Challenges are a part of our life and negativity is part of our society. But we can lift ourselves out of the abyss of despair and renew hope for our future.

Depression enveloped me this year

Depression threw me into a void—a chasm where I couldn’t access my heart—the place where my joy, spirituality and intuition reside. The numbness threatened to block me off from everyone and everything that made me Kathleen Berry. I was terrified.

At work, I’d pretend to be okay by pasting a smile on my face. My mantra was, “Just get through it.” I’d cry in the car and many times when I was alone. I questioned the worth of everything I’d done and whether I should keep trying or just give up and sit on the couch, stuff potato chips in my mouth and watch bad TV.

This period taught me something about myself that I’d never known before: I rely heavily on experiencing and sharing love, paying attention to my feelings and heeding gut instincts. So, when this became impossible, I found myself lost. My soul was mired in darkness.

Photo by Cop Richard, freeimages.com

Searching for that sliver of light

The Bible tells us that light is always present. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” (NIV)

This is one of my favorite verses. No matter how desperate a situation becomes, there is hope and that hope can never be extinguished.

Not too long ago, a wise friend gave me some advice, “Since you can’t follow your heart right now, listen to your mind. Hold on to what you truly know and don’t let go, no matter what the depression tells you.”

He was right.

That tip led me to this: Even if we can’t feel God’s presence, the Universal Power is always with us. If we only ask for help, we’ll get it.

I’d like to say that praying for Divine Intervention made an immediate, dramatic difference in my emotional well-being, but it didn’t. However, it chinked the iron cast that depression encased my heart in.

So, I combined my faith with medical assistance and continued working with multiple doctors to find relief from the depression and the cause of it.

Fostering inner illumination

I knew I had to gently blow life into the embers of my being. To do that, I needed to stop empowering the void inside me, to cease obsessing about how miserable I felt and instead put that energy into prayer and meditation.

As the light intensifies within each of us, it overpowers the dark. Ironically, this blackness—which instills fear, sadness and hopelessness when it builds inside us—can only be cast out by light. When we foster the illumination inside us, we manifest the Divine’s plans for boundless love and possibilities. Light empowers us, banishing the dark to remote recesses.

When we fill ourselves, we serve as a beacon to others. Our light connects with the same in others, helping them to focus on the positive. Our glow can fan the spark in those struggling to rise from the abyss, so they can feel stronger and more hopeful.

Light is an emanation of God. We’re made from sacred light.

We are energy. No matter how much we empower the negative, the darkness can never obliterate the light in us. No matter what we’ve done or where we’re at emotionally, a shining seed still resides in us.

Tips on how to nurture your inner light

On a personal note, I want to express my profound gratitude to the handful of people who knew what I was going through and offered their support and prayers. Your caring makes a tremendous difference to me as I continue to work on healing.