How To Overcome Depression And Achieve Happiness

How To Overcome Depression And Achieve Happiness by Mphojane Leboko

 Copyright (c) 2013 Mphojane Leboko

Let us get this truth straight, right from the beginning of this interesting discussion.The truth is: happiness has nothing to do with what happens in your life situation. Happiness is an inborn natural state that is in every person. How and what you think relative to what happens in your life situation is what can make you depressed or happy.

Our miseries are largely due to the thoughts we hold relative to what happens in our life situations. You could never feel depressed while you were thinking about the one million dollar cheque you were going to cash at the bank tomorrow. Neither would you feel depressed thinking how wonderful it would be receiving your degree the following week with your family and friends present at the graduation ceremony. Yet if you dwelled on how dire your finances were, and the fact that your company was on the verge of laying off some of its staff, you would certainly feel depressed and unhappy.

Let us say you and your colleagues were bickering over some work related issue in the staff canteen while your tea break was long over. Your boss suddenly budges into the canteen unexpectedly. What happens then? You all change the topic at once, maybe you even smile to your advesary and casually walk out of the canteen and lie to the boss that you were talking about how to improve productivity.

What happened to your anger and frustration at one another? The answer is that you simply dismissed it from your minds and pretended that you were not quarelling. In fact many employees are so good at this kind of pretense that, one would never suspect that something was afoot.

The fact of the matter is that many of us are depressed and miserable because of the thoughts we entertain relative to what happens around us. Every person is born with a stable and happy state of mind. This is the natural state of every person's mind. But as a result of the things that happen in our lives, and the way we think about what happens, this then actually makes us miserable or depressed.

Let's take a concrete example. You have lost your job today and you have bills to pay. Do you reckon spending a sleepless night thinking about the matter is going to be of any help? Obviously not.Your thinking about the matter would never change the situation or make you feel any better. The thing to do is simply to dismiss your thinking about the matter. This is not easy but possible.With practice you can master dismissing negative thoughts as they pass through your head. Every person on this planet earth has an inborn state of intelligence or wisdom that is far more smarter and cleverer than your conscious mind in its ability to solve problems.This is not a belief but a truth.

You only have to familiarise your mind with this idea whenever you are inclined to dwell on negative thoughts about anything. Learning to dismiss negative thoughts can be truly life changing.

Whenever you find yourself thinking negatively, you have to be acutely aware of the fact. You need to be alert and see what harm you are doing to yourself by following a train of thoughts that are negative. Watch yourself very closely each time a negative thought assails your mind.

One thing for certain, you will never stop thinking even if you tried, that is with the exception of when you are dead, because even when you are asleep, you are still thinking subconsciously.That is why you dream.

So the secret is to be ever present and alert to the NOW. Be always present. Never let yourself to be consumed by your thoughts, whether they are happy or unhappy thoughts. Simply watch your thoughts as you would watch a baby at play and never diverting your attention from the baby lest the baby harms itself. Your thinking can paly tricks on you if you don't watch its activities vigilantly.This way you will be effectively dismissing any negative thoughts that can drive you to depression and misery.

Do this kind of thinking for a month and you will be surprised how less depressed you feel just after a week. Stop trying to think yourself out of depression, because it is impossible.Simply dismiss negative thoughts, and your natural happiness will simply manifest in your life.That's all.

Emeritus English and History teacher. Self development, health and affiliate marketing enthusiast. For more related topics on self development you can visit my website at:

http://mlinfoexplosion.com/self_development.html

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info/Article/How-To-Overcome-Depression-And-Achieve-Happiness/842483

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How To Stop Negative Thoughts And Conquer Depression

How To Stop Negative Thoughts And Conquer Depression by Mphojane Leboko

 Copyright (c) 2013 Mphojane Leboko

The title of this article can be misleading, because in reality no person can ever stop thinking. What is implied is actually how to control your thoughts in such a way that you are free from depression. This method of stopping negative thoughts can also be helpful for a person who is already suffering from depression. If the method is understood, depression can be prevented or conquered.

Depression is overwhelmingly a result of the relationship between a person and how he understands his or her thoughts. The time it takes for a person to think a thought that leads to depression is a fraction of a second. To complicate matters even further, many people do their thinking in a habitual and reflex action. If we could truly undrstand how we ignorantly depress ourself by how we think, much of our depression would be significantly reduced, and even conquered.

