EPISODE-#150-Embracing Resilience: Finding Strength and Purpose in Dark Times

How do you define your strength in the face of adversity? This episode explores the importance of resilience and stamina, emphasizing that one must keep moving forward despite life's challenges. 

• Discussion on personal strength and resilience 
• Insights on managing mental illness in difficult times 
• The role of faith and community support 
• Encouragement to evaluate toxic relationships 
• Reflection on the impact of suicide in communities 
• Importance of regular mental health checks on loved ones 
• Call to action for spreading awareness and support

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Hello and welcome. To Win Over Depression. I am your host, tamara Trotter, dedicated to shedding light on the debilitating effects of mental illness that takes 800,000 lives every year due to suicide. Today, we'll be talking about strength, and strength is really stamina? In the last several months, I have been put to the test, and you never know how strong you are until you're put in a position where you have to exhibit that strength. So I want you to think for a minute about your personal strength. Do you have stamina? Do you have the ability to look at your situation and determine that, yeah, you're in a tough spot, that, yeah, you're in a tough spot, but you can still continue to show strength and continue to let that stamina build up on the inside of you so that you can continue to live and accomplish your goals? You never really know how strong you are until you're presented with what seems to be an overwhelming time, with what seems to be an overwhelming time. So let's talk about strength and how important strength is when it comes to dealing with mental illness.

Speaker 1: 1:33

You are not alone when it comes to dealing with adversity in life. Just in the last few years, with this pandemic, all of us have been put to the test and we have really figured out that life can be changed and different in the blink of an eye, and we have to figure out how we're going to make it through. So you are not alone when you feel like life is just taking a turn for the worst. Feel like life is just taking a turn for the worst. In a lot of cases, it seems like people are just so stressed out, impatient and just thinking about themselves and not showing any care or concern for their fellow human beings. It's really a sad situation, in my opinion, but at the same time, we can only really make a difference with ourselves, with our families and with the people that we allow to be in our circle of influence. So when it comes to to strength, you know you feel like you just can't take another step. You just don't want to wake up another day and repeat over again what caused you to be so stressed out and tired the day before.

Speaker 1: 2:51

But somehow, deep inside, you just keep going, and that's why, when you suffer with a mental illness, it's so very important that you keep going, because the moment that you stop, the moment that you let the overwhelming feeling get the best of you, you'll be laying in your bed. You will seclude yourself from family, you'll probably stop eating and you just won't be interested. And that's where the strength and the stamina comes in that you have to muster up an enormous amount of strength every single day, and I understand I get it because I'm in the same situation and oftentimes I do say to myself oh my gosh, when is this going to end? When am I going to start feeling like the world isn't just on top of my head, but whatever faith or whatever higher power you might believe in. That's where that higher power comes in to protect you and cover you and give you that strength that you need when you feel like you can't go on you, and give you that strength that you need when you feel like you can't go on. So I want you just to sit back and think about what in your life needs your attention, what in your life requires you to take a step back, think things through, maybe purge some relationships and friendships or set some clear boundaries with those people that you interact with. But in order for you to continue to make it for lack of a better word you have to find a way to show that strength. And is there someone in your life that is keeping you from being strong and is telling you that you're weak and that you can't make it, and you can't keep going on, because that person is just bringing you down and they're truly a liability in your life. So this is 2022. And so we don't live forever, and because of that, we've got to sit down and determine where do we want to be in the next three years, five years, 10 years? What are our goals? What is our purpose? It's never too late to live out your truest and fullest purpose and potential, but you need to get started.

Speaker 1: 5:22

So how strong are you? Are you strong enough to keep up the fight of faith and to know that trouble doesn't last always? And they tell us that joy comes in the morning. Do you sometimes need to just take a shower and go to bed and start fresh the next day? What is it that you need to do in order to show more strength and stamina in your life? And I guarantee that, if you find that stamina and that strength, you'll be able to see clearer and you'll be able to figure out what your next best step is. What your next best step is.

Speaker 1: 6:03

I guarantee that you are stronger, more resilient than you ever could imagine, but you have to keep going on. So you may ask so when do I stop? When can I stop? Well, you can't stop. You have to keep going, and keep going, and keep going, because the moment that you stop, that's when your depression symptoms start to take effect. You start getting the headaches, feeling overwhelmed, don't want to get out of bed. So, yeah, having a mental illness is a struggle. It's a daily issue that not everybody deals with, but I know that in the last two or three years, there are more people who are suffering with mental illnesses than there ever have been, and so that's why this subject is so important and so crucial.

Speaker 1: 6:57

So I encourage you to share this podcast on strength and stamina with your loved ones, and remember you should be doing a mental health check of your loved ones at least once per week. Ask them how they're feeling. Is there anything getting them down? What are they feeling about their future? And once you figure that out and you see that someone doesn't feel that they have a future, that may be a warning sign.

Speaker 1: 7:24

I recently had a classmate who took his own life and he was in law enforcement for 28 years and he had just retired, not 12 days ago, and he took his own life and he had a wife and three kids. And so I looked back and I said, wow, why would he take his own life? And it's when the pain gets so hard and you just don't feel that anything is going to get better, that you just decide that you're better off not being here. And so I want to just, you know, reach out to his family and let them know I'm thinking about him and praying for him. But I hope that they don't take it personally, because when you're in the depths of despair, sometimes you feel like the decision that you're about to make is the best decision for you, even though you're just transferring the pain of your death onto your family. But I hope that people realize that when people commit suicide, it's not about them. It's about the person in their situation and their ability to continue on and feeling like they just can't continue on. So I want you to keep your head up, stay in the game of life and remember that giving up is never an option.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Now you can find me on Instagram at Tamara Trotter. You can also find me on LinkedIn at Tamara Trotter, as well as go to my Facebook page called Win Over Depression. In addition to that, if you want to become a patron, you can go to wwwpatreoncom. Backslash Tamara Trotter, t-a-m-e-r-a-t-r-o-t-t-e-r. I would love for you to subscribe, become a patron to help me spread this worthwhile work. People need to hear this message. There's so many people out there who are hurting, so I hope that you will share this podcast and also go to my website, winoverdepressionorg. You can drop me a line and let me know how this podcast is affecting you. I will see you, my friend, next time on Win Over Depression. Take care.