Several tragic events happening on September 9th have touched my life.

• The terrorist take-over and the events that unfolded in 2001 will forever be in the memory of all.  God Bless those that lost their lives, their families, co-workers and friends.
• The electrical fire in 2011 that caused my friend and neighbor’s home to burn to the ground.  Thank God they weren’t home and no one was injured.  A new home, bigger and better was built to replace their destroyed mobile home.
• Going back to a period of time between those tragic moments, I met the father of my daughter in 2004.  I am torn on an adjective to describe that event.  Perhaps fateful.

And now, in 2013, I celebrate a small victory of personal consequence.  After five years of medically supporting my brain to process and handle the depression I suffered from, I am now anti-depressant free.

Ironically, the need for anti-depressant medication was necessary due to that fateful meeting nine years ago. Go figure.

A stigmata is attached to people who are prescribed medication to adjust the levels of stuff in their brain that keeps them feeling that the weight of life will not crush them into a deflated pile of human rubble. The stigmata attached to depression could be that one is: crazy, lazy, stupid, weird, needy, sad, suicidal, etc.  Don’t fall for the misconceptions quickly associated with depression.

Life is deep and feels like it will suck you down in a dark hole with no way to pull yourself out. People pass by and see you there suffering, but they can’t help you.  You have to want to help yourself.  Not in just finding and sticking to a medication that works for your symptoms, but to also seek a form of counseling or therapy.

Talking things out with a stranger qualified to listen and understand what your words mean, makes the process of healing the wounds on the inside much easier to achieve. I know, because I’ve been there. I went to counseling for four years, and it was time well spent.

There are many more days in my life to enjoy and explore. I welcome each day with open arms because nothing can bring me down again.

Nothing.

~P.