July 22, 2014
It is easy to focus on yourself when you begin to feel sad and depressed. In fact it is so easy that you just can’t stop thinking about yourself. That in itself is a clue that perhaps you need to stop doing just that, thinking about yourself. Although that can be hard to do, it is not impossible. The key is to do things that interest you and since it is of interest to you, you feel motivated to focus on that instead of yourself.
For example, if you feel depressed, you may be interested in learning about famous people that lived with depression and managed to succeed. Thus, you can do an internet search and read about them. By reading about them, you can start feeling that you are not alone and if anything it will make you realize that regardless of your depression, you can still manage to succeed if you try hard enough.
Also, since you are trying to avoid focusing on yourself and your life, you don’t want to sit in a room by yourself where the only thing that you can look at is four walls. It is best to go for a walk or for a drive. Go visit crowded places where people around you will easily distract you. When you are in crowded places you will be able to see people that look happy, or busy, or angry, or sad. You can then take a wild guess and try to figure out why they may be experiencing those emotions. This way you can take a break from thinking about how sad or depressed you are.
Another thing that you can do is buy yourself a treat to eat. This will help your brain relax especially something that you really enjoy eating. If you like to collect things, look for other items that you would like to add to your collection. You don’t have to buy them now but you can make a wish list or add them to your ongoing wish list. You can also watch action movies that are SCI FI types where you don’t relate to the destruction that takes place during the movie because it is too unreal to experience negative emotions. On the other hand you can watch a very inspirational movie where you can feel inspired at the conclusion of the movie.
If you know someone that you really enjoy talking to, try to get hold of him or her and start a conversation. You don’t even have to bring up the issue of you feeling depressed if you don’t feel like talking about it. After all the goal is not to think or talk about yourself just so that your brain can take a break and feel more refreshed.
The important thing is to try hard to stop thinking about yourself for as long as you can. If you can do that, you will experience a sense of peace and satisfaction that is going to help you get through another day.