The Magic of a Sunset

It’s easy to mistake a bad day for a bad life. I personally have a relatively happy life, except for days when literally nothing seems to go the way I need it to. When things don’t go my way, life is unfair, and I might cry. To get through it, I go to a warm place that offers the most breathtaking view of the sun going down. This makes me happy, and I remember that life is 80 percent good days, and I just happen to be caught up in the other 20 percent.

A good sunset will remind you there’s beauty in living.

There are literally infinite things to be sad about, but luckily, there are also infinite things that can put a smile on your face when you feel like showing some teeth. Negativity is a vicious cycle that affects the brain by washing over the colors of life with a black and white filter. Life seems to drag us down sometimes; this is true. Life will knock you down, drag you through the mud, and hang you out to dry—if you let it.

I’ve dealt with depression, briefly, but long enough to know that it REALLY sucks. I had no interest in taking part in anything that I had enjoyed just the month before. I didn’t want to bother anyone with my sad nonsense—so I didn’t. EVEN the sunset didn’t help me break out of the mood, but do you know what did?? Talking about it with someone else who knew what I was going through. The fact that I could tell my cousin everything that was bothering me lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders, and she appreciated the fact that I reached out because she, too, was down in the dumps. Anhedonia is a real issue with lots of depressed folk, and it means “the inability to experience happiness.” My stent with depression was exactly that. I didn’t know what to do with myself, and my cousin was sitting in her room with all of the lights off all day. We needed human contact, to hear someone else’s voice, to have a good laugh after being isolated in silence for so long, and to just feel a presence that was just as vulnerable.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE SUN SETTING? WELL, in the absence of another soul to tell my feelings/thoughts to, I just stared at a beautiful sunset in silence, but I still felt the absence of satisfaction. Doing this wasn’t the cure, but it did motivate me to get the depression resolved so that I could, once again, be in love with something, or feel happiness. Nowadays, I try to absorb every last bit of life that the sun has to give, right before I prepare to see it again tomorrow. It sounds cheesy, but what does the end of a day mean to you? A chance to begin again? Recharge the ole batteries? To me, it means that I can enjoy my night knowing I get another chance at life. If you struggle with a condition that leaves you at a loss, I would strongly advise talking to someone about it. Not everyone will understand, of course, but don’t be discouraged by it. It’s a long life, and it is imperative to recognize that the next day might be good or bad, but it’s all relative. A bad day doesn’t have to be the end of the world, just like a great day won’t last forever. My suggestion is to take life one sunset at a time.