"Gentle on my Mind" is my "Brydge over Troubled Water"



I remember it like it was yesterday. My happy childhood was lived out in a beautiful neighbourhood near the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto, Ontario. I had a cozy home and a family who loved me.

  I worked hard and helped around the house but other than that I was an indulged kid with a privileged life. My time was my own and I spent a lot of my teen years lying on the floor in front of the 'hi-fi' listening to Glenn Campbell over and over and over.


  I had such a crush on him and loved his singing and his songs. 'Gentle on my Mind' was one of my favourites and a big hit way back then.

 I was thinking about that song today, especially that title, as I was considering, as usual, how to manage this old depression.

 'Gentle on my Mind' (lyrics) got me thinking about how we all need to be gentle on our minds, whether we are dealing with depression or not. We need to think thoughts that are gentle, not harsh. This does not come naturally when you are depressed. I've always wondered what comes first, the negative thinking or the depressive mood? No matter, they sure happen at the same time!

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And oh, those harsh, destructive, untrue thoughts - - absolutely devastating, make depression even worse.

 Now, changing those thoughts is not easy. It has to be intentional. The gentle thoughts you choose to substitute for the harsh thoughts need to be determined before you hit yet another depressive episode.

 Let me give you a simple example:

 Harsh thought: 'I am such a failure. I am critical, antisocial and unproductive.'

 Gentle thought: 'I am not a failure. I am not critical, I am analytical. I am not antisocial, I am selective. I am not unproductive because I got up today,  had a bath, went for a walk and I am writing this.'

 Depressed or not, we all need to be 'gentle on our minds'. You may wish to refer to my previous blog posts under the category 'self-talk' which explains how to talk to the negative voices and create a healthy mind.

 This is not easy, but it works. It may give you a momentary getaway lasting only as long as it takes you to think the gentle thought. Or it might give you a real change in perspective which could turn your thinking around for longer than a moment, maybe an hour, maybe a whole day, or even longer.

   WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling? What kind of thoughts are you experiencing today? Are they harsh or gentle? Write down some gentle thoughts and cling to them.

 Don't give up! There is hope for depression.

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