without set creed, dogmas or doctrine. All the program asks of a person who comes to the meetings is only to have a sincere desire to stop the compulsion of saddening themselves.

We make no apologies for our faith in a God who can restore one not only to sanity but to serenity and joy as well. “We never apologize for God. Instead we let God demonstrate, through us, what God can do. We ask God to remove our fear and direct our attention to what God would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.” (AA).

The God as we understand God is what appeals to more and more persons as we admit our helplessness over our compulsive, depressive thoughts, actions or behaviors. We feel we have lost all control over everything-including our thinking! The depressed person is aware that their unpleasant thinking is a cyclical and spiraling process where there is never a respite. The obsessiveness driven by one’s feelings of guilt, shame and worthlessness is the fuel that continues our own isolation. The experience is not so much a psychopathology as it is a way for our human spirit to comfort itself. The depression then is more a dis-ease of isolation and being disconnected than it is a biological disorder.” .

SOURCE: COPYRIGHT(c) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011). Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 162-163.

Please VISIT OUR STORE, then click onto the Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore for more information on the literature that is available online.

DA Literature, Fellowship

I’m depressed. How can a group of other depressed persons help me?

March 30, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

Good question. Let me tell you this. The people best able to tell you about leaving the prison of depression are people like us who are or were depressed at one time, or even many times before. In fact, some of us in our fellowship tried to end our lives because of the pain of depression. We do have a solution to the problem. We speak the language of depression, which means our isolation, our continued and oppressing negative thinking and our constant thoughts on how bad life is for us. But the good point here is, because we are feeling better, we share our hope and new found recovery with all those who will listen.

We are not the people with the silver bullet or the magic wand that mysteriously and magically takes away the pain that we feel 24/7. But in our group meetings and by reading literature written by people like ourselves–done that, and been there — we begin to have hope that maybe something good can happen for me too. Now if you want to believe what I just told you, then please read on.

It’s said that it takes one to know one. And if you are depressed and you want to feel at home with people like yourself, then you need to look into our fellowship Depressed Anonymous. Click onto a search engine like Google and go to our website Depressed Anonymous and discover for yourself who we are and what we do. You can even subscribe (free) to our Newsletter. (See Newsletter Archives at the site menu). You might also want to scroll down the Blogs written by those of us who are getting the message out that there is hope for those of you want to try our way.

And for those of you who do not have a meeting in their own community, we have a HOME STUDY PROGRAM in which you can learn all about our program of recovery at your own leisure and find how there is a real hope that you can feel better like the rest of us in the program of Depressed Anonymous.

Please take a look at VISIT OUR DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS BOOKSTORE and discover the helpful literature that will inspire you and provide you with the tools to overcome your own depression.

Uncategorized

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!

March 29, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

The woman who made a decision –and moved out of her comfort zone!

She was lost. She was thirsty. The dry hot air of the desert sands sapped her body’s remaining energy. She had just finished her last bottled water an hour past, and now, dazed and disoriented by thirst and her mental confusion, she saw the faint outline of a palm tree in the distance. “Was this an oasis?” she thought, as she gripped the steering wheel, frantically hoping against hope, that this small patch of greenery must have water within its boundaries. Cautiously, she moved closer, surprised and grateful that this was not a mirage. “No,” she thought to herself, her mind was not playing tricks. This was not one of those shimmering mirage images that fool desert nomads. This was real.

She pulled the car close to the palm tree, kept her eyes focused on the lonely tree and with surprise spotted what appeared to be a liter filled bottle of water leaning against the palm tree. She thought she felt a presence. “Was there someone else here?” She looked all around the small, garden-like area, expecting some desert stranger to come and claim their water bottle. Her thirst quickly brought her attention back to the water and the life saving elixir that was to be hers. Clutching onto the water bottle — she suddenly spied a handwritten note posted eye level, notifying the reader in large ink-black letters ” If you are reading this now, and are lost and thirsty, just know that there is water here. If you will look ten meters behind this tree, you will discover an ancient water well hand-pump which can be used to provide you water to get you safely on your way. You will be mentally and physically refreshed. But there is a catch,” the note continued: “You can either drink the water in the bottle now, believing it will get you through another day and night in the desert or you can choose to use this bottle of water, emptying it, down to the last drop, it will all be needed to prime the pump and bring the water to the surface. A warning must be given that the bottle has just enough water to bring ground water to the surface. You must choose one or the other.”

