The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Nomin-Erdene Tumennast
Odkhuu Khurelbaatar, Teacher
Od Complex School, Darkhan Province, Mongolia
Courage is not about not being afraid of anything. It is about processing
those feelings of fear, going through the experience, and having been able
to overcome those feelings. It’s natural to feel afraid when we face something
that is beyond our control. My story of courage was about overcoming
depression. I understood that depression was one of the hardest things that
one can go through. It takes the same courage and strength to overcome
depression as it does a physical illness. Depression among children is not well
understood and not treated in Mongolia. As adults ignore those feelings of
depression in children, they suffer silently.
“It takes courage
to take care of
yourself and enjoy
the present moment.”
When the COVID-19 lockdown started in 2019, I went through feelings of
despair, anxiety, and depression. I felt unsafe, sad, and heavy all the time. I felt
I was losing confidence in myself and in my future. This continued for a whole
six months. It felt as if it was the longest nightmare I endured. Eventually, I
started using some mental techniques to help myself feel better and doing
things to love myself more. The more I took care of myself and started loving
and being kind to myself, the more I started feeling changes.
It is important to do things you like, to occupy your mind with things that
excite you. I started listening to interesting podcasts and reading good books.
It is important to be able to control your thoughts and develop your brain to
think positively. I found out that the main reason leading people to depression
is imagining horrible things and imagining a bad future. It is crucial that you
need to start controlling how to think about your future. The main key is not
to think so much about the future, but to enjoy the present moment. One of
the biggest lessons I have learned through this process was that it is crucial to
understand and accept depression as an illness, and we must help and support
the children who go through and overcome it.
It took me courage to overcome my depression by making the right choices
and learning to control my mind. It takes courage to take care of yourself and
enjoy the present moment.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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