For nearly a decade of my life, I struggled to free myself from the death-hold of depression. For years, I worried, "will I ever get better?" "will I ever be well again?" It wasn't until I met other people living and thriving despite their struggles with depression that I began to believe that I too can get better and live well.
Over the last couple of decades, I have had the privilege of meeting incredible people around the world, men women and children living with mental health conditions, who have taught me that living well with a mental health condition is possible. At ASHA International, we are delighted to launch LIVING WELL - a series of featured articles highlighting these people and the multitude of pathways they pursue to live well.
Please read them, hear their messages of hope, and share them with your friends, family and social networks.
Wishing you wellness,
Founder & President
ASHA International
LIVING WELL by Francisco Stork
Hard as I try not, I still tend to identify wellness with productivity. Was I able to do the tasks I set out to do today? Was I able to write? Was I useful in some small way to someone today? As long as I have the sense that I owe life something good that comes out of my hands, no matter how small, I hold myself out to be well regardless of how I may feel on that particular day. The hard thing is that some days it is important to be happy with small results.
But I am trying not to equate "wellness" with doing. I would rather know that I am well if I can feel inside of me a sense of gratitude for all that is given to me, for shelter and food and family, for leisure and for the beauty of the day. This kind of wellness is more of a deep faith that life is worth living. What I am discovering is that this kind of faith is both a gift and something you have to seek with your whole being. It is a seed that grows with our attention. So the most important thing I do to be well is that - I attend to this faith and seek to make it stronger. Each morning when I wake up I read from a holy text of one of the world's religions and I write in a journal any thoughts or feelings evoked by that reading. That is how I water the seed of faith in me and that is what keeps me well.
Francisco Stork is a lawyer and author of six novels including a young adult novel
The Memory of Light, inspired in part by his own experience with depression.
Francisco's Message of Hope
To hear Francisco's message of HOPE in English, please watch the video below.
To hear Francisco's message of HOPE in Spanish, please watch the video below.
Stories have the power to inform, inspire and transform lives.
If you have a recovery story, please
submit your story today. Your story will give HOPE to people struggling with mental health issues around the world, and inspire them to recover and rebuild a healthy, meaningful, productive life.
