Depression sounds like a calm expression, but it is a word that has affected thousands of young people in the 21st generation. The cause of this deeming evil may vary from person to person and hence may not be easily identified. However, depression is solely hinged on the presence of a certain kind of pain: this pain may sometimes be personal to the victim and hence is singularly identified..

According to Wayde Goodall, "depression could be a hereditary factor, a major adjustment, trauma, surgery, or a series of stressful events that bring on emotional downward spiral.

One morning a person wakes up from the aftermath of yesterdays dream and realizes that they have some kind of terminal disease. The funny feeling of hopelessness drowns her authentic paradigm of yesterday and the foggy feeling hits on her rapidly and submerge her mind into patterns of negative thoughts. She doesn't want to be sad but she begins to live in that place through her chemotherapy meetings. Atlas, she doesn't just die from the pain of cancer but she is shot off by the earnestness of sadness.

 One thing about depression is that no one plans to get depressed and suicidal; these things just happens because of a bad situation or a pain that refuses to go away. You can't understand what depression really means unless you've been there.

One other nasty but hilarious adventure into the realms of depression is the need to be perfect and stay put as every one's bunny girl. As a first class melancholic, I am aware that most of the times, I find myself sad over things I could have have done better. That's a waste of time!!. Melancholy are usually prone to sadness if not directed by the Holy Spirit.
In this game of being better, they forget that they are humans and are only made perfect through christ

Experiences are what prompts depression and that nonsensical fog that refuses to go away. To anyone passing through depression, I want to say to your heart you can get through it.

Craig Ellison writes, "how does Satan try to take advantage of our pain? Satan's one and only goal is to destroy us. He is a master military strategist. Satan and his forces study each of us thoroughly in order to determine our particular pain profile. Pain points are our most psycho - spiritual vulnerability. Our pain profile is the particular pattern of pain that we have developed through rejection, isolation, inadequacy, anxiety and worthlessness. But remember Jesus still heals our pain profile!

Remember that great men hit tough challenges. Dick Cavett, Kitty Dukakis and Ted Turner have publicly acknowledged that their fight with depression would last a lifetime time.

Racheal and Leah's Lonely Tale.

Rachel and Leah's Lonely tale

Rachael and Leah spent their lives in a pit of envy and competition not being aware of the greatness of their destinies. 


The obscure land of Haran carried the fragrance of camel's dung and roasted sheep meat. Haran was old and scary looking in nature, the mountains there were hinged on the bones of their dead ancestors. The vegetation had quietly taken a bow because of the over treading nature of people who lived there. Old father Abraham treaded towards the promise land from his ancestral home "Haran" .

The town "Haran" still smells of "defeat, past, loneliness, and death". Jacob the guy who stole his brothers birth right was up to no good strolling towards a land the lord had warned them to depart; Rebekah his smart crafty mother must have known more than the lord who had warned their father Abraham not to return...

He finally reached the land he desperately sought for and there he found a young village shepherdess called Rachael; a slender looking beauty, fragile to the eyes and soft in her delicate parts, her hair sparkled of lemon splashed in waters and the skin that was carefully crafted out by the lord was succulent because of the luscious application of goat milk on it. As his eyes dug into her soul, he fell in love and that was the beginning of their great journey!!

As time hit the heated rocks of Haran, the get together broke into marital longings and Laban his trickster uncle beckoned on him to go ahead with his desires. Unknown to the two love birds, Laban had a plan to keep Jacob working for him as long as forever.

Jacob finally took the long rope and asked for Racheals loving hands on a marital destination; so much Joy filled the atmosphere as it was a great opportunity to be permanently joined to the one who shared ties with them.

On the night  couples meet their fantastical longings and splashes of desires that have been bottled up for years, Jacob's fantasies breaks loose as all he had worked for was a piece of waste; the one who laid carelessly by his side wasn't the object of his toil by the lonely Leah.

The tussle then broke loose when the battles between thrones began. Racheal who carried the affectionate spot of Jacob realized that she was Barren. Rachael realizing she was Barren became envious of her sister. She exclaimed to Jacob give me children or I'll die. Leah who was also a red headed sister wasn't wise enough to call he sister to a peace summit, wared hard against Rachael despite being aware of how insecure she was. The two ladies in lonely Haran spent their lives in that sheep tent of a house in competition on something so trivial as who would reproduce more children; what boring lives they must have lived. How wish these women understood the importance of their existence on earth then they would have spent their lives building their boys up in the lord.

