I had depression and nearly lost everything
One of my best friends Jeremy Penman battled with depression for numerous years and has a pretty incredible story. I look up to Jeremy a lot. he is a great guy and has an amazing wife (Nicky). I asked him if he would share some of his story with us about depression.
Jim Carrey, Jonny Depp and Angelina Jolie. These are all huge names with even bigger talent but do you know what they have in common? It's not their millions of dollars, it's not their huge fan bases and it's not even their lavish celebrity lifestyles. It's that despite everything that goes well in their life they all have suffered with anxiety or depression. So if your reading this and are in the same boat, you should know that you are amongst good company!
Imagine for a moment it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining and everything around you is going well but on the inside you have this hollow feeling, this gnawing inside of you like something horrible will happen. This feeling never leaves. Imagine you’re at a party with your closest friends and family but despite the hugs and kisses you feel nothing, just emptiness. Imagine opening your eyes in the morning and wishing you hadn’t.
This was my reality for many years and there are millions more like me. But the point of this blog is to tell you there is hope and there is help. This may be your reality right now but it doesn’t have to be permanent.
Its ok not to be OK
I am a tradie and if I was ever to say anything about how I “feel” on a job site I would be told to, “have a teaspoon of cement and harden up”, so I got good really good at hiding it. But bottling it up doesn’t make it go away, it just continues to fester and it will eventually come out in another area of your life. I was at risk of losing everything, my now wife, my finances (due to gambling), my health and my life.
Luckily for me, I had people in my life that I trusted. These people told me it was OKAY to feel the way that I did and encouraged me to overcome my depression. You NEED to find someone to speak to. It might be a friend or family member or even a councillor or psychologist, whoever it is, you need to find someone.
Just hold on
“Just hold on” words from a person who had been through the same as me. I was sick of feeling like rubbish all the time but these words were what got me over the line. Once I had gotten to a place where I could comprehend that my depression was only a temporary thing and that I could get better and live a normal life everything changed.
If I could leave you with 3 words its JUST HOLD ON because there is hope. I placed my faith in Jesus Christ who despite being sent to the cross had hope because he could overcome it and just as you can overcome what ever it is your going through right now.
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