Finding the Morning Calm
I've been trying to wake up earlier to fit in my morning routine: a little exercise, cleaning the rabbit cage, feeding him his veggies, and sneaking in some writing before my son wakes up.
Most mornings, he beats me to it. His morning routine? Food—his lifeline. He’s the only man who can get me to cook at any time of day.
This morning, though, I felt tired. He woke up at the same time as me, and I braced myself. But to my surprise, he was in a good mood, and for parents, that means one thing: opportunity.
I hugged him and asked if he could help with the bunny. His compliance was 100%, and to be honest, when he wants to, he does an even better job than I do.
Once the bunny was happily munching away on his veggies, my son turned to me with a big smile and said:
“We have such a nice family, the three of us. I’m so happy with our lives.”
His words stopped me in my tracks.
- Bliss, because this, for me, is success:Me and my family, healthy, well, and at peace.
- Appreciation, because not so long ago, the situation was the exact opposite.
From Darkness to Light: My Journey
A few years ago, I remember sitting on my couch, staring out the window. My mind was clouded with dark thoughts, and I found myself wondering:
“Would anyone even miss me if I were gone?”
I was exhausted—mentally, emotionally, and physically. I felt like I was drowning in my own life, unable to find a way forward.
For most of my life, I had to live in Gladiator mode, fighting through the challenges life threw at me. But when life finally began to ease, I faced a new challenge:
How do you sit down the Gladiator within you?
How do you learn to live without constantly anticipating battles, without expecting the worst?
For someone whose nervous system has been wired for survival, finding peace feels almost as foreign as the chaos once felt normal.
This Week’s EQ Oasis Theme: Rest, Not Depression
This week’s theme is deeply personal to me. It’s about my experience with depression and the realization, in hindsight, that it wasn’t depression in the clinical sense.
It was a call for deep rest.
Rest that my soul, mind, and body had been yearning for after years of constant hypervigilance.
This reflection may not resonate with everyone, and I want to be clear: this is not a clinical piece. Depression is deeply personal, and we can never fully understand what someone else is experiencing.
But I share my story with the hope that it might resonate with someone who is struggling.
The Statistics Tell a Story
According to the World Health Organization, about 280 million people worldwide live with depression:
- Ages 18 to 29 have the highest prevalence at 21%.
- Ages 45 to 64 and 65+ are tied at 18.4%.
- Ages 30 to 44 sit slightly lower at 16.8%.
These numbers remind us that we’re not alone.
You Are Enough
If you take away one thing from this week’s theme, let it be this:
“You are more than enough, simply by being born.”
You are not defined by your achievements, your failures, or your struggles. You matter.
You are enough—exactly as you are.
This week, we’re diving into:
From the Depth of Your Darkness, You Shall Rise as the Phoenix from the Ashes.
The Tools I Used to Quiet the Storm and Find Freedom
I vividly remember sitting across from my therapist. He suggested medication to ease my anxiety, to give my mind the rest it desperately needed.