After the tiresome journey of Rachaels envies and competitions, the lord still blessed her immensely with one of the greatest children in biblical prophecies. She must have ended her life in disillusionment and depression after knowing the lord never forgot her.

The greatest of mishap was that's the ladies didn't know the lord yet they built the Jewish dynasty which still stands firmly until today.

God had a reason why he created Racheal and yet he closed her womb because he had a plan. All these was calculated so that Joseph would be borne at a time when he was go to save the children of Isreal from the aggressive famine that came upon the world. Striking that the most gifted souls are usually the ones limited by these mental holdups.

Get over your insecuirities and get on either the life God has for you through the knowledge of God's word. Get to know what the word says about you and believe it for that's all that really matters!!

You are special and unique!

THE SAFETY OF CONTENTMENT

Life would not always give you what you desperately need, nevertheless we must always fight to get what we truly deserve. The beauty of life is in the warring. What boring lives we would have without the battles that hits at us through our lives. Regardless of our quest to want, we must be self-assured that contentment contains inherent ingredients for winning the tenacious desire for more.

Contentment is the strange peace in what has already been acquired without the assertion to pack up more and more with self-imposed anxiety. Life would be easier if people took and enjoyed what they already have. I believe the wanting more is not a bad thing, it's the approach we undertake in getting the things that we want that matters most. Anything done with anxiety is just a waste of your God given time on earth. In getting the things we really want, we must be certain that we are satisfied with what we ready have. To have more through anxiety is to risk the greatness of your time here on earth. Life should be enjpyed and shouldn't be suspended in the graveness of your time on earth.

Life should be enjoyed and shouldn't be suspended in Olivery moments. The familiar text, Oliver twist is about the young boy who always wanted more food when he exhausted the one he already got: he always got what he deserved from the people who were in charge of the children at the orphanage. This happens to be how so many people are, never okay with the things that they have been given. Our pursuits for more usually gets us our hearts desire but with degrading movements in the state of happiness.

Depression deepens when regardless of what we have, we are either staring at what we don't have or at what another person possesses. Life is permanently changing and with the frequency and fervency of change, no matter what we have, life would stupidfy it and our hearts would long for new items. The only liberation we need from this great evil is liberty in our hearts to be satisfied with what is accessible at given moments. I would never support mediocrity; reach for your hearts goals, reach for the depths of your heart but remember to be driven by positive and healthy motives.

The Bible says something very profound about our drive to succeed "people are driven by their envies and jealousies to succeed" . That shouldn't be our hearts reason to succeed because it is unreasonable as each and every one of us possess different makeup and destinies. God wouldn't have made two people alike no matter how closely related or similar they appear to be. God enjoys our individuality and his relentless quest is that we remain that
way and build on all that is inherent in us.

To relentlessly feel unsatisfied about ourselves is pessimistically damaging. Rather than that, accept who you are and reach out to improve on the areas that needs diligent work. This is not without strain and perseverance but one must go on to create real channels of satisfaction in their lives, marriages and ministries. As we develop into divergent areas as the lord calls us to reach, do yourself good by dropping all those poisoning tendencies like dissatisfaction, and comparisons. In the long run, they would be harmful and our growths would be crippled.

Our journey through life would be intensified by our troubles. Troubles would arise, our pains would seek to strangulate us but regardless of these, find more of God in the struggles you face. Time would pressurize us into seeking bits of things that do not yield, but radically push throughout to revive your hearts and minds with more of God. The deep search for God is the aggressive search for a rhythmic party life afterwards. Not a small task but keep moving and never stop until your heart beats with tangible volts of God's presence. In this package, our lives contentment lies.

Keep your heart burning with the fire of contentment!!

ON THE ROAD TO HEALING

Your life is a gift

And do not under estimate the importance of those you meet along life’s part.

Minka okim

In this piece, I intend to write about an extract I got from the writer Elizabeth Gilbert in her book Eat, Pray, Love. A love story about a woman who found peace, certainty and a healthy relationship 

 with God after her divorce. 

