PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Business Bulletin
How to deal with low-level depression Not everyone is depressed to the point of considering taking a drastic step like self-destruction. Far more of us are fed up just enough to be somewhat dissatisfied with virtually everything.
I think Pink Floyd said it best:
share here. My method might not suit
student became agitated, hopping
everybody, so it’s a good thing that I
from foot to foot. Finally, the student
don’t claim it does. All I can say is, “it
shouted, “Sir, it’s hot! It’s burning me!”
Day after day
suits me, sir,” and it does help a little,
Calmly, Hui replied, “Then let go.”
Love turns grey
so just maybe, it’ll help you too. Give it
Like the skin
a shot. What’ve you got to lose?
On a dying man. Night after night We pretend it’s alright But I’ve grown older And you’ve grown colder And nothing seems very much fun anymore. Source: Waters, R. (1980). The Wall, Part 2. Retrieved from lyrster.com/songs/ day+after+day+love+turns+gray+lyrics.html
Frankly, this is why Roger Waters is a millionaire, but I’m broke. He says something here deep and meaningful in a beautiful way I never could, but it’s okay. I’ve accepted my lot in life, which, I think, is where you’ll find most or perhaps all of the mildly depressed. Some clever wag–I forget who– said, “Pointing out a problem without offering a solution is merely whinging.” Too true, mate. So, given that we understand the problem, what’s the solution? Who knows, fella, who knows? If I had a solution, I’d not be a sufferer, but I don’t, so I am. Instead of a solution, I’ve got a coping mechanism that I’m happy to
54 | Issue 19
If you can’t change something, change your mind “Confucius, he say”–actually, let’s face it, Confucius, he say too much. Still, he did come up with a few zingers; unfortunately, none apply here in the way I have in mind, so it’s yar boo and sucks to the old codger, I’m afraid. Instead, we need to turn our attention to Zen. Hui Neng, the 5th patriarch, and my favourite Zen master, once gave a famous lecture. An importunate student kept pestering Hui for the solution to a nagging problem. Eventually, Hui proposed that the two meet in the dining hall during the evening
A mild but persistent drabness to everything The malady is tenacious and unrelenting; it will not let go. There is loneliness in the middle of the crowd. There is ennui in the midmorning and tiredness in the late night. The sweetest chocolate is a jaded remembrance; the prettiest girl is tomorrow’s wrinkled hag seen today, and (remember Mr. Waters’ gloomy reprise?) “nothing is very much fun anymore.” For the mildly depressed, this is the constant companion, this solemn and intimate knowledge of, and friendship with, Fate: O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing
meal. Later that day, the student
ever waning;
came up to Hui and reminded him of
hateful life
their appointment. Hui nodded and
first oppresses
handed the student a hot cup of tea,
and then soothes
telling the student to grasp it firmly.
playing with mental clarity;
Obediently, the student took hold of
poverty
the scalding hot cup but eventually, of
and power
course, it got too hot for him, and the
it melts them like ice.
