Click to listen to this clip from an interview I did on depression and anxiety: Pathos (mp3)

Pathos comes from the greek word for experience and suffer, and as long as we are in this world, we will have experiences and some of them will lead to suffering.  It is illogical to believe that there is a point in life from which, thereafter, all will be good, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.  Some of us actually try to avoid life so that we can avoid suffering, but while we are alive, the it will rain on the just as well as the unjust, and seasons and circumstance affect everyone.

There is no “happily ever after” IN THIS WORLD.  It doesn’t exist.  Read the ENTIRE “Serenity Prayer”, not just the first few quoted lines:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

What I want to focus on here is that we need to see the world AS IT IS, NOT as we WISH it was.  Wishing there was a happy ending to every situation in our life is WISHING the world to be other than it is.  Accepting the fact that hardship is a part of life, but that we can experience happiness and peace in the midst of it will CHANGE EVERYTHING.  It will give you a reprieve from your struggles, and breathe new life into you and your situation.

Do not FEAR life and its ups and downs (as I have for so many years).  If you shut yourself off to life experiences as a way of escaping pain, then you shut yourself off to the availability of GOOD life experiences as well.  You can experience peace, joy and even happiness if you adjust your expectations from the unrealistic to the realistic.

If you want to hear the complete recorded interview with me, click the link below.

From Pathos To Purpose And Passion – Recorded Interview

Penny Haynes

http://ChristianWomenWithDepression