” Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.”
Now that I’m beginning to make an effort that this higher power is really on my side the more my faith and belief will help me overcome my fear of failure that my depression ever coming to an end.
My fears, anxieties and other obstacles to my serenity will gradually disappear the more I learn that there is somebody up there that love me and wants me to be free from that gnawing emptiness that continually plagues me day after day. I am beginning to see that the more I attend meetings and read my Depressed Anonymous Big Book, and do my daily meditations the more peace and hope I will have. I truly believe that life will get better for me. My sanity and my health will increase like a seed watered, nurtured and which receives a lot of sunlight.
We aren’t alone anymore. In fact, we are strengthened by the bonds of fellowship and friendship in the group and not burdened by the fear that we will again soon slump back into our depression.” The Depressed Anonymous Workbook/Step 2-Page 13.
Excerpts from Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.
“This new belief in a Higher Power is not the creation of any organized religion but instead is the Power that creates the universe. Our surrender and trust in it frees it to work its way in our life. That is a paradox of the 12 Steps – the more we depend on the Higher Power instead of our addictions, the freer we in reality become.”
For the depressed person, giving up old ways of thinking and acting is much like giving up any other addiction – at first letting go of the old behavior makes you feel uncomfortable. The old behavior wants to cling to our spirit like swamp mud hangs onto knee-high boots. Before your participation in Depressed Anonymous you would go home from work, get by yourself and ruminate on how bad you felt. This new behavior will help you think differently about yourself. You will find that this higher power, or God as you understand him, is not the same God that you might have met when you were young. When you were a child you came to believe that God is watching you, ready to punish you if you are not perfect. Now you can begin to develop an adult and new way of being related to God as you understand God. With time, persistence and patience you will gradually trust your life to this Higher Power. ”
Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Page 43.
SOURCE: HOME STUDY PROGRAM. Please see Depressed Anonymous literature for more information. You are able to order your own Kit online from www.depressedanon.com.