Kindle Notes & Highlights
Think about the many famous people who have experienced depression. These include statesmen Sir Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln, Diana, Princess of Wales, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the painter Claude Monet, the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the actor John Cleese, and Joanne (‘J.K.’) Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. These are people who have achieved a great deal. No one would seriously suggest that they were weak or inadequate or lazy. Joanne Rowling has been quoted as saying that she is not at all embarrassed by her depression: ‘What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a
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Striving for something that cannot be is both frustrating and upsetting. It takes huge emotional energy and, generally speaking, is negative and unproductive. It is negative because it is pushed along by the idea that ‘things’ can be changed (back) in a situation that has little chance of being modified. It leads to a negative downward spiral of emotion. It is exhausting because all thoughts and feelings require energy and we are only capable of generating a certain amount of that energy.
