Trick or treat? Last night it was goblins, monsters and everything in between. It was Halloween.

November 1, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Halloween ( the word Halloween is from an earlier period of time and means hallowed eve. In the Christian Church all Saints were honored the day before–thus, the ” eve” part.) Nowadays, this night is filled with children (and adults) dressed up as various personages, animals and everything in between. All of them had their little baskets and hoping to get them filled with candy, cookies and assorted sweet treats. Judging from all who came to our door last night I would say the evening turned out to be a treat. No tricks!

When I was trying to navigate through the fog of my depression a number of years ago, there were no treats –no special happy moments–nada! The whole landscape of my life was filled with “emotional landmines” and the mind with its delusions and illusions tried to trick me into thinking I would always live in this pit of darkness. But as soon as I began to take responsibility for my feelings and my life, I found answers to my unending trapped feelings. The answers were not of the treat variety, but they gradually removed the bricks/tricks that formed the prison of my depression. No more was I forced to wear the false face of the smiling, happy-go lucky person. No more was I the people pleaser, subservient to all who were part of my daily struggle. No, I now filled my futile days with practical ways which I learned how to leave the sadness behind. I found the way out through the Twelve Steps of Depressed Anonymous, and my newly discovered support group. No more tricks. No more days begun in a fog and ending in a fog. I Came to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity. I Made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understood God to be.

Everyday I treat myself to doing God’s will and believing that something good will happen for me this day What’s it going to be for you today? Trick or treat?

Source: (C) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

Higher Power, Mindfulness

Today is all that I have

October 30, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Simple enough. All I have is this 24 hour period staring me in the face. What to do with it? Well, for one thing I am about ready to go to my work. A few people are there waiting for me to help them with various activities. Each day is a little different. Each day I encounter various persons with various needs. All of my encounters starts with a greeting and a smile. You see, I spend most of my day interacting with persons who live in a nursing facility. I know most of them by name and so I spend a little bit of time sharing with them about the day ahead as well as how their day is going. Because of their own response to their dementia of one kind or another, and living in the moment, they assure me with their smile that they are doing OK.

The amazing characteristic of dementia is that you live in the moment. The present, as the word can denote, is truly a present from God. This is the only place I can live–in the now. Yesterday is really gone forever–can’t bring it back (only by memory as faulty as it may become) and tomorrow isn’t here yet. Obviously, the only place to live is here, now, today, these next 24 hours.

Am I living in the present or is my mind onto to something I have to do tonight? Or after lunch? I think you get the message. My thought is that when I meet a friend (resident) in the nursing home I am going to be really present to them and have all my attention focused on the person. It is going to be an I-Thou relationship. It is as only the person that I encounter is the only person with whom my entire attention is given. And at that moment something special takes place–two people become as one–joined together in the communicating of a true and present relationship. Both of us are now in each others presence — in the now –fully being the loving person that God desires all creation to be —aware that we are all together in this. Today is all I have to make this relationship grow, in this manner, in this time, with this person.

The Promises

“We find ourselves enervated and weakened…” But hope is Promised!

October 29, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Promise # 3 of 13 continued: “We do not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.” The following is a continuation from the previous statement concerning Promise # 3.

“When we suppress a negative emotion and refuse to deal with it, either consciously or unconsciously, it becomes one of those blocks that form the walls of our personal prison. These unexpressed emotions can fester and boil over so that our energy level is dissipated, scattered. We find ourselves enervated and weakened. We discover that with the internal war raging inside of us we can hardly find the energy to get to work and roll ourselves out of bed a morning. We no longer have the freeing feeling of spontaneity in our lives.

We discover that our ability to make ourselves do something is now beyond our personal strength and power. We have become helpless.

We also discover that we are powerless. Our will power has no control over this depression.

But how do we know that this particular Promise will come true for me? What we can rely on is our own experiences. Our experiences tell us that the more we live in the solution of the Promises of Depressed Anonymous the more serenity and peace will be ours. We have discovered that it is when we begin to live in the solution and not focus on our problems that will lead us past the fear of what might happen to the serenity of the present moment. We no longer wait with trepidation for the other shoe to drop. Our freedom begins when we start to reflect consciously on what is happening now at this very moment. I have noticed that it is when I become conscious about what I am feeling now is the direct result of my thinking which enable me to make the conscious decisions to bring myself back to the present.”

SOURCES: (c) I’ll do it when I feel better. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 35-36.

VISIT THE STORE for more literature dealing with the Steps and Depression..

The Promises

DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PROMISE # 4: We do not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it!

