What Color Is Your Parachute 2018 by Richard N. Bolles copy

9. We can pound a punching bag or even some pillows, to
get some of the angry energy out of us. I don’t know why,
but it’s astonishing how many of the unemployed have told
me this actually helps them get rid of some of their anger.
And this helps lift our depression as well. Sometimes
feeling down, and feeling angry seem almost to be two
different sides of the same coin. If we don’t have a gym in
our life we can build one at home, simply by putting a pile
of pillows on top of our bed, and then pounding the pillows
repeatedly, as hard as we can—without breaking anything
in our hands, wrists, or arms. This often really helps. We
are strange creatures.
10. We can make a list each day of the things that make us
grateful, glad, or even happy, day by day. There is a
habit of mind that is deadly while we’re out of work, and
that is spending too much of our day, every day, brooding
about what is wrong in our lives: what is wrong with
people, what is wrong with our situation, what is wrong
with anything and everything. By listing the things we are
thankful for, we teach ourselves to focus on what precious
gifts we still have, whether they be intelligence, health, or
love.
If we want to get over being depressed, it is crucial that
we give up endless complaint, it is crucial that we come to
forgiveness for any past wrongs done to us, it is crucial that
we, as Baltasar Gracián put it, “Get used to the failings of
our friends, family, and acquaintances….” We are all
human. We are all capable of turning our face toward the
future, rather than toward the past.