Now, with every last drop of water from the bottle, priming the pump, she began to put her hands to the pump handle and slowly began pumping with slow and regular vertical motions, with sweat-like beads flowing down her face. and her hands with a death-like grip on the pump handle, muscles in her arms starting to spasm, she felt a heaviness as the handle began to bring up, slowly at first, a thin ribbon of water, next a steady flow, with water forming a small pool around her feet. The water was cool. With a cupped hand she splashed the soothing liquid over her body and like a blooming desert rose, came alive.

The sun at its noon day station, its rays shining on the water filled bottle, prepared to give hospitality to the next thirsty desert nomad.

Hugh

Fellowship, Hope, The 12 Steps

To Be Depressed Or Not Be Depressed – I Had A Choice!

March 27, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

To be depressed or not be depressed? That was my choice.

“I believe that I’ve been a depressed person all of my life. I’ve had a lot of lows but never as low as this past year. My husband of years left me and my three children for another woman. I lost my job. Depression hit me and I couldn’t snap out of it. My life started to spiral down. I was in and out of mental hospitals and on different medications. I was diagnosed as having a chemical imbalance. In my mind, this seemed to tell me that I had a sickness that I had no control over and which only drugs could cure. Then one night, I began to have a horrible reaction to the last drug. I was rushed to the emergency room and almost died. After that, I refused to take drugs again. Then life really started going down for me. I started sleeping more, stayed in bed mostly, and let the house and the children go. I felt empty inside. No one or anyone could help me. If I hadn’t thought suicide was the cardinal sin, I would be dead today. So one night, I lay on the floor crying and praying from my heart. In the past when I prayed, I wanted God to do all the work. While deep down, I still didn’t want to let go of my miserable yet safe ways of life. And as long as I wouldn’t really let go, God seemed to have no answers for me. This time though, I was at his mercy. Life for me could no longer go on this way. I prayed the most releasing prayer. I offered up my entire self to him. Nothing magical happened after that except the sudden urge to call my church for Christian counseling. They referred me to this affordable, warm lady counselor who I had seen in the past. She suggested that I start attending Depressed Anonymous Twelve Step meetings and reading Depressed? Here is a way out! This was a great effort for me. I was scared and skeptical. Since that first night, I’ve been attending weekly Depressed Anonymous meetings. I also attend drug free therapy, attend church and church activities regularly and continue to pray and walk regularly. I know that my life is richly blessed. I’m also using the Depressed Anonymous literature and listening to people in the Depressed Anonymous meetings where I receive valuable tools which I put to use daily.

The moment that I read that I had a choice to stay in depression, I immediately knew that I could make the choice to get out of my depression. Bingo! It wasn’t an illness. This did not have control over me. And another tool I use frequently through the Depressed Anonymous manual is that “thoughts produce moods, moods produce feelings and feelings produce behavior. ”

So I began to realize that if I thought about bad or disturbing thoughts, I could stop myself and produce positive thoughts automatically. I had control. This is priceless to me. Staying out of depression takes work on my part, as well as God’s. Thank you Lord above for using people through my church, my therapy and the wonderful members of Depressed Anonymous who give of themselves unconditionally. Thank you for answering my prayer.”

– Kim

SOURCE: Copyright(c) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. (Kim’s Personal story included today.)

Uncategorized

Anger ties a person more closely to the person he/she is angry with.”

March 26, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

This is your Higher Thought for today.

AFFIRMATION

I believe that by forgiving others and letting go of any grudges against any person or institution that I will find a source for ongoing, daily serenity.

