The latest article from the Overcome Depression + Thrive Blog.

Do you ever feel like life is always giving you a hard time? 

Do you ever feel like others just aren’t there for you when you need them? 

Well, if you’re nodding “yes”, then you’re going to love this episode of Overcome Depression + Thrive because I’m going to be revealing how you can turn these hard times to your advantage. 

So, be sure to stay tuned…

Press play now to listen to the Podcast Episode or watch the video below.

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READ TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Hi and welcome back, as always, it’s great to have you here!  I’m your host Marie O’Neil, creator of The Proven 3-Step Formula For Overcoming Depression and the Author of How To Create A Depression-Free Life.

Now, I’d like to start today’s show with a touching tale.  

But, before I do, I just wanted to take a moment right now to apologise for my long absence. It was not intended, I actually got a sudden spinal injury where I couldn’t walk or move around naturally for a period of time. I even blacked out and fainted for the very first time in my life, so it was a bit of a terrifying experience for me.

So, as you can imagine my normal routine of doing podcasts and videos ‘went out the window’ because what little energy I did have, I had to reserve for my private clients.  

But, I’m back!

And, there’s a golden nugget you can learn from my experience, which is…

It’s okay to say no!

It’s okay to let things slide sometimes, especially to get your health back in order. 

None of us are machines! We cannot simply be given another part and sent back to work because our body-mind system is delicate. It needs time to rest and heal and if that means you have to push several things off your plate to heal yourself then, that’s what you must do!

The sky is NOT going to fall and genuine friendships are NOT going to be destroyed from the odd no or two.

In fact, they’re gonna be strengthened by the quality of respect.  So, don’t be afraid to say no to others and always remember, there’s always another day. What can’t be done today, can be completed tomorrow.

But, you only have one body-mind system. So, cherish it, respect it and it’ll look after you.

Now, let’s get on with today’s episode, which begins with a touching tale that goes like this….

One day a farmer’s precious donkey fell into a cold, damp, dark well. 

The animal cried out for hours as the farmer tried to figure out how to get him out.   The farmer was racking his brain for a solution, but he just couldn’t find one!  He kept thinking and thinking and eventually it all just got too much for him and he said…

Enough is enough! 

And, he made a decision!  He rationalised that since the donkey was old anyway, it wasn’t worth the time or hassle to save him. So, he simply, turned his back and walked away, leaving the poor donkey in the well.

But, as he was walking away…. He had another thought! 

The farmer thought the kindest thing to do, would be to put the donkey out of his misery so he wouldn’t have to go through the pain of dying a slow agonising death, from the bitter cold nights and starvation.

And, he decided the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this, was to bury the poor donkey alive inside the well.

So the farmer, excited with himself, rushed off to his village to ask all of his friends and neighbours to join him in burying the donkey in the well.

He convinced them, that the more hands he had to help him, the faster the poor donkey would be put out of his misery. 

So, with a false belief that they were being humane, they all grabbed their shovels and began shovelling dirt into the well.

As you can imagine, once the donkey realised what was going on, he squealed out in protest!

But nevertheless, the villagers ignored his plight and carried on shovelling, load after load of dirt onto the donkey.

Now, after several bucket loads had been thrown into the well… The air went deathly silent…

There was an eeriness which suddenly filled the air…

The donkeys haunting cries were gone and all that was left was silence… 

Then, all of sudden…

The donkey let out a huge, rowdy, excited neigh, which reverberated loudly off the walls of the well.

The villagers starred at each other, with puzzled looks upon their faces.  They were confused but nevertheless, they continued shovelling dirt into the well, thinking the donkey will soon grow silent, but that never happened!

Instead, the excited and happy sounds of the donkey grew louder and louder. 

The farmer couldn’t contain his curiosity, he had to know what was going on, so he stepped forward and peered inside the well, and he just couldn’t believe his eyes!

Every shovel load of dirt thrown into the well, hit the donkey’s back, but instead of burying the donkey, the donkey just shook himself, shaking the dirt off his back.

He then compacted that dirt beneath his hooves and used it as a stepping stone, a platform, to climb up and out of the well.  

So, as the villagers continued to shovel dirt, the donkey continued to shake it off and step higher and higher until pretty soon, to everyone’s amazement, he steps up, over the edge of the well and trots off happily into the distance!

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This is such a wonderful tale because it shows us why we should NEVER GIVE UP!

Or, why we should stop wasting time and energy replaying all those; “Why me?”  “It’s not fair”  “I don’t deserve this”  “Where did I go wrong?” “I’m a failure” statements, over and over in our mind.

Instead, we need to open our eyes, look around and find the resources available to us. We need to find the dirt which can help lift us out of the dark well that we’ve found ourselves in.

Because, there is a way! 

There is always a way!  Even if that way, comes in the form of someone who appears to be burying us alive or appears to be working against us, because, in reality….That person might just be giving us the resources we need to save ourselves.

They may be giving us EXACTLY what we need to climb out of that hole!

This tale also highlights why we should never expect others to be able to rescue us.

Yes! It’s nice if they do but we should never expect it. Because, just like the farmer in this tale, even if they want to, they may not be able to.  

And, unfortunately that’s more often than not, the case when we’re stuck in the depths of depression.

It’s like we’re the donkey stuck way down at the bottom of that dark well.  Yes, we know there are lots of people around us, but they just can’t help us, they can’t reach us. 

And, you know what…. It’s not their fault. 

They just don’t have the ability, know-how, resources or even the experience to help us. 

So, we must never fall into the trap of believing that someones inability to help us, is a reflection of their love or friendship towards us, because that’s not always the case. 

Sometimes, they’re just as stuck as we are.  

But, the most wonderful gem of this tale is that it opens us to the beautiful reality of life, which is: 

The right resources are ALWAYS available to us when we need them. 

Whether that’s in the form of resources, technologies, qualities or people. Life always has your back!  

Now, you may not believe that right now, you may even be