Meant to Live: November 2015

Have you ever pursued a dream, only to have it not work out?

Maybe you got denied the job you wanted or maybe someone told you that you weren't good enough.

And, when that happens, you have two choices. To keep trying or to give up. And, many times, we choose the second option.

This same thing happened to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. But obviously, as his 17 WWE championship wins show, he did not let this stop him.

It's hard to picture Johnson as anything but a fierce man with rock hard muscles who doesn't let anything bother him. He's probably the last person you would think suffered from depression. But he did -- at age 23 after he was cut from the Canadian Football League and wasn't drafted in the NFL.

Johnson talked about this time in his life on Oprah's Master Class Special.

"(My) dreams were dashed. You work so hard and then somebody's saying, well, you're just not good enough. ... At 23, you think your life is over," he said.

"I found that, with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you're not alone. You're not the first to go through it, and you're not going to be the last to go through it."

For Johnson, something good came out of one of the hardest experiences in his life. He found his true calling -- wrestling. And, he said, even when he was reoffered a spot on the Calgary Stampeders, he turned it down because he knew in his "heart of hearts" what he was meant to do. When his dad told him this was the biggest mistake of his life, he didn't listen.

"It wound up being one of the greatest chapters in my life," Johnson said.

Your dreams may change in the course of your lifetime, but never let anyone make you feel like you're not good enough to pursue your dreams. Keep fighting for what you want.

If you let your critics' opinions define you, you could be missing out on the greatest chapter of YOUR life.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson talks about his battle with depression

Have you ever pursued a dream, only to have it not work out? Maybe you got denied the job you wanted or maybe someone told you that yo...

Photo from silouan.com

Once a year, on Veterans Day, those who served our country are honored. But what about the other 364 days of the year? Do we think about these men and women then?

While serving, military men and women gave up so much for us Americans -- their safety, their homes and being with their families. Many missed the birth of their children, missed holidays and went months on end without seeing their wives or husbands. Yet, when they return home, life for many veterans don't go back to the way it was before they left. They are still sacrificing for us -- strangers they don't even know -- through the effects on their physical and mental health.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 11 to 20 percent of veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq suffer from PTSD, 12 percent of vets who served in the Gulf War (Desert Storm) and 15 percent of Vietnam veterans.

PTSD can develop after a person has experienced or witnessed a terrifying event, such as a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death of a loved one, an accident, war or natural disaster. Some symptoms of PTSD, according to WebMD, are:

Reliving: People with PTSD frequently relive their traumatic experience through memories, nightmares, flashbacks and/or hallucinations
Isolation: People with PTSD may avoid people or places that remind him or her of the traumatic experience. They may have trouble relating to others and lack the ability to feel or show affection.
Changes in sleep patterns and emotions: Many with PTSD find it difficult to fall or stay asleep; be irritable; experience outbursts of anger; have difficulty concentrating; and be "jumpy" or easily startled.
Physical symptoms: Some who suffer from PTSD may experience physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, rapid breathing and muscle tension.

At an event on Wednesday, Marine veteran Silouan Green, a native of LaPorte, Ind., talked about his recovery from PTSD. According to the Times of Northwest Indiana, Green was involved in a jet crash, which killed his co-pilot, left him with a fractured spine and resulted in him being diagnosed with PTSD upon returning home.

Green said that, if a veteran doesn't have a support system upon returning home, he or she may never seek help or know where to go for help. He said it's our job as American citizens to offer support. For Green, it was a man who taught him to play guitar and another man who gave him a deal on his motorcycle who helped him find a way to get help.

He said his healing came from selling all of his possessions except for one car and spending the next two years on the road.

"Riding across our great country, each mile allowed me the freedom to begin to dream again. I felt like a child again. I began to write, to sing, to learn the guitar – all the things I do today to make a living," he wrote on his website.

"Maybe you know what it’s like to be falling down the rabbit hole with nothing in sight but a black hole. ... I want you to live free. I want you to find what I found on the back of a motorcycle – identity, purpose and most of all, passion."

Here's some advice Green gave on his blog, Bound for Freedom, to help those who you think may be suffering from PTSD:

"1. Examine your own life. Don’t be afraid to reveal your own weaknesses so you can say, 'I don’t know what you are going through, but here is what I went through and this is how I did it.'

2. Take your loved one to a place they enjoy and you can talk – a park, a coffee shop, a drive, hunting, whatever they like.

3. After some time enjoying each other’s company bring up my first point, reveal yourself a little – Open this door to talk and tell them you’d like to help them and ask what is going on.

4. Repeat #3 until they open up – Don’t be too pushy or intrusive, give them space, but don’t give up. I like to call it patiently present. Just be present. If they can’t unlock the darkness consuming them, they will die – literally and/or figuratively."

For those living with PTSD, for more information on how to get help, visit U.S. Department of Veterans Affair's website.

Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Photo from silouan.com Once a year, on Veterans Day, those who served our country are honored. But what about the other 364 days of the ...

