Author's Note

This book is dedicated to those poor souls who feel lost inside themselves.  Depression is a powerful enemy to overcome.  It is something that attacks without remorse and pounds on our very being until we succumb to its will.  At times we may feel helpless in our fight against depression but I am here to say that our battle is not without victory.

Some bouts with depression are brought on by a sad event in our lives.  The loss of a loved one, a bad break-up, hurtful words thrown our way.  Then there are times when depression attacks without reason.  No matter what the cause, each of us will deal with depression in different ways.

There are those who may be able to brush away depression as easily as brushing away cob webs from their face.  For those select few I say, consider yourselves fortunate.  There are those who suffer greatly.

Their pain is so great that they feel alone in the world.  Inside a large crowd they are the only ones around for miles.  They are saddened by this great void which causes them to become invisible.  While many may feel this way I can say with the utmost certainty that you are not alone.  There are those who have felt your pain.

While this pain, this hurt, this ultimate suffering, continues to grow it needs an outlet of escape.  Some turn to drinking to numb the pain, in hopes it will go away.  Others turn to drugs, attempting to destroy the very vessel that depression inhabits.  There are those who eat, disgusted by the monster they feel consuming them.  Still others cut themselves, hoping the pain will escape through their open wounds.

But there is another avenue of escape that has crossed the minds of millions around the world.  Suicide.  Death is the ultimate escape, promising that you will feel no more pain.  It calls to us, beckoning us to a peaceful being.  It seems like a logical escape but nothing could be further from the truth.

While you may feel alone and that no one cares about you I say again you are wrong.  You have touched lives in ways you may never know but once your flame has burned out there will be those that will mourn your passing.  Depression will have won and started its vicious cycle over again.

By the mere fact that you are reading these words is proof that someone cares.  I care.  I care enough to share my feelings with you.  As you read this book there is no one else in the world but you and I.  As you finish you will begin to see others who care about you also.

If someone has given you this book then there is another person who cares about you.  If you care about someone else please pass this book on to them.  Together we can build a chain of love one person at a time.  Husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, teachers and students, perfect strangers.  We all have one thing in common: The Human Spirit, which is unbreakable if we allow others to care for us.  Together we can defeat depression.  Together we can survive.

 

Max M. Power