Healthy Holidays by Design Series - Expression vs Depression

For some the holiday season is a time of joy, family and celebration. It is a time when people gather to honor the year and connect with those that they love. For others, this is a time of deep and profound sadness. A time that feels wrought with pain and suffering from failed relationships, financial challenges, job dissatisfaction and extreme self-worth issues.

I believe that we are all called to an understanding that we are responsible for the conditions and experiences of our lives. If that is true, then we can choose to shift our current reality to one that feels more supportive and expansive. There are always two sides of the coin. The question is…what side are you choosing to view? Heads, the infinite possibilities for living a full life. Tails, a life that is wrought with difficulty and victim mentalities. This week, let us look at one of these coins and how it relates to the holidays. Let us consider Expression vs Depression.

The dictionary defines depressed in the following ways:

If we really look at this, it is about being at the effect of different circumstances. It is about allowing life’s challenges to move us to a state of “feelingapostrophe low, unwanted, uncertain and fearful. It is surrendering to the fact that some outside force has power over our state of mind and how we live.

What if that wasn’t true? What if you could actually choose to look at the circumstance and decide to “feelapostrophe differently. There are many teachers on the planet today that tell us that how we think affects how we live. You view your life through a filter of your beliefs. The lens through which you are looking is based on your familial history, living environments and life experiences. All of these are energy that has been transformed to facts. These facts have no power unless you surrender to the appearance.

The truth is that we are all unique expressions endowed with gifts to be shared. There is not another person like us on this planet. Therefore, there must be a reason for our existence. I believe that reason is to express.

The definition of express is as follows:

To express then, is to set in motion your feelings, thoughts and gift in a way that moves you forward in ways that are empowering. We can look at the circumstances of our lives and see them as a gift, an opportunity to move into new realms of possibility. Often times, we submerge what wants to be expressed because it is too scary or overwhelming. All that really means is that we have given more attention to the fear than to the faith in our amazing gifts.

We live in a creative universe and therefore must have the ability to create. That means that we can use our minds, thoughts and gifts to give rise to a vast pool of expression. We can look at our lives and decide to make “lemonade out of lemonsapostrophe. We can begin to explore that the depression is covering the gifts that want to express and decide to shift our perception into exploring what wants to be expressed.

Here is a tool for you to support shifting your attention from depression to expression during this holiday season. First, write down how you feel. Include the sadness, anger, fear, doubt and frustration. Do this without judgment. You are just getting it out of your consciousness. Then, take time to write down all the ways that you LOVE to express. It could be singing, dancing, writing, painting, drawing or just walking in the woods. Now, burn the first list as a symbol of letting go and taking your attention off of the challenge you face. Then, a little bit each day choose to do something that you love to express. Notice how you feel when you express what you love. Notice how you feel when you bring into your awareness the artistry of your creativity.

I invite you this week to affirm the truth of your life daily.

Today, I stand in full recognition that I am a gifted and creative being that has come here to express fully. I open to the possibilities of a powerful life and activate my willingness to receive. Today, I choose to express my greatness.

About the author:

Cynthia James is a lecturer, teacher, internationally renowned performing artist and award-winning author of “What Will Set You Freeapostrophe. She currently serves as an associate minister at Mile Hi Church, in Lakewood, Colorado, one of the largest new thought spiritual centers in the world, with a congregation of over 16,000 member and friends. To learn more about living a life of passion, visit her website at www.whatwillsetyoufree.com.