Helping others and ourselves is a lighthouse.

No matter how dark the depression, there is a candle that lights the way out.
This candle, or lantern, shows us the way to go. It takes us along the path step by step.

Seeing other people's pain at a time when we are in pain ourselves is crucial to overcoming our own tough times. It is tempting to say, that since each moment of our life is unique, we can only pay undivided attention to one thing at a time, so it's up to us, whether we decide to see someone else's pain or our own.

It seems though that in dealing with one's own depression two aspects need to be attended to.
First one is feeling our own pain. Feeling this pain to the fullest, acknowledging it, respecting it.
I tell myself at times like these: "So that's how it feels."
Second one is opening our eyes to pain of others. Is it someone in my family, my neighbourhood? Is it a homeless person in a city, or someone starving in Darfur?

Feeling own pain helps us move towards healing.
Seeing other's pain hopefully moves us to feel compassion and to help them.
Helping others puts our own pain out of the spotlight. This, in turn helps us work on the "solution" of our problems.

When going gets tough, why not look around for those who have it tougher?

Helping others and ourselves is a lighthouse for travelers on depression's dark roads.