There is something that we miss about our nature as human beings. We all have, according to one psychology Doctor, Richard Carlson, a natural 'healthy psychological functioning'. This 'healthy psychological functioning' is something that is inborn in every human being. If we are ignorant of its existence, this does not imply it does not exist. Perhaps that is why we rely on our 'thinking' to solve our daily problems.

This 'healthy psychological functioning' in us does not rely on what we have and do, or what happens or does not happen in our lives. The only reason it does not operate more fully in our lives is because we obscure it by our useless and incessant thinking. Our 'healthy psychological functioning' is countless times more intelligent and powerful than our habitual negative thoughts. You simply have to learn to trust it to run your life, instead of your feeble and fickle thoughts, and then you'll be encouraged to depend on it more as you see your life being free of depression and its attendant miseries.

Let us take a concrete example. When an inconsiderate driver cuts in front of you in heavy traffic, you can either be all heated up or take the incidence in your stride. If you choose the first option, chances are that driving in heavy traffic can cause you a lot of depression and by extension, lead you to be involved in accidents. The second option is more practical in that it acknowledges that such behaviour is common in city roads with heavy traffic. Some drivers are not even licensed or are simply drunk.Your thinking about this kind of behaviour can either make you angry and unhappy. The behaviour of the other driver itself is irrelevant.

So it is plain that depression is a result of how we think about what occures around us, and not necessarily the occurance itself. Some people never seem to be bothered about weather conditions. They seem to be perfectly happy going about their activities in any weather conditions while others will whine and complain and generally be of low spirits under similar conditions. It is the person's negative and unpleasant thoughts about how horrible the weather is that is the problem. Otherwise, every person would experience the same emotions in any given weather conditions.

Thoughts are not material, though they do influence our material life. This gives us the power to identify any negative thought for what it is and then dismiss it from our mind by not dwelling on it. You can dismiss any thoughts at will. This is the most singular natural ability of the Homo sapiens - the human being.

When you know and don't doubt the existence of your 'healthy psychological functioning", you will know that no negative thoughts of any kind can put you down. You'll understand that it is the nature of man to have thoughts of all kinds passing through his mind at any and every time of his life. Even during sleep.

So the question arises:

'how does one stop from thinking negative thoughts?'

 The answer is that, you cannot. The only thing you can do is to make a choice. You either go along and dwell on the negative thought or you think of something else. The best way is to watch your negative thought and perhaps, say to yourself; " there I go again. Is it worth it?"

It is amazing to watch yourself think. Thoughts are fuelled by dwelling on them. If you think how rotten some drivers can be on the roads and keep dwelling on this thinking every time you drive, sooner or later you'll be depressed by driving itself. Relax and enjoy driving. You can think how our ancestors, less than two hunreds ago, never enjoyed this technological wonder of locomotion. Or simply raise a wee bit the volume of your stereo to listen to that uplifting jazz tune. In this way you let your 'healthy psychological functioning' take over your emotional life.

 You have to be convinced that you have this thing called 'healthy psychological functioning' just as much as you know that you have a liver, heart or spleen in your body. Some people aver that this is apathy at its worst. It is actually the most dynamic way by which to live. You will do things with much added vigour, never wondering about tomorrow or rueing yesterday.

We can still make appointments, and take lessons from our past. However, this is way different from wallowing in incessant thinking about what has transpired and what is yet to come. The most crucial moment is now. There could never ever be a time or place when and where we could be happier and less depressed than now.

 Sure, we want to improve our lives and enjoy the best things that life can offer. The present moment is the only time and space in which we could ever hope to enjoy life - or be miserable. What is startling about this shift in viewing life is that, the material life of a person with a 'healthy psychological functioning' becomes more productive without the mental exertion and burden experienced by those who incessantly think- thinking which in turn renders them depressed.

You will soon learn to stop negative thinking and start living, and in this way conquer or prevent depression.

Emeritus English and History teacher. Health, self development and affiliate marketing enthusiast. For more on related topics, you may visit my website at:
http://mlinfoexplosion.com/page_48.html

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info/Article/How-To-Stop-Negative-Thoughts-And-Conquer-Depression/844223

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