“…actively not forgiving the person who injured you, spending much of your time, feeling and expressing your hatred, fantasizing and even carrying out acts of revenge, does not lead to a rich fulfilling life. Indeed, you become a lesser person that you might have been and you waste your life.” D. Rowe

CLARIFICATION OF THOUGHT

A terrible weight is removed when I rid myself of my resentments and I attempted to make a conscious decision to forgive others. First of all, I learn that in order to truly forgive I must get in touch with my feelings of anger and hurt. I want to feel those unpleasant emotions so that I can release them. By their appropriate expression, they no longer can hurt me or keep me depressed. The more I release my bottled up feelings, the less frustrated and depressed I become.

Someone once said that a person’s anger ties a person more closely to the person he/she is angry with. To forgive is to release myself from the grasp of a relationship that is nonproductive and harmful.”

MEDITATION

God, may we make a fearless and moral inventory of our lives. May we have the courage to change what we need to change and the energy to carry it out. We believe that it is only by our willingness to quit our addiction that we can have more hope in our power to be hopeful. ‘

(Place your own comments here.)

SOURCE: COPYRIGHT(C) Higher Thoughts for down days: 365 daily thought and meditations for members of 12 step fellowship groups. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. March 26 Page 61-62.

Compulsion, Negativity, Step 01, The 12 Steps

What You Think Is What You Become

March 25, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

” Our real identity is emerging from the sadness as we try to live one day at a time. Of course I am still testing it out but I feel better and for the first time in 14 years I have hope. It’s not that hard to find something positive about my life now. So, I remind myself of something positive everyday and that’s what I’m going to do until I don’t have to remind myself anymore because I’ll know. Remarkable things happen to us when we are willing to admit defeat and talk about our powerlessness over our depression and how our lives had become unmanageable. The first step is the beginning of the flight of steps that takes us up and into our new way of living. At our fellowship of Depressed Anonymous we talk hope. We are hopeful, and we think hope. We learn that our thinking depressed and negative thoughts might have got us in the shape that we are in today. What you think is what you become. For us who find sadness our second nature, we at times continue to revert to the old comfort of our old familiar negative thinking and are in actuality returning to self-destructive activity. Sadness is overcome by hope.”

SOURCE: Copyright (c)I’ll do it when I feel better. (2016) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 69-70.

Higher Thoughts for Down Days, I'll Do It When I Feel Better

I felt envious of those who were happy and optimistic

March 24, 2018 Hugh Smith Leave a comment

This is your Higher Thought for today

AFFIRMATION

The more active I become in working my program, the better and healthier I feel about myself

“If you want to get better you have to act on your own behalf…”

CLARIFICATION OF THOUGHT

I know this might go against the grain of all of us who felt there was absolutely nothing we could do to help ourselves out of the prison of depression. Now I know that if I want to start feeling better I have to be active in my own healing. How does it work? First of all I admit I am powerless over my depression ; secondly, I put my trust in a Higher Power and believe that it can restore me to some sanity. I commit myself to understanding its will for my life.

I begin to believe that by getting active and involved in my own recovery, I will begin to be free of the interminable sadness that I have lived with for most of my life. In my depression, I was jealous of others who I figured had it better than I did. I envied those who felt happy and optimistic. Now I know that I can feel better, too.

MEDITATION

We want to live with the belief that we can get better. We are recovering by means of our belief in a Power greater than ourselves.” (You may want to write out your own personal responses to this Higher Thought here for today.)

SOURCE: Copyright (c) Higher Thoughts for down days: 365 daily thoughts and meditations for members of 12 Step fellowship groups. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. March 24. Pages 60-61.

NOTE: You can order Higher Thoughts for Down Days online by going to our website at Depressed Anonymous (www.depressedanon.com ). Click onto the drop down Menu at VISIT THE STORE and click onto The Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore, where any one of 12 different publications can be purchased.

Higher Thoughts can be purchased as a KINDLE eBook. The Depressed Anonymous manual, 3rd edition and the Depressed Anonymous Workbook can likewise be ordered as eBooks.

Hope is just a few steps away!