The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness

by J. Mark G. Williams

Whenever Alice’s mood began to sink, and she felt her energy was just draining out of her, she consciously adopted a strategy of giving up her “unimportant” and “nonessential” leisure activities, which actually gave her pleasure, such as seeing friends or just going out for fun. As she saw it, this strategy made sense because it meant that she could focus her dwindling energies (which she viewed as a strictly limited fixed resource) on her more “important” and “essential” commitments and responsibilities. This is understandable, except that her essential commitments included being the perfect homemaker, mother, and employee, as well as, of course, meeting all the demands and expectations of family, friends, colleagues, and bosses, whether or not these were reasonable or realistic.