October 28, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

This does not mean that “oh well” we made some mistakes so let’s just forget about everything that happened in the past –after all it’s in the past.

We can spend a lot of wasted time wallowing in the self-pity that occupies any addiction. We also might regret all the time we wasted staring at the blank wall, alone and trying to figure out in the circling of our thoughts the why of our immobility, passivity and pain.”

More of Promise #4 To tomorrow —

Sources: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

I’LL DO IT WHEN I FEEL BETTER. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

Fellowship, I'll Do It When I Feel Better

PROMISE # 5 of Depressed Anonymous: “No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we see how our experience can benefit others.”

October 26, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Some of us have attempted suicide. A few of us more than a few times. We had despaired of ever finding peace or hope. We believed that we had no future and that our yesterdays were as hopeless as our today’s. It was hard to attend our first Depressed Anonymous meeting. We felt horribly alone. We just know that no one in the group has been through what we had been through. But as we listened and watched the older members of the group speak we saw ourselves in their stories.

Personally, I believe that whatever you give out to others is the amount that comes back to you. Our experience can usually help someone else. As the experience of depression is so isolating, so predictable in its misery that it is bound to have made such impression upon us that it changed out life and the way we think about our life. And then when our life is changed for the better —thanks to the fellowship of DA, this precious gift of hope needs to be with those still suffering. Ironically, it appears that the farther we have gone down in mood and up again in our recovery the more powerful can this experience be.

The new members of the our fellowship see the “after” of our lives lived in recovery and so they themselves get involved in our fellowship. The fact that we have recovered so completely is in itself a message of tremendous hope for those who are newcomers to the group. Isn’t it amazing that those who can do the most for those still suffering are those who have worked themselves out of the pit of isolation and begin sharing their story of hope and personal empowerment.”

SOURCE: I’LL DO IT WHEN I FEEL BETTER. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 39-40.

The Promises

Promise # 11: I can live in hope and not despair

October 25, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Promise # 11 of the Promises of Depressed Anonymous shows us that with work and a commitment to oneself that I will leave the prison of my depression.

Starr tells us in her personal story in Depressed Anonymous that it was when she opens up and shares her story with others in the group that she feels relief. It was here that she learns how to handle situations that at one time baffled her. We all have learned that whether we share in a face – to – face group or online, our ability to trust others begins to grow. We begin to feel empowered. We now know almost intuitively that trust of others can lead to trust in ourselves. We tell ourselves If others can grow and get well so can I. We also find ourselves doing less and less of the self-bashing that we once did. Now we find that we can be free of the prison that we have constructed,.Our negative feelings about ourselves get gradually replaced by feelings of positive regard. We find that the guilt and shame that once shadowed our every move now begin to be diminished. How is this? It happens because someone like ourselves has shown us that we too can live without depression. We have become believers in what can be done with hope, work and time.

SOURCE: I ‘LL DO IT WHEN I FEEL BETTER. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

12 Step Meeting, DA Literature, I'll Do It When I Feel Better, The 12 Steps

Promise # 11. “Intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.”

October 23, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

As my mind began to heal and my thoughts became more lucid it became apparent that something inside of myself was changing. Depression, when you begin to examine the various symptoms up close and deal with them, the experience becomes less threatening. Some say that depression is a collection of behaviors that are brought into play to defend us against things that are too painful to face. Also, depression results when a love object is lost through death or that one feels abandoned. We have become so at one with our love object, that we mourn the death of part of us. The love object and ourselves has become one. I believe we use the word co-dependence today.

At first I was frightened by my various symptoms of depression. The symptoms proved to be baffling. I was not able to get out of bed as well as being unable to concentrate or manage a complex thought. I began to worry that I was losing my mind and I often asked myself if I was going to survive. But now my ability to handle situations in a meaningful way is due to my frequent attendance at meetings, and by making a daily time for prayer and meditation and feeling that my life has purpose and meaning. The more I am physically active and going to meetings even when I don’t feel like it. Working on my Depressed Anonymous Workbook, reading my Twelve Step literature. The behavior is where my freedom begins. And yes, I do feel lousy at times, but I also know that nothing can stand in my way to make choices in my own behalf. Previous to my involvement with the group I had no idea that depression was not so powerful now as to prevent me from even thinking that I could choose to feel differently.” (Read more tomorrow on Promise # 11.

SOURCE: Copyright(c) I’LL DO IT WHEN I FEEL BETTER. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 50-51.

