Depression

Life has a way of breaking us down.  It sinks its fangs and claws into us, and grinds us down.  Bearing this weight of existence has a toll on our body, mind, and heart.  And this weight can get heavier the longer we carry it.  Carry this weight long enough, and any hope of escaping the darkness begins to grow slim.  Left to our own devices, the despair becomes all-consuming.  And eventually, despair ultimately gives way to hopelessness.  

It is at this juncture that we may wish to give up entirely.  Yet, it is in this moment of the dark night of the soul, that the brightest of lights can shine through.  There are lessons we can learn from the dark-- we need only to bear witness to our own wounds and suffering.  These are the moments in which we truly see who we are, and what we are capable of becoming.  It is not if we fall, but how we rise that shows who we really are.