Read this and it just helped me greatly!

In the final analysis, what failed Robin was his greatest gift—his imagination. Clutching the horse he could no longer think of a single thing to do to change his life or make himself feel better, and he stepped off the edge of the saddle. Had the horse been trained, it might have reminded him that there is always something we can do. We can take a walk until the feeling passes. We can find someone else suffering and help them, taking the attention off our own. Or, finally, we can learn to muster our courage and simply sit still with what we are thinking are insoluble problems, becoming as intimate with them as we can, facing them until we get over our fear. They may even be insoluble, but that does not mean that there is nothing we can do.



I have been suffering greatly from my depression these past few days, this is just one quote from a long post from a man that knew Robin Williams, this quote(actually the entire post)was incredible because I believe this is what I am going through, my imagination is getting the best of me, and I have to be pro-active in getting better. I would have posted the entire thing but it was quite long, but incredibly good to benefit those feeling hopeless.

Hang in there Brendaboo. You will get through this. I am praying for you and your son

I am a comedian by nature, it just comes naturally, I could stand in front of a crowded room and have no hesitation about making them laugh, but I too am a very shy person, as I read RW was.

I guess a tragedy like this reminds us that we never know how someone is suffering on the inside, but they may never show certain people, their imaginations which is their greatest gift, then becomes their greatest obstacle in over coming thoughts that most people would just brush off, we dwell on them, they take control of our minds and we can't focus on anything else.

Overcoming a mind that can blow the smallest thing out of proportion can be difficult, I am not at all referring to what RW was going through was small because there was a lot going on there, but how just a seed in our mind can grow into something horrible.

thx for sharing. lovely passage and thoughts. keep being strong brenda. and thx to those with there positive comments.

Lisa, you comprehension of what he was saying is spot on, it was a long story the man wrote, whomever he is he practices zen and in doing so his thoughts are basically if you have an awesome bicep, and every one always compliments that one bicep, instead of just keeping that one bicep awesome, you start to work on the other parts of your body and mind that need adjusted.

I think why I was so grieved by his choice, was not only because I SO valued his talent, but that I could empathize with the demons he possibly was facing. I know he did have a substance abuse problem, but if a poll was done on people that suffer with mental illness, I believe the majority of people have tried to self-medicate at one time or another.

In reference to the mans article just reaching out and talking to someone can be a great resource and I believe that is why this forum is very important, we may not understand every detail of a persons struggles, but we know they are real, and I know not every one may have the hopeless thoughts that Robin did, as to which he believed he had no way out of his suffering, and with such a gifted mind I am sure his thought pattern and reasoning was not in the state it should have been.

brendaboo said...
Lisa, you comprehension of what he was saying is spot on, it was a long story the man wrote, whomever he is he practices zen and in doing so his thoughts are basically if you have an awesome bicep, and every one always compliments that one bicep, instead of just keeping that one bicep awesome, you start to work on the other parts of your body and mind that need adjusted.

I think why I was so grieved by his choice, was not only because I SO valued his talent, but that I could empathize with the demons he possibly was facing. I know he did have a substance abuse problem, but if a poll was done on people that suffer with mental illness, I believe the majority of people have tried to self-medicate at one time or another.

In reference to the mans article just reaching out and talking to someone can be a great resource and I believe that is why this forum is very important, we may not understand every detail of a persons struggles, but we know they are real, and I know not every one may have the hopeless thoughts that Robin did, as to which he believed he had no way out of his suffering, and with such a gifted mind I am sure his thought pattern and reasoning was not in the state it should have been.      This is beautiful brendaboo.

Thank you deborah!

Yes beth, there is always hope, but I can so relate to those hopeless thoughts and so empathize with what he must have been feeling.

Learning to train the mind is difficult, we become so accustomed to the way our mind runs, that it is hard to look past those thoughts and see there is great hope in this life.

Why this one thought this man wrote made such a difference for me is unknown other than I can relate totally to what he is saying, and it gave me a few tools that I can use to get through a crisis situation.

Take a walk to get my mind off of things, or if it is so bad that I don't want to walk just sit still and do nothing at all make no decisions in that frame of mind, but most importantly to reach out to others, because people do care, but we normally don't let them know our struggles.

Regardless of whether he relapsed or not, he was suffering and the mind of an addict is not always reasonable or doesn't make any sense at the time, it is just a short term solution for a long term problem(and it is never a solution, it makes depression worse)