Doom and Gloom and Dr. Who

I am a Doctor Who fan. I have been watching the most recent run of episodes on Netflix. If you are not familiar with the phenomenon, The Doctor is a character that originated on TV way back in 1963. It ran from 1963 until 1989 and then was resurrected in 2005 (the ones I have been watching). It is a very exciting, British sci-fi serial. I don't know that I have necessarily "gotten anything out of it" but I have been entertained and there is one theme that keeps popping up. Humans are a remarkable race and are incredible survivors.

You see, The Doctor travels throughout space and time and even dimensions and no matter where he goes, he is reminded of how resilient Humankind is. I think this is an important message. We keep hearing nothing but doom and gloom--if Obama is re-elected the country will turn into a communist state, if Romney is elected the Christians will revolt, if Paul is elected the country as we know it will cease to exist, Republicans hate poor people, Democrats hate rich people, they all hate Hispanics and Muslims but yet want to cater to their vote. It never ends. We are a quarrelsome, yet resilient species.

The bottom line is this, ALL of them, every single politician is in it for themselves at least to some extent. In the meantime, they can help others but at the end of the day, they are in it for them--period. The other piece of that, we will survive no matter what. Our country will move on. Other countries around the world will move on. It is all cyclical. Other countries may even move "ahead" of us, but we will keep going. Housing prices will rebound, unemployment rates will drop. We will experience a Renaissance of sorts. Then, we will decline again. That's just how it works.

I guess I am challenging you to block out as much of the hysteria as possible and believe in our people, believe in humans and trust that it will all come back around. I believe that there is a greater source of power than us and He is in control and knows whats best. He controls the cycles. You may not believe like me but you cannot deny the cycles. Take a deep breath, do your part to help the system. Work, innovate, think, question and make the world a little better before you die.

A Confession

I have a hard time with depression. I am not depressed myself, I have a hard time understanding the ailment. I have a hard time calling it a disease. I have a hard time dealing with people that cope with it. For the longest time I did not even really think it was "real." I believed that people suffering from depression were weak and just needed to snap out of it. "Toughen up cupcake!"

I know now that I am wrong.

This epiphany did not come overnight. I have several close friends and relatives that cope with this issue and over the past 10 years or so I have come to understand that it is, in fact, a real disorder. There is actually something chemically "off" when you struggle with depression. Medicine is actually needed and those people are not just being weak. Just because I don't struggle with depression does not make me "stronger" than someone who does. I am just blessed not to have that particular chemical imbalance.

Why am I writing about this? I'm not really sure. Sometimes I sit down and just start putting things out there. I guess the take away from this is that you can't really understand something like depression unless you have coped with it. Even then, I doubt you really "understand" it. Also, the human body amazes me. A system of chemicals working together to create a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, emotional being. There's no way it was all accidental.

Have a great week.