There is nothing wrong with you

Find your way out of depression with an understanding of the three principles

By Natasha Swerdloff

Depression can feel like something has broken inside. Like the light has gone out and there is no way back. But what if that's not true? What if your feelings say nothing about how whole you are or how much light lives within you? What if they only tell you what youare thinkingat the moment?

This article is for you who have experienced darkness and long for peace, hope, and clarity. With insights from The Three Principles—thought, awareness, and life force—I share what I have discovered myself and what has helped me and many others to see depressive experiences in a new light.

I meet many people who feel trapped in depression. Some have been diagnosed, others simply describe an inner emptiness, a meaninglessness that they cannot explain. It is as if life has lost its color, and everything that used to feel important has become flat and distant.

I know what that's like. I've had moments myself when everything looked so dark, and I thought I would never feel good again. But then I discovered something that changed everything for me: I wasn't broken. I wasn't wrong. I just wasn't aware of how my experience was being created.

The sun is never gone

It may seem as if the world is overwhelming us with war, violence, injustice, and climate change. We may feel powerless, sad, and horrified. But these strong emotions comefrom withinand are created by the thoughts we have in the moment.

When we don't know this, it makes sense to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. We may believe that it is the world that makes us sad. Or that we ourselves are 'wrong'. But we have simply misunderstood how thoughts work. How the mind works.

Sydney Banks' insight into The Three Principles shows us that all experiences are created from within. It is a fundamental principle of human life that we experience through our thinking, and that our feelings reflect the thoughts we have at the moment. Never what happens outside of us.

Thoughts and feelings are like clouds in the sky. Some days, the clouds are thick and dark, and the sun seems far away. But the sun—the life force—is always there, just behind the cloud cover. It never disappears.

It can feel as if the mind is our enemy when it fills us with thoughts and feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, and fear of the future. But the mind is just trying to help us. It tries to protect us by analyzing, anticipating, and controlling. The problem arises when webelieveeverything it says.

What has made a difference for me—and for thousands of others—is discovering that thoughts have no power in themselves. They only gain power when we believe in them. If we let them be, they drift away. New ones come along. Always and constantly.

When we feel depressed, it is as if we are viewing life through a very narrow slit. We forget that we are connected to something deeper—something alive and intelligent that resides within us: the life force.

We cannot and should not shut off our thoughts. But we can discover that wearenot our thoughts. That we are connected to something greater than our thoughts. Something that has never been broken, never worn out or destroyed—and that always guides us, even when we are not listening.

You are whole and alive

It may seem like a small discovery—that thoughts are just thoughts. But for me and many others, it has been the beginning of something new. Not a quick fix. But a quiet, gentle, and life-changing awakening.

The next time dark thoughts arise, try to notice what happens if you don't immediatelybelievethem. If you see them as clouds passing by. You don't have to fight them. You don't have to fix yourself.

You are not broken. You are alive.

Even when you feel furthest from hope, the life force is still there—behind your thoughts, feelings, and everything you think you should be.

You don't have to do it all yourself. Life itself is your friend.