"Just Look On The Bright Side!" 💙

Sometimes, people say to those who are suffering from depression, just look on the bright side. And I can understand how that's a hurtful comment for those that are in depression to hear because when you're in depression, you're in the crushing depths of blackness and despair.

There is no bright side to look on. So I completely understand how that's really hard to hear. And as a comment, it doesn't really make much sense. What does it mean to look on the bright side anyway?

I don't really understand the concept. So it's not exactly a wonderful piece of helpful advice. But if we reframe that advice, if instead of looking on the bright side and I don't know, laughing our socks off, maybe we can take that down a notch and just look at things a bit less seriously because we're very prone to looking at life exceptionally seriously and negatively when we're in depression.

And I know this is a big ask, but if we continue to do things the same way as they got us into depression, we will stay in depression. So just maybe once an hour or once a day even, when something happens, try to take it a bit less seriously.

Like say you drop something on the floor and you're like, oh, well, it's bad to happen. It's bad to happen. Of every 100 times I carry a knife and fork around, I'm going to drop them once in a while, aren't I?

That's just the way life is. And suddenly you've put a bit of perspective and a bit of distance away from the event, which could have been a trigger for a negative spiral. Of course, I dropped the fork.

I'm always dropping the fork. I'm so clumsy. I'm always dropping stuff. Why is it always me? No one else drops stuff. And suddenly you're on a negative spiral. But if you can take that different perspective and a bit of distance and go, well, yeah, people drop stuff all the time.

It's no big deal. Life goes on. Then that's just tweaking your way of thinking. It's not looking on the bright side, but it's looking at things a bit less seriously. So I know it's a big ask, but perhaps try that once a day whenever it crops up, something that could launch a negative spiral.

Just look at it with a bit of a twist, a bit of a less serious perspective, and hopefully that will help on your journey out of depression.