Why So Many of Us Are Sad or Depressed - The Little Prince Series
Why So Many of Us Are Sad or Depressed - The Little Prince Series
An online newsletter out of South Africa, called Inspiring Women, in its October edition points out that "real life is, to most women, a long second-best, a continuous compromise between the ideal and the possible."
In the sixth chapter of the story of the Little Prince, it emerges that the little fellow has a sadness in his life that mirrors the sadness in so many women's lives to which this newsletter points.
It isn't just women who live with great disappointment. Men have their own forms of disappointment. The simple reality is that most humans lead lives that aren't terribly fulfilling, if not downright unfulfilling.
Why do we put up with things the way they are in our life if we don't find it fulfilling?
The newsletter asks the question, "Is it just a case of better bend than break?"
This is probably the way so many feel. They stay in relationships that don't evolve, do work that isn't meaningful to them, or put up with circumstances that are degrading because they are basically hanging on for dear life.
I am particularly struck by the statement in this newsletter, "Compromise is temporaryit makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof."
When we compromise ourselves, is it any wonder so many of us are depressed? Women, yes; but also men. I hear from both genders how they find life to lack meaning.
What happens is that we try to stuff these feelings down inside us much of the time because we don't know what else to do with them. We can't see any way to change our situation, so we believe we are better simply putting up with it and trying to ignore our disappointment the best we can.
It's been observed that most humans live lives of "quiet desperation."Not just the few, but the majority exist in a state of sadness, trying to "keep their chin up" and "put on a brave face."
We look to those things in life that do bring us a measure of joyperhaps our family, a hobby, or a sport in which we engage. Without these life would be pretty bleak for a whole swath of humanity.
In this sixth chapter of the story of the Little Prince, those elements of our life that keep us going like this are represented by sunsets, which the Little Prince adores. They are what make his life meaningful, the thing he looks forward to.
We tend to look at the external circumstances of our life as "just the way things are." What we can't see is that our circumstances aren't ends in themselves but are scaffolding for something much more profound that's taking place in our life, a theme we'll take up more in the days ahead.
The Little Prince symbolizes our essence. But in most of us this essence has never been allowed to blossom. Our essential being was shut down when we were still very young and has remained so to a large degree ever since.
No matter how much we change our external circumstances, and regardless of all the surface improvements we make in our life, the reality is that we are still going to experience a background sadnessuntil our essence is rediscovered and once again allowed to flourish.
This is why, although the status of women at least in parts of the world has changed greatly in the last century or two, so many still experience depression. It's wonderful that the outer situation is a lot better for many, but this points up all the more clearly that the cure lies within us, not in our external circumstances.
Our essential being iseverything when it comes to fulfillmentwhich is why there are such outstanding stories of people in even the worst of situations who nevertheless know how to be at peace with themselves and filled with joy.
Though our circumstances may seem to be against us, I want to emphasize that they are just the scaffolding for something much more profound that's shaping up within us. Indeed, without our external situation, what's truly meaningful could never flourish within us.
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