Working Through by Susan L.

  It's been tough going this past week. It's more than feeling overwhelmed or simply blue. A sign of depression is a sense of hopelessness. That's what's been bothering me the most, this loss of hope. In its place is a great, aching emptiness. It's a warning sign as big as a billboard that I need to take notice about what is happening.
  Depression often strikes people in the late spring and early summer so I decided to see if my own feelings of depression were cyclical. I know August can be hard for me as the days grow shorter but spring is normally a season of hope and new life. It's good to have the blogs to check out and see if anything had been written to either confirm or eradicate this idea. It's been eradicated. It isn't cyclical.
  Mind you, this could also be related to physical health. Respiratory ailments can cause depression so maybe it's not all in my head. Although the cough is mostly gone, praise God, I still feel run down.
  Wanting to isolate is another warning sign. That's simply because being out and about takes up huge amounts of energy that, right now, simply isn't there. It also means I can't fulfill my role as a peer support worker as well as I would like. Again, the energy simply isn't there.
  It's scary feeling depressed like this. That's the worst part.
  It's scary feeling vulnerable and in need of support.
  Lord, I know You are with me. I lift this all to You. Help me find the courage to ask for the help I need. Help me not be ashamed of that need. Help me make the healthy choices I need make. Most of all, my Lord, My Saviour, my King, lead me to where You would have me go to for help. In Jesus' name I pray.
  "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Ps 23:1-3