I have an Eeyore complex. This means that when I first wake up in the morning I need to battle the urge to be gloomy. I expect my worries to come true and my fears to haunt me. As I’m anticipating a fun event  I expect to be the one left out. After the fun event, no matter how delightful it was, my first urge is to either be depressed because it’s over or to analyze it for some way I could have had better social etiquette. When I don’t hear from friends for a while I immediately imagine the worst or assume that I’ve done something to offend them.  It’s much easier for me to sit and weep than  laugh and have a good time.

But that doesn’t have to the be end of the story! Just because I may find it easier to be Eeyore does not mean that I can’t learn to be a little more like Tigger or Kanga or Roo, or even Pooh, in learning to look for the sunny side of life.  We live in a culture that urges us to follow our heart, usually meaning the easy road. Depression is a downhill slide, but fighting it is an uphill battle.  People quickly become addicted to meds simply because it’s nice to let the chemicals do their fighting for them, rather than picking up a broom and sweeping someone else’s front porch.

I am learning to fight the gloom. I read my Bible and pray when I first wake up in the morning in order to remember that God is in control of my day and I want to do things His way. When challenges come throughout the next 16 hours or so, I attempt to view them as strength-building exercises and opportunities to cultivate courage, wisdom, and discretion in my character. And in those hours when I want to curl up, cry, and count the clouds, I force myself to think of someone else in need and then write them a card of encouragement, or serve them if they are close by.

Perhaps it sounds a bit Pollyannish, but honestly, I only have one life to live and I don’t want to waste it moaning about the dark side. There’s a reason why rainbows come after a storm and the sun’s rays are more brilliant when they pierce the darkest clouds.