According to National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 25% of U.S. adults struggle with depression, anxiety, or some combination of the two. What's more alarming than 1 in 4 adults struggling with these two are the fact that 34% of adolescents were found (same research by NIMH) to be living with Anxiety or Depression.
Depression, often focused on what happened in the past and reliving it over and over again, and anxiety, worrying about the future and the unknowns of what's ahead of us, are two things that do nothing but rob the joy from our reality and keep us from being thankful for the here and now we find ourselves in and living life the way we are suppose to! I learned a long time ago if you'll live in your "3-Foot World" and only think about things you can impact or control, then you can get through anything! Your attitude, character, effort, focus, mood, love and faith are just a few examples of what you can control. What other people say, think, or do; how they feel or react; in addition to taxes, the weather, traffic and college football are a short list of things you can't control.
You only get one shot at life, when you waste it worrying about something that isn't promised (and is out of your control), or sad about something you can't redo, then you are not making the most of the opportunities freedom affords you here in this great country. You can do anything, be anything, and trying anything you want because so many gave up their tomorrows for Your Today, live in it!! Live your life to the max and don't be chained down by anxiety and depression, because as we are learning now, it's not ONLY holding you back, but will your kids as well.
We teach a lot at Down Range (campdownrange.org) about living in your 3FW because so many of the youngsters come to us from situations they can't control, parents that made bad choices, families that aren't great, pasts that have scars, and questionable futures. The best thing is, the exact message a fifteen year old boy needs to hear is often the same as the thirty-five year old mom, forty-two year old dad, or twenty-two year old college student: "You have the ability to change your life; you're not a victim, you're in charge of not only how you feel, but what actions you take and NO ONE ELSE. Take responsibility and know that self-doubt and self-pity will rot your mind and soul. Be You!"
So, whether you find yourself worrying about how someone is going to act or feel tomorrow, depressed about the choices someone made, or thinking you'll never be able to change, take some truths we believe and put them into action around the details of your life (email me cj@campdownrange.org if you need help):
- I am responsible for my thoughts, words, feelings, and actions; therefore I can change them
- My theology can override my biology
- Learned behaviors (depression, anxiety, anger, etc.) are not inherited through genetic lines and can be cut
- Baggage only goes as far as you'll carry it (no backpack ever finds its way home without a student carrying it)
- If you live fully in the here-and-now then there won't be time to think about the past or future
- If it's true for others, and others can do it, that means you can too
- Not being able and not wanting to change are two different things
- Danger and Fear have nothing to do with each other. Danger is very real, and fear is completely made up. That is why you can be in so much danger and be completely calm because you have no idea; yet on the other hand you can be completely safe and entirely full of fear.
- It's all a choice, your choice & yours alone
- Look up Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and the ABC Model. Basically, what you think and believe controls what you do and how you feel, NOT what others are doing to you or what's happening around you. Change your thoughts and your behavior changes.
- Don't like how you're feeling, change your thoughts!
- Your mind can be the weakest part of your body or the toughest. An anchor and symbol of your strength, or a crutch to your stumbling through life slowly relying on others
It's all about ownership and responsibility! No complaining and whining, and do your part and then let others do their's!
Hang Tough,
CJ
PS - Paisley is going to be the toughest little girl you've ever met: psychologically emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually! I mean she's already adorable (as seen on Daddy Duty)
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