 Relationships are very important to the core of who we are. We may exist for different purposes which seems extremely profitable to our importance and differences. But one thing cannot be overlooked and that is through cordial relationships our happiness is possibly determined. The whole story about relationships in this piece would build on our quest for intimacy with the opposite sex and moving on when life turns the door knob on our expectations. As time grows through years and months, we grow to yearn for more from the usual normal affections to a deeper and strategic commitment to one among a thousand folks. One very alarming but admirable reality that inspires my heart is the fact that out of a thousand folks lies just one object of our affection; strange but a very enriching fact.

 In Gilbert's Book Eat, Pray, Love, she encounters a heart wrecking divorce and moves on with a younger man who she gets into a relationship with, but as time hits the bell they separate because of some reasons you would get to know as I progress. After the breakup, she decides to undertake several trips around the world where she meets an older man in Rome who brings some light into her life. During the course of their friendship, the man explains the reason why people come into our lives. She tells him ‘The reason it is so hard to get over this guy is because I seriously thought he was my soul mate’.

Many people come into our lives because of certain reasons we may never understand and when they move away, we become emotionally sick. We all need to understand that some relationships happen because God needs to work on something in us through those people. God may have identified that you need a certain aspect of you exposed to healing and he works in some people into your life to help you healed. Please be sensitive in knowing what God is saying about people who come into your life.

The man Gilbert speaks to says something profound ‘Your problem is you don’t understand what the word ‘soulmate means’. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soulmate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soulmate forever, Nah too painful. Soulmates they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is you just can’t let it go. Some people come into your life not because you are supposed to spend the rest of your life with them. It could be that you have something they need or they have something you need to go to the next level of your life and work with God. Be glad about great relationships like that and do not mourn longer than is expected when it ends. People may come into your life to shake you up, drive you out of your limitations that could have limited your gifts, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and additions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life and then introduce you to God. This could be the job of the people who came into your life and left. Accept all that has happened and move on. Your life is a gift, do not waste it over spilled milk. Your emotions may get in the way initially but decide to move on. If you clear out all the space in your mind you’re using to obsess over your past relationships, you’ll have a vacuum there, an open spot- a door way; the universe will rush in, God would rush in and fill you with more love than you have ever dreamed of. Stop using your past relationships to block the door.

Regret is the rottenness of yesterday’s stench. Get up from where you are at the moment and move ahead. You may feel painful bolts of sadness, but gather strength and momentum from God and walk upon the circumstances in your life.

Love yourself enough to reach for the best.

THE CHASE

                                                   

The only traces of a life without impact is one who fails and never tries again.

Chase everything you really want out of life or else your failures would chase you.

In chasing your God given destiny, bad things may happen, but you’ve still got to keep chasing.

 

The prize of never giving up may not often be a Prize for a well written literature or an appraisal for something won; the only prize could be another well won failure. Despite those downward turns, never still give up on what is important to you. The beauty of something great is when it goes through toiling. The most important things you would ever have would take a lot of time to acquire, hence you may be tempted to give up. But still you shouldn’t. Put an extra effort and set new goals and plans you would get through it.

Below are short stories of people who never gave up:

Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss is referred to as the king of Denim. He is the guy who invented the jeans we put on today. Levi was just an immigrant from Bavarian who determinedly decided to make a living in America after moving from Germany to New York. Levi had two brothers named Jonas and Louis who were settled and later established their own wholesale dry goods company in New York. This inspired Levi to try out the dry goods business and he started learning what the business entails. In the light of the Gold Rush in California, he decided to move towards the west. This is when he started his own dry goods company. Through his company, he imported dry goods and sold them to small stores in California and throughout other towns.

In 1873, Levi became the owner of a patent alongside Jacob Davis. Jacob was a tailor who started making pants for working men-with metal rivets in places subject to stress, such as the corners of each pocket and the base of the fly. Because he could not afford to patents the pants alone, he solicited Levi’s help in paying for the paper work and suggested that they own the patent together. On May 20, 1873, the two received their patent for what they called ‘the waist overalls’, now known as the ‘Blue Jeans’.

