Re: woman discovered dead after 18 months

"What I came to realize is that you CAN be somebody great to someone or something."

Exactly. I do read some of the threads in here, and one overwhelming word always comes to mind, and I halt from saying it because I know how hard it is for the folks that are down and I do not mean to be mean-spirited by voicing it.

But most depressed people are extremely self-absorbed. What I mean by that is, they spend all of their time thinking about themselves, their lives, how they don't have this or that, how unhappy they are, etc. a continual loop of misery that centers around self. There are different reasons people end up there, and I do believe health plays a key role in many folks lives, but to sit and obsess about yourself is probably the worst medicine you could ever take.

There are always people to help that are worse off than you are on some level or another. Turning the focus off of self onto another, using your gifts, talents, intellect to better the life of someone else is probably the quickest way to get yourself out of a funk. I think in many cases, strangers or people you do not know well are much better fare than say a parent or family member you may have a dysfunctional relationship with (that can quickly add to your misery.

But there are many, MANY folks who would be extremely appreciative of any help they could get, who are not necessarily in need out of some sort of idiocy on their own part but simply through life and circumstance, and channeling some of that misery into doing something productive and GOOD for another person will go a long way in righting how you envision yourself. Working with children, the poor, abused, etc can often give you a grateful and unexpected appreciative look at your own life, as well.

People are often hurt or miserable because of their skewered expectations of others...skewered I mention because when you have been hurt and are hurting it is often hard to hold onto your perspective and to have realistic expectations of how others should act -- things get out of proportion and people read that easily. So if you do go about offering help do it with the intention of just that, helping someone. If you are not expecting to be 'paid back' you have opened yourself up to receive in whatever way that person can give to you, and the relationship that can develop will often be well beyond any blessing you might have received, otherwise.