We all get a little down sometimes and then feel like life is too much. That’s quite human. In fact, life is complex enough for that. But we can and should make a conscious effort to get out of this mental trap. It is Satan in us that suggests any kind of negativity or violence, including self-harm, and we must never give in to this perverse suggestion.

There can be many reasons for feeling depressed; Some people may think that it just happens for no reason, but it doesn’t. For every effect, there is always a cause. The reasons, of course, can be varied, but they always exist.

Whatever the reasons, these are the things that can help us overcome depressive and suicidal tendencies. They are: daily exercise; getting regular sun; eat fruits, nuts, and vegetables that are in season; deep, diaphragmatic (abdominal) breathing or better yet Yoga Pranayama; faith in a supreme benevolent power; forgive and love friends and relatives and pray for others (including love for pets, trees, etc.); accepting the right of others to have points of view different from ours, reading the scriptures with faith and reverence, etc.

For a person used to thinking negatively, the brain is programmed accordingly. There are neural circuits formed by those thought habits, and subsequent action only reinforces this, requiring more and more self-awareness and willingness to change the situation. But it never gets too hard to change.

Basically, we must realize that we are all good, even if we sometimes fail to be good. When we fail, we should not feel unduly and overly guilty; we just have to make amends and apologize, and move on.

The world is a school, life is about learning, each experience is a lesson. Those who commit suicide are deserters of this school of life. And what about students who take drops? They repeat the class. Those who timidly or confusedly escape life by committing cruel and unnatural suicide, repeat that ‘class’, with the disadvantage of an extra karmic debt for killing. A murder is a murder, whether one kills another or oneself. Suicide, in a way, is murder of the worst kind, because love, like charity, must begin at home, with oneself.

But those who are luckier, stronger and know better should have empathy for people with depressive/suicidal tendencies and should help them through it, rather than just criticize.

We must help these people to understand that it is selfish to run away from life in this way. Everyone has problems, it’s how we look at it and treat it that decides whether it becomes a ‘ladder’ or a ‘snake’ in the game of life. Those we left behind weren’t having a pie walk anyway (if ever walking on pie was really easy; wonder how this proverb came to be!); they had their challenges. If one had relationship problems with them, they must have had relationship problems with that person too because he is usually mutual. By suddenly leaving them like this, you make things even more difficult, more lonely and sad.

It’s not fun for those people themselves, either, as they soon discover. The whole thing is so unfair. If only one could pause for a moment to take another perspective before harmonizing!

We are responsible for our thoughts that become our actions; life is a sum total of these thoughts and actions. If we don’t feel positive about our life, instead of regretting and feeling depressed or finding a timid escape, we should take charge of ourselves and change our thoughts and actions. Little success will motivate us more. If our today is sad because of the bad things we did yesterday, we can improve tomorrow by doing things right today. Good or bad, life is always a journey; progresses or regresses, it always happens little by little. Life is never so bad that it can’t be good again. Hope is our eternal truth. That is religious faith in practice.