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Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

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Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#11

Post by kahrkunne »

Personally I look towards people I admire; especially times they screwed up. For example, right now Donald Trump is somebody that's very inspiring to me, because I consider him a great and admirable man, who has also made many mistakes over time. I admire his ability to pick himself back up and keep going.

You will probably have other people you admire; look for times they made mistakes. What's important is realizing everybody makes mistakes all the time. In the end, what makes a great person is their ability to pick themselves up and keep going. Never stagnate.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#12

Post by hacker_9 »

jacques_chester wrote: post #9

I've been depressed on and off for as long as I can remember. These days I know it pretty well and basically manage it out of habit and experience. This doesn't prevent events from pushing me into a depressive episode, but it does mean I know what steps I need to take to get through and get out. Because in the depths of suicidal depression, I know in my bones that it's pointless, meaningless etc. But I know in my hea…

Might be a long shot, but I often find I link my body state to my mind state unconsciously. Meaning if my body is struggling because of lack of attention in some area, the mind interprets itself as being depressed/sad/angry. I know when I look after my body - striving to drink a min of 3L of water a day, limiting sugar, getting up and away from the computer when I can, doing simple exercises throughout the day (yoga, presssups, pullups) - all leads to a much improved body state which in turn makes huge differences in my mood. This in turn increases productivity, outlook on life and so on.

It's a marathon though, and you have to keep it up. The body doesn't exactly make it's feelings clear either! Anyway not trying to simplify your problem, best of luck.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#13

Post by TheAlchemist »

Inner scorecard. The things you named, and to which we usually pay attention, are all external and involve a lot of external circumstances over which you have no control. However, if you do the right things, improve yourself every day, you're already a success.

I love this speech by Coach Wooden and highly recommend watching: https://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_betw...

PS. Also, having kids is a huge motivator. You realize that you are a living role model to them and what you do and how you behave will influence them for their entire life. And as you want to show your kids the best of humanity and positive qualities, you simple have no choice but to show them in yourself !

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#15

Post by aptidude187 »

kahrkunne wrote: post #11

Personally I look towards people I admire; especially times they screwed up. For example, right now Donald Trump is somebody that's very inspiring to me, because I consider him a great and admirable man, who has also made many mistakes over time. I admire his ability to pick himself back up and keep going. You will probably have other people you admire; look for times they made mistakes. What's important is realizing…

Admiring Donald Trump, that's depressing.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#17

Post by imron »

aptidude187 wrote: post #15
kahrkunne wrote: post #11

Personally I look towards people I admire; especially times they screwed up. For example, right now Donald Trump is somebody that's very inspiring to me, because I consider him a great and admirable man, who has also made many mistakes over time. I admire his ability to pick himself back up and keep going. You will probably have other people you admire; look for times they made mistakes. What's important is realizing…

Admiring Donald Trump, that's depressing.

He doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs.

He has a strong work ethic.

He believes in himself and doesn't give up in the face of adversity or when presented with seemingly insurmountable odds.

I might not like or agree with Trump on many things, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have any qualities deserving of admiration.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#18

Post by theshire »

aptidude187 wrote: post #15
kahrkunne wrote: post #11

Personally I look towards people I admire; especially times they screwed up. For example, right now Donald Trump is somebody that's very inspiring to me, because I consider him a great and admirable man, who has also made many mistakes over time. I admire his ability to pick himself back up and keep going. You will probably have other people you admire; look for times they made mistakes. What's important is realizing…

Admiring Donald Trump, that's depressing.

Trump would be last on my Admiration list, I would have went with Gandhi or any wounded soldier who risked their life for this country the list goes on.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#20

Post by jacques_chester »

hacker_9 wrote: post #12
jacques_chester wrote: post #9

I've been depressed on and off for as long as I can remember. These days I know it pretty well and basically manage it out of habit and experience. This doesn't prevent events from pushing me into a depressive episode, but it does mean I know what steps I need to take to get through and get out. Because in the depths of suicidal depression, I know in my bones that it's pointless, meaningless etc. But I know in my hea…

Might be a long shot, but I often find I link my body state to my mind state unconsciously. Meaning if my body is struggling because of lack of attention in some area, the mind interprets itself as being depressed/sad/angry. I know when I look after my body - striving to drink a min of 3L of water a day, limiting sugar, getting up and away from the computer when I can, doing simple exercises throughout the day (yoga,…

Yes, the brain is absolutely embedded in the body, and part of my self-management is regular sleep, exercising and so on. I cover this in the talk I linked.

For me, these prevent or ameliorate some, but not all, of my depressive episodes. I must periodically rely on medication to protect myself from myself.

I draw this distinction because people with depression are commonly given advice by well-meaning associates that exercise, diet and sleep will fix their depression.

For severe depression it probably won't, and in many cases, severely depressed people are not able to pick up even minor changes without what feels like a great deal of effort.

In general, if you think you have depression, you should seek professional attention. For most people it is highly treatable.

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