9 approaches to overcoming depression and negativity


1Spend time in gratitude. Write letters appreciating others.

“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” (Luke 12:27)

“It is the nature of love to will to share with another, indeed, to confer joys upon another whom it loves from the heart, and to seek its own joys in return from doing so.” (Married Love 180)

2Exercise. Move. Walk. Stretch.

“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.” (Psalm 23:4)

“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

“Believe it or not, we cannot move a step without the inflow of heaven.” (Heaven and Hell 228)

3Breathe, meditate. Spend time doing something that inspires you.

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

“On the basis of thought: we cannot think at all without the concurrence and support of the breath of our lungs. So quiet thought is accompanied by quiet breathing, deep thought by deep breathing. We hold and release our breath, we suppress or intensify our breathing, in response to our thinking — in response, then, to the inflow of some feeling related to what we love, breathing slowly, rapidly, eagerly, gently or intently.”(Divine Love and Wisdom 382)

“Diligently read and meditate on the Word of God.” (Swedenborg's own Rules for Life)

4Spend time in nature. Face the sun.

“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” (Psalm 113:3)

“Everything in the created universe is a vessel for the divine love and wisdom of the Divine-Human one.” (Divine Love and Wisdom 55)

5Journal. Speak your truth. Even in darkness.

“The Lord does not see as a man sees; for a man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

“But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.” (Psalm 3:3)

“Those who have conscience speak from the heart what they speak, and do from the heart what they do.” (Secrets of Heaven 9114)

6Talk with a counselor, confidant, or trusted friend.

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

“God loves every person, and as He cannot do good to people immediately, but only mediately through people, He inspired people with His own love.” (True Christianity 457)

7Assess your diet. Eat healthy. Drink enough water.

“Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

“Everyone ought to ensure that the body is properly fed and clothed. One must do this first, yet to the end that there may be a healthy mind in a healthy body.” (Secrets of Heaven 6936)

8Read sacred text. Bathe in message of the Lord.

“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)

“No one can be regenerated unless one knows such things as are of the new life, that is, of spiritual life. The things which are of the new life, or which are of the spiritual life, are truths which are to be believed and goods which are to be done; the former are of faith, the latter of charity.” (New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 177)

9Just do it. Do something kind for someone else. Think of someone else in an even more difficult environment than your own. Reach out.

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” (Luke 6:35)

“Only when we love God and show kindness toward our fellow human beings can we receive knowledge of the true way and have faith in it.” (Paraphrased from Secrets of Heaven 2049 & 2588)

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Daily Inspiration

"We are created so that our inner self cannot die. We can believe in and love God, so we can be united with God through faith and love. To be united with God is to live forever."

New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 223