Next Tiny Step (NTS)

Hey, y'all--

I've discovered a teaching that could help all of us coping with depression (whether now or in the future), and wanted to share it with you right away. I know there were times when I was in the depressed end of a BP episode when I couldn't even get out of bed, that had I had this thought in my mind, I may have been able to at least get out of bed, or even gotten to the shower, either of which would have been NTS as viewed by others, but major steps for me at the time.

NTS = Next Tiny Step

We can always initiate some change, no matter how small. God doesn't ask us to take big steps... just the NEXT TINY STEP (NTS).

In Winning Life's Toughest Battles, Dr. Julias Segal writes of the importance of taking action, no matter how small, in times of great stress and difficulty. The more difficult the trouble, he says, the more important it is to take some small step--to act, and hence, reduce your feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness...Segal insists that the smallest action can be the key to survival.

I think this is an encouraging thought because, had I known it during my last BP depression, it may have made a difference, however small.

As my depression became deeper and deeper, I felt more and more overwhelmed by the thought that I couldn't do anything to stop it! I felt like the depression was in control over me, and not the other way around. No matter how many doctors, no matter how many pills, that feeling of helplessness and hopelessness just seemed to cover me like a dark cloak, threatening to choke out the very life in me. And I just could not describe this to others. So I kept it to myself, which made me feel even more isolated and alone. Until I just couldn't get out of bed at all, not even to take a shower. (NTS...Michele, just take the next tiny step. Just get out of bed. Maybe take a shower. Don't worry about what you will do after that. Just NTS. Just do that, only that. Get out of bed and maybe take a shower. That's all...)

What a difference NTS would have made. I hope it makes a difference for you.

Remember, God loves you, and so do I!
Michele