A Facebook Post from 3 years ago…but worth re-sharing as the Black Dog may always be there…

“Last night I went to the Black dog Ride event here in Mildura…a cause close to my heart having suffered from undiagnosed depression for most of my adolescent and adult life,only starting to manage it 3 or 4 years ago. These days I feel pretty good most of the time…but yesterday afternoon I hit a bit of a low, and started to reflect on the following…

A few years ago I heard from a reliable source a comment made by a girl I had been at school with in the 1960’s.

‘That Dianne,’ she said, ‘she was so smart at school, but she turned out to be a real failure!’

And yes I suppose by some standards that could be considered to be true. Several relationships later I am still alone. After years of sole parenthood and a still unfinished University education, I own no home or substantial property, drive a car worth less than five thousand dollars, and have no financial security to look forward to as I head into my sixtieth year.

‘Don’t worry about it.’ a good friend said to me, ‘she was just jealous because you’re tall and blonde, and smart!’

And yet it hurt, deeply. Over the years I sometimes wondered also if the tall blonde woman was all that my partners saw, and didn’t much care about what was going on inside me, or who I was.

So, yes, the idea and feeling of failure has haunted me all of my life.

And yet, I work hard to keep myself happy. I feel rich with the love of a few very close friends who totally accept me and love me as I am. I have learned to take joy from the little things in life that bring me pleasure and joy…silly things sometimes, tiny things…but nothing goes unappreciated. The only failure left to me now is not to do this.

My point is this: Don’t look at me or ANYONE for that matter, and ENVY or JUDGE them, unless you make an effort to know what is going on underneath. The most together-looking, talented, wealthy individual could be dying of a broken heart, dealing with unending chronic physical or psychological pain, or just withering away of spiritual starvation.

Remember the spirit of the Black Dog Ride and the power of a single conversation simply starting with: ‘ARE YOU OKAY?'”