| Dear John, I love this thought from my friend and mentor Rabbi Daniel Lapin: “The opposite of depression is not happiness. The opposite of depression is purpose.” Many times in life things don’t go our way. Circumstances beyond our control can derail us temporarily. Sometimes we end up making a bad choice and we then have to deal with the consequences of that choice. When these types of things happen, it's possible you could feel depressed. This is when you have to start making the next good choice - pursue purpose. When we are feeling down, we often go for the quick short-term emotional HAPPINESS fix and eat the cheese cake, binge watch Netflix, spend hours on social media, or drink a little bit too much alcohol. These bad choices ultimately don’t lead to happiness, but more depression. When you pursue purpose, the byproduct is Happiness! If you are feeling down, then dig into your faith, serve your family, let your friends know how grateful you are for them, and get busy doing something that solves the problems of other people.
Choose to Win! Tom | 