The Devil that is Depression - A Friend & Not Foe

While most of us have been conditioned to consider feelings of depression as the ghost that haunts the halls of our emotional well-being & requiring urgent suppression with medication, feelings of depression should, however, be considered a friend, & not foe.

If we recall the age-old scenario of having the devil perched on our left shoulder, leading us down the path of evil & wrong whilst a benevolent angel sits upon our right shoulder, leading us towards all that is good & righteous, we may consider one of the many 'devils' which plague us on our shoulder to be (amongst many other negative emotions) those horrible feelings of depression.

The ugly spirit that whispers malevolent words & imparts the heaviness of depression within your soul. The beast from without that perpetuates the sadness within.

But what if I told you the devil on your shoulder was in fact an ally? What if I told you the heaviness imparted into your soul was in fact one of the greatest motivators towards all that is good for you & away from all that is bad for you. A compass perhaps?

An emotional compass that is intended to lead you toward a joyful, positive, healthy & successful life.

Dee, you’ve gone mad. The devil as an ally??

The devil of depression as an ally, indeed. You see, your feelings exist for the purpose of leading you towards your greatest potential in life, even those horrible feelings of depression. For if you didn’t feel the intense discomfort of standing too close to a campfire, the burning heat & emotional distress intensifying minute after minute, would you move away from the fire at all? Or might you stand around burning senselessly like a sirloin.

Without your emotions, you may think of yourself as a lump of flesh without sense enough to step away from the burning campfire. And so, the devil steps in to impart the heavy pain of your emotions,

“Move, you fool!” the devil says.

And so, you move & the burning will cease. Although, it’s not just campfires the devil, in his wisdom, overlooks. It’s you in the midst of your poor life choices or perhaps life choices you had thought were the right choices at the time, but time (& the devil himself) sees otherwise.

The devil sees you standing too close to friends who don’t have your best interests at heart & who are leading you down the wrong path in life. The dogs with many fleas. The users & the abusers, the takers & the fakers. The friends that leave you feeling unsure, unsettled, untrusting. You feel low & feel drained, you become tired & become moody.

That’s the devil saying, "Move away". Will you listen, or will you hang around awhile longer & catch all their fleas?

The devil sees you being taken advantage of in the workplace. You’re over worked & underpaid, pressured to give, give, give. Overtime, above & beyond, you work, work, work. You feel exhausted & overburdened, the burn-out sets in & your mood sinks so low.

That’s the devil on your shoulder, he says, “Get up & go.”

The devil sees you now with those substances, the drugs & the booze. They’re fun for you at first, they lift your mood & have you singing a catchy tune. Until your mood sinks in the come down with the heaviest of moods. The weight in your soul feeling the burden of your doom.

Be sure it’s the devil, imparting low mood once again. His wisdom & foresight, urging you to move away from that which you think feels so ‘good’ in that moment, but is undoubtedly the path to foreseeable doom.

The devil sees you overindulging on junk foods, sweets treats & fatty meats. Fried chicken, fried noodles, fried fries & fried ham. The apples & oranges, fresh veg cast aside. Your stomach feels heavy & your mood starts to descend. I don’t feel so good, nor so well. You’re starting to perhaps feel, a little like hell?

The devil imparts depression, one bite at a time. Your compass & motivator to move towards the foods which will keep you feeling well.

The devil an ally, your teacher, you see?
The devil of depression, you’ve had wrong all along.
The devil says, “Had I not made you feel quite so bad & so sad,
My friend, you might not ever have thought to move towards goodness from bad”.

Dee
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