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Pause to think about the previous page. Is your problem really as bad as that poor girl? For the vast majority the answer will be no.
I would love to tell you that after realizing that compared to others I didn't really have any problems worth worrying about, things suddenly became better for me. I would love to say that it was like the sun came out on my life or it was an overnight transformation. It wasn't, a few years of unhappiness had left me with bad habits and unhealthy thought processes. That girls story was the start of a journey to happiness that took about a year.
What did I do to get myself happy?
How I talked to myself was bringing me down. Watch what you say inside. Do not criticise yourself, there are plenty of others that will do that for you. Make sure that before you make friends with anyone else, you are a friend to yourself first. Look out for times when you have bad thoughts about yourself. Often I worried about what other people thought of me, even if these people meant nothing to me. I did not want people to think ill of me. Why I thought they would is a bit of a mystery to me now. I always got on well with people. I kept myself to myself, but I never had any problems. During the time when I was unhappy I found it increasingly harder to get on with people. I was quiet and withdrawn and some others made up their own minds about me. They put me down further with their attitude towards me. It was a tough time but I got through it and out the other side with the war won.
You need to distance yourself from negative people. They will drag you down further.
If they see you getting happier they will try to put you back. Get them out of your
life completely if possible. When you are unhappy, it is easy to see who are your true friends.
Join a club or take up a hobby. Anything that you can do that will keep you occupied and give you something to look forward to.
Treat yourself. It does not have to be expensive, your favourite ice cream, a trip to the country or whatever you like and can afford. It does not even have to cost extra money. For example instead of just
preparing your food as normal, actually take time to add a couple of extra ingredients, cook it to perfection and take care over the presentation.
The little things in life can work wonders. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Make a happy you from lots of good little things, rather than a couple of good big things.
Never give up, unless you are psychic you do not know if happiness is just around the corner. Something could crop up when you are least expecting it, like "a bolt from the blue." It could be something simple, like watching a TV programme, walking down the street, seeing spring emerging, a sunrise, words in a book or even a long forgotten memory from the past.
Get yourself through your depression and you will be in a better position than those who have never been depressed. Since depression can happen to anyone at anytime in their lives, others who are happy now may not be happy in the future. You will be happy in the future. You have to keep looking, for the answer, what is it that is/has made you unhappy. What are you going to do about it. On the following pages I am going to take you through a series of steps that I suggest you take. They will get you started on your route to happiness.
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