Depression is as common as the cold, and in North American society you'll most likely have a prescription for Prozac before you reach sixteen. It's fascinating to see how many people are quite willing to jump onto the drug bandwagon, eager to continue life as it had been before. Especially when it's alarmingly obvious that before really wasn't working.

The answer to today's growing problem of depression is not to slap on a prescription and walk away like a zombie - it's to change your life and take a stand for yourself. Clearly, the old ways weren't working. 

Here's a fact for the depressed: Your life is depressing. And I know how you can change it.

The cure to depression is physical activity in an outdoor environment, lots of vegetables and fruit, and a solid amount of gratitude. Shockingly enough, the majority of people in current society do not follow any of these rules. And this isn't new information. It's no secret that the human is a living organism that needs its sunlight, fresh air, and vitamins. Yet people are prone to sit for the majority of the day under florescent lights in a stuffy office eating fried food. It's no wonder we're a nation of hopeless individuals.

It's something we all are guilty of forgetting, but even North Americans have bodies. And bodies need tender love and care. Yet what kind of mind could love a body that doesn't do anything all day? It's such a self destructive cycle. Self hatred based off of the predicaments that we put ourselves into. We neglect our bodies in our pursuit of money, education, and security, but then wake up each morning wondering why we don't like what we see in the mirror, why we don't feel well. Then we ride this negative thought wave and let it become a pattern. We dwell on the fact that the line is too slow in the drive thru, the cost of gas is going up, the fact that gas is bad for the environment and so on. (The news and the media hardly help with this either). And then we get home at the end of the day and eat poor food to smother our guilt in not honouring ourselves as a multi-faceted species, but rather continually catering all of our experiences to revolve solely around the mind.

So it's hardly a question as to why we have depression. It's a wonder as to how anyone could not! The depressed need to recognize that they're hopelessness is not something to mask, but rather confront. It's simply the body trying to get us to realize that we're slowly killing it. North Americans need to let their emotions guide them into changing their lives.

So here's what I propose-- The body wants to be with nature. It's an animal and it thrives off of the living force that comes from the iridescent world around us. It wants to feel well with all the right fuel. We should be giving it vegetables so it doesn't have to exhaust itself just to find some basic nutrients. And then, we should be choosing to change our attitudes.

 By going about life being grateful for each person, experience, and struggle, we'll change our attitudes and eventually our perspective. Instead of always seeing the bad things, we'll actually switch our natural programming to notice the good things first. Positivity is a choice. And frankly, it's a choice our world is going to have to make if we want to get out of this depressing rut of depression.

I say it's time our society stood up for our individual rights and slowed down to take care of ourselves in a well rounded way. We need to throw away their Prozac, cut back on some hours at work, and eat a very large salad. If you're depressed-- than you, most importantly, should let the trees hear your voice as you hike through the woods, marching to the song of "thank you, thank you, thank you".