In high school, I went through a serious bout of depression when I felt like giving up on life. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I was embarrassed and I didn't want to worry my parents. I knew if I called a hotline, my parents would overhear me on the phone and ask me what was going on. So, I kept silent. And luckily, it passed without me taking permanent action.

But many others aren't as lucky as I am and, if there isn't a person easily accessible to talk to, this could mean the difference between life and death.

Two years ago, the nonprofit Do Something started a 24-hour free Crisis Text Line to give people access to crisis counselors right at their fingertips. I wish this would have been around when I was in high school. And, nowadays, with teenagers more likely to send a text message than make a phone call, this service is imperative to saving lives.

Do Something's CEO Nancy Lublin said in a TED Talk this week, "The way we communicate with young people is by text, because that's how young people communicate."

The nonprofit, which helps youth create social and environmental change, runs over 200 campaigns each year, and they first started using text messages to broadcast their campaigns to their members and ask for donations.

Lublin said that, often times, they would get texts back in response that had nothing to do with the project and one in particular inspired them to create the Crisis Line.

"The worst message we ever got said exactly this: 'He won't stop raping me. It's my dad. He told me not to tell anyone. Are you there?'"

"We realized we had to stop triaging this and we had to build a crisis text line for these people in pain. So we launched Crisis Text Line. ... In four months, we were in all 295 area codes in America."

Lublin said, because of the privacy of texting, teenagers are more likely to share the most private details of their lives that they would never say aloud.

"We get things like, 'I want to die. I have a bottle of pills on the desk in front of me.' And so the crisis counselor says, 'How about you put those pills in the drawer while we text?' And they go back and forth for a while. And the crisis counselor gets the girl to give her her address," said Lublin.

"The counselor triggers an active rescue while they're texting back and forth. ... And the next message that comes in says (from the mom), 'I had no idea, and I was in the house. We're in an ambulance on our way to the hospital.' ... The next message comes a month later, 'I just got out of the hospital. I was diagnosed as bipolar, and I think I'm going to be OK.'"

In the last two years, the organization has exchanged more than 6.5 million text messages and does an average of 2.41 active rescues each day.

While sometimes I think cell phones, texting and the constant connection to everyone has a negative impact on mental health, I applaud Lublin for finding the benefits of text messaging and using this to ultimately save lives.

"I want to use tech and data to make the world a better place. I want to use it to help that girl, who texted in about being raped by her father. Because the truth is we never heard from her again. And I hope that she is somewhere safe and healthy, and I hope that she sees this talk and she knows that her desperation and her courage inspired the creation of Crisis Text Line and inspires me every freaking day," she said.

How a text message can save a life

In high school, I went through a serious bout of depression when I felt like giving up on life. I wanted to talk to someone about it, bu...

I am a worry wart.

I worry about everything from "Does my boss like me? Does he think I'm doing a good job?" to "Did I put deodorant on this morning?"

But excessive worrying can have negative effects on the body. WebMD reports that daily worrying triggers the fight or flight response, which causes the body’s sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. This hormone can cause immediate physical symptoms, such as:

Difficulty swallowing
Dizziness
Dry mouth
Fatigue
Headaches
Irritability
Muscle aches
Muscle tension
Nausea

And, according to WebMD this can led to serious physical consequences in the long run, such as:

Digestive disorders
Muscle tension
Short-term memory loss
Premature coronary artery disease
Heart attack

So, what can you do to stop worrying so much?

Take a deep breath.

According to the American Institute of Stress, deep abdominal breathing increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes a state of calmness.

Exercise daily.

My biggest problem is, after I have a stressful day at work, the last thing I want to do is exercise. Instead, as soon as I get home, I plop myself on the couch and turn on Netflix. But this does little to reduce the damaging effects of stress.

WebMD reports that regular aerobic and strengthening exercise is a very effective way to train your body to deal with stress under controlled circumstances. The chemicals released during moderate exercise can also enhance the immune system.

Seek social support.

Stress isn't something you should have to deal with on your own. Talk to a therapist, family and/or friends about what is going on. Spending time with people you care about can be a buffer against stress.

Ask yourself "Is there anything I can do about it?"

With legitimate worries, schedule time in your day to brainstorm ways to fix your concerns. But many of your worries are simply out of your control.

Meditate.

The Huffington Post reports that meditating affects the anterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex brain regions (which control emotions, thinking and worrying).

Take a break from technology.

Sometimes I find myself scrolling through Facebook and, all of the sudden, a couple hours have passed. This doesn't help my mental health, that's for sure. In order to help lower your stress levels, set aside time away from technology. Regain control instead of letting yourself be controlled by your phone or computer.

Get 7-9 hours of sleep.

WebMD reports that, when you are tired, you are less patient and more easily agitated, which can increase stress.

Write down your worries.

By writing down your worries, you'll feel as if you're releasing them from your brain.

Ask yourself "Will this matter a year from now?"

Most of the things that I thought were the end of the world a year, or even a month, ago, I don't even remember now. Whenever you start to worry, remind yourself of this -- "Will this matter a year from now?" Write a note and tape it to your desk at work or your bathroom mirror. It may help you put things into perspective.