Quote:
I would have never gotten my masters' degree if I'd stopped caring about my studies. I'm bright, and I never had to study "too hard," but I did have to put some effort in, or I wouldn't have accomplished it. Many of my peers worked far, far harder to get the same degree. And that's true of weight loss too, it may require different amounts of effort, but the degree of probability doesn't necessarily reflect the degree of possibility.
The percentage of people with a masters' degree, is probably nearly as low as the successful weight loss statistics, and the percentage of people with a doctorate even fewer (possibly more dismal than the weight loss statistics). Does that mean that no one should attempt higher education, because it's impossible? Well, it's obviously not impossible, because there are people in our lives (maybe even ourselves) who have done it.
So, I consider myself working on my "doctorate" in weight loss studies, and I am my own doctoral thesis. I am confident that I can do it, but there is always the risk of "dropping out." If I lose commitment, hope, dedication, or interest; I will regain the weight.
Hopelessness isn't always a choice. It can reflect clinical depression. Clinical depression makes EVERYTHING (sometimes getting out of bed) seem impossible. I have been depressed to the point of wondering whether it was "worth it" to get up to go to the bathroom (that's about as low as a person can get, I thought - but the fact is some people sink even lower than that and decide that it actually isn't worth getting up for).
Billy, with the attitudes and beliefs you've expressed, you most likely are clinically, and severely depressed. Anyone who feels they have NO dignity, is clinically depressed. Please seak counseling and medication.
In some ways, medication may make it seem worse before it gets better. You've got to be prepared for that. Sometimes it's like "waking up," and seeing where you've gotten. It can be traumatic and ugly. But very soon, it gets much better. Medication often gives you the energy and confidence to start working in your own best interest. To feel worthy AND capable of changing your life.
My husband and I just went through this with a close friend of his. The guy wasn't overweight, but he had sunk into a deep depression and had become completely uninterested in his family - to the point that he lost them. His fiance left with their child and the children from her previous marriage (who he had become attached to enough to want to adopt).
Only after they left, did it become clear to his friends, how low he had sunk. They persuaded him to see a doctor, and sure enough he was diagnosed with clinical depression and given medication and he saw a counselor once - because he was intending to move back to Wisconsin to live with family, decided not to start counseling until he got established here. Even just the medication has made a tremendous difference for him. He was able to get the house in order and sell it and return to Wisconsin. The fiance may be a lost cause, as she is seeing someone else, but he's having regular contact with the kids and is rebuilding his life. He got his old job back (the one he had before they moved to Missouri) and is talking about the future again.
I see you in that same dark place, in which your life has collapsed into a small, dark cave den. Many people when they are depressed, do not get "sad." I know I surely didn't think I was. My life had just become very small. I was even able to make that "den" fairly comfortable, so I convinced myself that I liked it fine that way. The only thing that would have made it perfect was pain relief, and the ability to sleep comfortably. If a doctor had prescribed Vicodin instead of lexapro (an antidepressent that was supposed to help me sleep at night) I might still be in that dark, small den.
So, seek treatment for the depression (whether you realize it or not, I think you're clearly there) and when you start to feel that you have the ability to get control of your life, you will start to get the clarity you seek.
Believe me you are exceptional. You are part of the 2% with the decency and social responsibility to change your behaviors.Originally Posted by kaplods
I love to think I am exceptional, who doesn't? But, truthfully, I think I am not. I will gain every ounce back, the moment I stop caring. But that's true about so many things in life. You work on what you care about, and if you choose to, you can care about yourself, though you may need help in doing so (by that I mean, getting treatment for depression).I would have never gotten my masters' degree if I'd stopped caring about my studies. I'm bright, and I never had to study "too hard," but I did have to put some effort in, or I wouldn't have accomplished it. Many of my peers worked far, far harder to get the same degree. And that's true of weight loss too, it may require different amounts of effort, but the degree of probability doesn't necessarily reflect the degree of possibility.
The percentage of people with a masters' degree, is probably nearly as low as the successful weight loss statistics, and the percentage of people with a doctorate even fewer (possibly more dismal than the weight loss statistics). Does that mean that no one should attempt higher education, because it's impossible? Well, it's obviously not impossible, because there are people in our lives (maybe even ourselves) who have done it.
So, I consider myself working on my "doctorate" in weight loss studies, and I am my own doctoral thesis. I am confident that I can do it, but there is always the risk of "dropping out." If I lose commitment, hope, dedication, or interest; I will regain the weight.
Hopelessness isn't always a choice. It can reflect clinical depression. Clinical depression makes EVERYTHING (sometimes getting out of bed) seem impossible. I have been depressed to the point of wondering whether it was "worth it" to get up to go to the bathroom (that's about as low as a person can get, I thought - but the fact is some people sink even lower than that and decide that it actually isn't worth getting up for).
Billy, with the attitudes and beliefs you've expressed, you most likely are clinically, and severely depressed. Anyone who feels they have NO dignity, is clinically depressed. Please seak counseling and medication.
In some ways, medication may make it seem worse before it gets better. You've got to be prepared for that. Sometimes it's like "waking up," and seeing where you've gotten. It can be traumatic and ugly. But very soon, it gets much better. Medication often gives you the energy and confidence to start working in your own best interest. To feel worthy AND capable of changing your life.
My husband and I just went through this with a close friend of his. The guy wasn't overweight, but he had sunk into a deep depression and had become completely uninterested in his family - to the point that he lost them. His fiance left with their child and the children from her previous marriage (who he had become attached to enough to want to adopt).
Only after they left, did it become clear to his friends, how low he had sunk. They persuaded him to see a doctor, and sure enough he was diagnosed with clinical depression and given medication and he saw a counselor once - because he was intending to move back to Wisconsin to live with family, decided not to start counseling until he got established here. Even just the medication has made a tremendous difference for him. He was able to get the house in order and sell it and return to Wisconsin. The fiance may be a lost cause, as she is seeing someone else, but he's having regular contact with the kids and is rebuilding his life. He got his old job back (the one he had before they moved to Missouri) and is talking about the future again.
I see you in that same dark place, in which your life has collapsed into a small, dark cave den. Many people when they are depressed, do not get "sad." I know I surely didn't think I was. My life had just become very small. I was even able to make that "den" fairly comfortable, so I convinced myself that I liked it fine that way. The only thing that would have made it perfect was pain relief, and the ability to sleep comfortably. If a doctor had prescribed Vicodin instead of lexapro (an antidepressent that was supposed to help me sleep at night) I might still be in that dark, small den.
So, seek treatment for the depression (whether you realize it or not, I think you're clearly there) and when you start to feel that you have the ability to get control of your life, you will start to get the clarity you seek.
I am not depressed at all. I have no symptoms whatsoever of clinical depression. They give out anti-depressants like candy. Realistically speaking only a tiny percentage of people suffer from real depression. I think my outlook and and neuro chemistry would be better is I got some exercise and got off the Vicodin but there is no pay off. I could get fit enough to work and be a wage slave but why should I when all my needs are being met with no effort on my part??
Your friend really had clinical depression I honestly don't have depression. I enjoy TV, talking on the phone, eating, net surfing, reading, chess, writing. My life is quite joyful actually. I have not complaints.
Let's look at this logically. We all have to die sometime. Most people have terrible lives. They starve or get disease, live in a terrible country. Look how horribly women in the Middle East are treated. They treat them like cattle and kill them and rape them just because they can. If there is a god running this whole mess I want to get the better of him. We are a society of consumers. That is our birth right. What else is there really?