Over the years, Levi’s business continued to expand remarkably and he wasn’t just referred to as a hardworking man but also as a kind hearted philanthropist who contributed large sums of money to local charities and in 1897, he funded twenty-eight scholarships to the university of Berkeley. To become anything meaningful, you’ve got to persevere in doing the things that brings you closer to where you intend to be. Things don’t just happen except through faith and hard work.

WILLIAMS WILBERFORCE

Williams Wilberforce is one of the world’s best-known champions of freedom and opponents of cruelty and injustice. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and a graduate of camp bridge university. Williams became a member of the parliament at 21yrs old. During this early age, he just enjoyed representing his constituency in parliament but he wasn’t pursuing any cause at this time. During the course of his life, he had an encounter with God that aligned him into the service of God. He was then torn between becoming a full time minister or a freedom fighter. Due to his passion for freedom fighting, he decided to serve God beyond the walls of the church. 

By 1787, Williams emerged as parliaments dominant voice against the slave trade. At that time, he had very few supporters because the wealth of the British empire depended on slave labor and Britain led the world in taking slaves from Africa and shipping them under horrific conditions to docks where they were sold like livestock to plantation owners and then forced into manual labor and often treated terribly.

Williams made up his mind to face whatever challenge was going to come his way. He said ‘Let the policy be what it might, let the consequences be what they would, ‘I am from this time determined that I would never rest until I have affected its abolition’. Great men are made in dire situations. A man isn’t great until he has fought the battles that wants to reduce him to nothing. Williams endured sickness, hardships, controversy and betrayals from colleagues but that did not stop him. He tirelessly fought the storms as there arrived. He presented his bill for the abolition of slave trade eighteen times before it finally passed.

In 1807, Williams finally saw the goal for which he had labored, sacrificed and endured criticism accomplished. Wilberforce died in 1833, knowing the end of slavery was imminent. One month after his death, the law abolishing slavery was enacted.

You may not have a calling such as the one Wilberforce had but you can serve God wherever you are and however you can. We were designed with different purposes in mind and can only become great in what God has called us to do individually. Identify what you have been called to do and grow into all that God wants you to become. 

OSCEOLA MCCARTHY

McCarthy was a woman who refused to give up on her dreams of helping others receive a benefit she never had. Much of life revolves around our ability to help someone else become better. The world may define greatness in terms of wealth, prosperity and affluence but Christ judgement of greatness is in one’s ability to serve others.

McCarthy was born in Mississippi in 1908 to a single mother. Her mother had to work long hours to meet the needs of young Osceola and herself; Osceola then began working at a young age and saved money she earned by ironing after school. Osceola had already decided she wanted money to help care for her grandmother in her old age, she also helped one of her aunts who had no children and was unable to walk after a long stay in the hospital. By the time her aunt improved enough for the young Osceola to go back to school, her classmates had gone beyond her so she decided not to go back to school.

So she started off a career in washing and ironing. As the years passed, she saved up all the monies she got from her business. She saved so much and decided not to buy a car, and didn’t stay in an air-conditioned room. As her savings grew significantly, her bankers encouraged her to let her money work for her, suggesting ways it would earn more interest than it did in savings account. She took their advice and her balances increased significantly.

Osceola’s hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is also home to one of the state’s universities- the university of Southern Mississippi. At one point, the school did not admit black students. By the time she was older they did- the woman with only a sixth grade education wanted to use her money to give deserving African American students in financial need the opportunity to receive a college degree. So in 1995, she donated $150,000 to the university and established to McCarthy scholarship. She said ‘I can’t do everything but I can do something to help somebody’.

You can turn adversity to something profitable as Osceola did. You can also turn a certain kind of Mystery into a great ministry. Nothing ever comes to pull you down, it comes to increase your value and strength.

In life you would meet a lot of setbacks and people who would live you but you’ve got to be very strong to keep moving. There would be sometimes that sickness and pain may decide to stand in your way, yet you can’t allow it define who you are and what you become. A great future awaits you if you’re resolute in developing your potentials and your gifts. God has given everyone gifts according to their abilities, when you develop them you become a star. In working on your gifts so many things may stand in your way like frustrations, disappointments and loss. All these things may look very tough, never mind them because it helps you develop tense muscles against pressure.

Remember that giving up is a tale of fools.

 

References

Never give up by Joyce Meyer