NOSTIGMAS ALLY BLOG
Documenting the lives of the NoStigmas community through stories, creative works & advocacy related to mental illness and suicide.
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Books & Quotes
Gratitude is a common theme in many of the books that I read, probably because it is the backbone to good mental health. If there is one good habit above all that we should practice each and every day, it is being thankful. This can be extremely hard when our mental health is not in the best of places, but hard work is essential in overcoming adversities. Several research studies have shown that practicing gratitude can considerably reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
In A Return to Love, Marianne Williamson defines surrender as “the decision to stop fighting the world, and to start loving it instead.” When I surrendered to the idea that I was a victim of depression my life started to change. It is so easy to fall prey to your circumstance, to believe that you cannot change your situation.
Speaking your truth can indeed be both uncomfortable and empowering. Some people have no reservations about speaking their minds or sharing what they are feeling, others can close up at the risk of feeling vulnerable, causing conflict, or other internal struggles.
Whether you are living with a mental illness or not, connection is vital for sustaining life. As Brene Brown states in Daring Greatly, “..connection is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives”. We as humans are interactive creatures with a disposition to create relationships and meaning, we are not meant to go through life alone. Feeling connected to a cause, a practice, other people, it all creates a significant relationship and without it we truly suffer.
