Juan Luis Guerra Tells Us What He Learned From Depression
The Depression. That state of deep sadness, of introspection, in which one feels that nothing is worth it, that life has no meaning. The thoughts become dark and both the present and the future are lived in a negative way. There is no hope, we feel lost in a labyrinth: oneself, life, others and the world in general are not perceived with illusion, but quite the opposite.
The good thing is that we can fight that monster, as the well-known singer Juan Luis Guerra demonstrated. Each one will use the sword that best suits him to face it, but the truth is that if we put our will power to work and do not let discouragement consume our strength, the monster will end up dying.
We will emerge from that tunnel of shadows that threatened us, hiding its exit and drawing us more and more to deeper levels. We will realize that this monster, in most cases, is created and fed by ourselves due to our way of interpreting what surrounds us, as well as of behaving.
If we make an effort a little and if we are disciplined, little by little we will come out of that well and discover the reinforcers and incentives that life has, which are many.
Someone who had everything and still suffered from depression
“He was a bastard. One of those winners who are unlucky enough to get everything they set out to do. He had suffered in his own bones the fatality of achieving his dream. Life, in its first third of existence, had given him everything and, consequently, deprived him of the right to dream. I could no longer, like the rest of the people, blame anyone or anything for that sudden dissatisfaction, the moments of sadness, the moments of anxiety … “
As he tells us through these words, the singer Juan Luis Guerra had been someone who, luckily or unfortunately, had achieved absolutely everything in his life : he had money, a wonderful woman by his side, a daughter, he dedicated himself to music. which was what he had always been passionate about, people admired him, etc …
Why then did Juan Luis Guerra fall into depression? As he says, getting it all can often be a double-edged sword. One grows up thinking that the more material and immaterial elements we have in our life, the happier we will be. But that is not true and the key to happiness is not sold in any store.
Happiness is not having it all
When someone achieves everything he sets out to do, he reaches a goal from which he asks himself, what now ? As the saying goes: “Happiness is in the waiting room of happiness . ” When we finally get to what is supposed to give meaning to our lives and make us the happiest people in the Universe, we realize that it does not happen.
There may be a first moment of exaltation and overflowing emotion, but little by little everything is losing value, since nothing that we think we are missing is actually missing. They are only illusions that once obtained, are evaded. They are fleeting, momentary and in many cases expensive pleasures.
I can have all that and like Juan Luis Guerra, fall into depression. On the contrary, I can have none of this and be a fully happy being. It all depends on my interior, on my way of filtering what happens to me.
How did Juan Luis Guerra get out of the depression?
The singer says that he never felt at peace, always nervous, taking sleeping pills and restless in any place. He realized that he needed to find peace and he, in particular, found it by relying on religion. He wanted to call his emotional healing God, saying that it was not that he had started to believe in God, but that he now believed in God, which is not the same. ” God is my best anxiolytic,” he said.
But what Juan Luis Guerra really did was start to open his mind and appreciate the little things in life. Whether we are believers or not, we cannot deny that the Bible contains many chapters that speak of acceptance, humility, false needs …
Juan Luis Guerra learned another way of thinking, began to better accept the ups and downs of life and thanks to his faith in God, who was the one who transmitted the peace he needed, he began to come out of the well.
Perhaps when reading this you think that it does not serve you because you are not religious, but that is the question. Whether we are believers or not, the key is not always wanting more and more, not always complaining about what we don’t have, not thinking that if I fill my empty spaces with more things, I will be happier.
The key has to do with fully appreciating and tasting what I have, which if we stop to think, is a lot; and do not pretend to obtain more, since we do not need it.