DA Literature, Fellowship, The Promises

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through

October 21, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

Today, we would like to initiate a series on the Promises of Depressed Anonymous. We will consider some thoughts about the First Promise of Depressed Anonymous. The following piece illustrates some important areas for you, the reader, to consider.

” Working the 12 Steps is like the person who heads toward the light at the end of the tunnel. The closer one gets to the light –the more one discovers the way out.

The light in this case is symbolized by the Fellowship of Depressed Anonymous. The expression of light, health and recovery of its members helps each of us to stay focused on recovery. Work has to be done if we are to find not only the light — but a life free from the symptoms of depression. Change is painful. The first step is really the beginning of the end of our pain. By admitting that we are in pain is that which paradoxically begins the release of our pain. This is the paradox of letting go and holding on as we learned from our Step Three. What we hold onto holds onto us. What we seek –seeks us.

It is difficult for any of us to admit that our lives are out of control.”

– To be continued

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SOURCES: Copyright (c) The Promises of Depressed Anonymous (2002) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

For more information on literature available, visit the store.

Depressed Anonymous

The risk of being willing to change!

October 20, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

“When you and I begin to work on our life’s journey and start to make this list of people we have resentments against, and begin to forgive them, then this is the beginning of my making things right in our life. You might now be feeling better for the first time in your life as you continue to make a conscious effort to take responsibility for your sadness. You realize the effort to take responsibility for your sadness. You realize that you no longer want to stay depressed but instead are willing to risk feeling better (differently). This is taking the risk of being willing to change.

When a person stops smoking there is a residual craving for nicotine, and the craving is most painful for the first weeks after quitting the addiction. Gradually over time, and due to being able to say no to the impulse to smoke you feel stronger and so the painful withdrawal becomes less intense. The same applies to the addiction of depression in that at first it’s sad thoughts, but with time and working our Twelve Steps and our active involvement with the fellowship of Depressed Anonymous we have the strength to say no to these sad thoughts and begin to choose hope and serenity instead,.”

Source: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

12 Step Meeting, DA Literature, Fellowship, Purpose, The 12 Steps

Great Ideas Give Energy Of Purpose And Great Wings To The Soul!

October 19, 2015 hopeservicefellowship Leave a comment

“A great object to awaken resolute choice, must be seen to be within our reach. The truth, that progress is the very end of our being, must not be received as a tradition, but comprehended and felt as a reality. Our minds are apt to pine and starve, by being imprisoned within what we have already attained. . A true faith , looking up to something better, catching glimpses of distance perfection, prophesying to ourselves improvements proportional to our conscientious labors, gives energy of purpose, gives wings to the soul; and this faith will continually grow, by acquainting ourselves with our own nature, and with the promise of divine help and immortal life which abound in revelation… A great idea…if seized on clearly and vigorously, burns like a living coal in the soul.” –William Ellery Channing

Know what you want, find out how to get it, and then go get it!

Within each of us is that soul spirit which urges us on to do what we know we must do. So often, almost by a strange set of circumstances or coincidence we are presented with a person, an idea, or a situation by which we can fulfill the need which we search for. Do not pass up this prompting, this nudge, but take it upon yourself to investigate and then to take it as your own if it appears to fulfill your need.

Did this fulfilled need just “happen” that I ran into an old friend? Did it just “happen” that I picked up a book where my greatest need and solutions were outlined neatly? It was as if they were there all the time.

If you are reading this piece today, and feeling crushed down and alone, could it be that this message for you just didn’t happen but fulfills your own needs for healing and complete recovery from a depressed spirit?

Like all of us who look for that nudge, that prompting which will push us to make an investment in ourselves that can last a lifetime, and what I have done, these many years ago, and still use today, is the solution focused Twelve Steps of Depressed Anonymous for my everyday use and continued recovery. Was it the coincidence of a friend giving me a book on depression while I was searching for a way out of my depression –did it just “happen” or did I see in this coincidence, that something, which had always been in plain sight, and knowing if I pursued this “happening” with vigor and tenacity I could be the serene person that I always wanted to be.

Here are the books that gave me the nudge to fulfill the Promises of the Twelve Steps. These two books, combined in use together are the source of my strength and the “idea” that fulfilled my need. Follow your nudge! And if you have decided that you are reading this BLOG today, and that it’s message applies to your situation today then take a look at the HOME STUDY KIT and make something great “happen” for your life today!

HOME STUDY KIT (Visit the store)

Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville

The Depressed Anonymous Workbook, (201) Depresses Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

We believe that what we think, what we say, and what we do impact our depression. We believe that depression can be managed by applying the principles of the 12 Steps. All are welcome!