Depression – University of Life

Pain is a Problem (and your brain loves problems)

by Shaun Roundy

Today’s podcast discusses the ups, downs, and outs of the problem of pain. Without problems to solve, life would get dull fairly quickly, but when you don’t know to address problems productively, then all you get from them is stress, anxiety, and depression. Adding one more secret ingredient changes everything, so listen up and find out what it is!

With practice, you’ll develop the one character trait that makes life easier and more enjoyable, despite challenges.

You Are Needed

by Shaun Roundy

I once heard a story wherein a fairy had become entangled in a hedge. A kind girl set her free and the fairy granted her a wish.

“I want to always be happy,” the girl declared, at which the fairy flitted up to her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. The girl looked surprised, and the fairy flew away, never to be seen again.

Well, the girl lived a long, satisfying life, and her wish came abundantly true. The tale of the fairy’s wish circulated among her family and friends, but no one knew what the fairy had whispered in her ear.

As she lay dying with her adoring family gathered around her hospital bed, a granddaughter took her hand and asked what several of them had wondered for years. “Grandma, what did the fairy tell you that made you so happy all your life?”

The old woman turned toward her granddaughter and caressed her cheek lovingly. “She told me,” she said slowly, “‘Everyone needs you.’”

With that, she closed her eyes, expelled a final breath, and passed from this life with a contented smile on her face.

When you understand that everyone does need you, when you start looking for what you can give and how you contribute to the lives around you by simply being yourself rather than imagining their criticisms and complaints, then you let love instead of fear permeate your life, and that guarantees more love and abundance than any outward blessing could ever accomplish.

[This article comes from chapter 5.49 “You Are Needed” of Heal Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Speaking Your Brain’s Languages and Turing Pain into Power by Shaun Roundy]

SLIDER

Where do you fall on the “You Are Needed” love slider?


1: Nobody needs me. In fact, the world would be better off if I didn’t exist.	3: Sure, people need me, but only for the work I do, and anybody could replace me if I was gone.	5: Some people sorta need me, but they don’t really care about me. They just use me because I’m convenient.	7: Only my close friends need and love me. That’s good enough.	10: Everybody needs me whether they know it or not. They’d be okay without me, but their world would be diminished without me to brighten it up!

11. Going to extremes: some people glean their sense of value from being needed. They continually check how others react to them (and project their worries onto others) and how many “likes” they get on Facebook to determine whether they’re safe and accepted. Your sense of value should be intrinsic for best effect. Accept yourself unconditionally and go forward from there.

FOR DISCUSSION

What’s your most valuable contribution to the world? How does with your mere presence influence others?

How could loving yourself more make you even more important and needed to others?

HOMEWORK

Serve strangers in small or large ways and notice the difference you make. What would happen if everyone did that?

Serve yourself – do something that makes you truly happy – and notice how your cheerfulness affects others.

Heal Your Mind

by Shaun Roundy

UPDATE: the book is finished and you can find it here: Heal Your Emotions

I’ve been working on writing my next book, which will be one of the best and most important things I’ve ever created. It’s (tentatively) called Basic Intuitive Energy Healing ::: Heal Your Mind ::: A Scientific Approach to Speaking your Brains’ Languages and Turning Pain into Power and it includes over 50 simple yet highly effective healing techniques that you can use on yourself (or if you’re already a skilled energy healer, you can apply them to others for good effect).

I’ve been wanting to write it for about ten years, but the time wasn’t right until now. In hindsight, the reason is obvious – I thought I knew a lot ten years ago, and I did, but I’ve learned so much just in the past year that the book will now be far more complete and useful than it would have been then.

Here’s the introductory story which gives a general idea of what the book is about, and stay tuned as I reveal more details soon!

Once upon a time, you found yourself wandering through a deep, dark woods. You didn’t know exactly where you were headed, but hurried along the path just the same, hoping to escape the unpleasant shadows and the too-cool breeze that made you wrap your arms tightly around yourself and shiver.
Out from the darkness came distant, unpleasant voices in faint, scarcely-audible whispers. “You’re not good enough,” they said, “why even try? You’re a fool if you think you’ll ever be happy again!”
“Nobody loves you,” others murmured. “You’re all alone. You’ll always be alone.”
You pretended to ignore the voices as you hurried along, but deep inside, you knew they were right. Read more “Heal Your Mind” →

How to Repulse Energy Vampires

by Shaun Roundy

“Mmmm,” the vampire thinks to him/herself while looking over your glowing aura, “that much energy could sustain me for months!”

Your happy smile slowly fades as dark clouds creep across the bright morning sky. You don’t understand why you’ve begun feeling more down than usual lately. Nothing is actually wrong, nothing you can name; life should continue going great! But it’s just…not, exactly. You feel more tired and less optimistic than usual. If only you could shake off this miasm, then you could get back to being your normal, cheerful, productive self.

Some energy vampires are overt and obvious. They complain. They undermine every effort with negativity and pessimism. They criticize, blame, and argue. Such incessant actions create a heavy iron anchor that you must drag behind you if you can’t avoid them. “See?” they ask as you grow weary and irritable from carrying their load, “didn’t I tell you how awful the world is?” Read more “How to Repulse Energy Vampires” →

Depression is Simple

by Shaun Roundy

Here’s the simplest & most helpful explanation of depression you’ll ever read:

Depression happens when life tips too far away from the light for too long, and your heart and mind take a partial vacation.

Depression is a safety valve, like when you turn on too many appliances in your home and blow a fuse. If your system didn’t partially shut down, your overloaded circuits would have experienced a worse melt down later on. Read more “Depression is Simple” →

Thinking Distortions

by Shaun Roundy

seeclearly If you ever find yourself feeling frustrated that things aren’t working out better or suffer from any degree of anxiety, depression, or low self esteem, then there’s a strong chance it has something to do with Cognitive Distortions. If you’ve never heard of these pesky bad habits, then you’ve been missing out on a huge opportunity to make your life better and easier!

To be concise, thinking distortions are ways we sometimes think that – when you actually think about them – make no sense and often destroy your mood, motivation, and chance at living a happy, successful life.

Read through the list below and see which patterns you recognize in your life. Sometimes merely recognizing irrational thoughts when they happen provides enough clarity for you to stop thinking that way.

In case that’s not enough, we’ll also provide Read more “Thinking Distortions” →

Podcast: Good and Hard

by Shaun Roundy

In our first University of Life podcast, we interview an extended family – a first-time mother, a survivor, a young cowboy, and an accidental jailor – about some of their most difficult experiences and seek to answer and explain the question “Is bad good?”

We’d love to make a habit of creating thought-provoking podcasts like this, so if you enjoy it or find it helpful, please say so in one of the comment sections below! Thanks! Your feedback matters!

A big thanks to Marilee, Kirsten, Chris, Preston, Emily, Tiffany and Jeri! You made it great.

Would your business like to sponsor this show? Send us a message and we’ll tell you how.

Top Ten Depression Cheats

by Shaun Roundy

I’ve never considered myself a gamer, but I was wrong. It turns out that life itself is a game. In fact, it’s a whole series of games, and we all play them nonstop.

These games aren’t a waste of time, either; they happen to be the best way to learn life’s lessons – which is the whole reason we’re alive on this earth in the first place. The sooner we realize that life is a game and play to win, Read more “Top Ten Depression Cheats” →