So WHAT is the “I'M ALIVE” Movement all abouuuuuuuut?
I’m basically tired of seeing people sleep walk through life, pervaded by negativity in this troubled world. Enough already!
Can we all work toward ending unnecessary suffering together…NOW?
I strongly believe that life happens for us, not to us. Depression didn’t happen to me, it happened FOR me…For me to bring about change in this world and to help as many people as I can BE and FEEL ALIVE, and in essence, live a life worth LIVING.
On March 16th, 2011, I tried to die. After recovering from my 3rd depressive episode, I vowed to live my life as ALIVE as possible, because I was very GRATEFUL for the second chance I was given.
Every day I pause at 3:16, take a moment to be grateful to be alive, and post whatever it is I’m doing…Even if it’s something annoying like being stuck in traffic, I’m grateful for the chance to be well enough to be driving and stuck in traffic one more time…
My 3:16 mission was to get people thinking at least ONCE a day, about what they are grateful for in life. The more we do this, the more we decrease stress, diffuse anger, work toward loving ourselves …The more we CAN in fact feel ALIVE.
The mission was put on pause, as I relived a nasty MAJOR depressive episode from July 2017 to mid-August 2018…. There were multiple more attempts to die, I just don’t have exact dates for them as I was fortunate enough to not be hospitalized again.
After 13 very destabilizing and painful months, I recovered from that episode of major depression and slowly made my way back to living out my purpose again…which is to continue to help people with their personal growth and to essentially live more fulfilling lives.
Much of what I have learned throughout my training as a counsellor and coach has solidified for me that being driven by a need for contribution is what leads to one’s fulfillment…As such, I will continue to contribute to bettering as many lives as I can on this earth, until my last breath.
You can join me with this, even if it’s not your life mission per se as it is mine, you can definitely still gain fulfillment from contributing to propelling this I’M ALIVE Movement…a movement for ending unnecessary suffering…a movement of gratitude and hope.
My purpose is for us to work toward greater mental health at large, preventing as many people as possible from ever having to experience this horrible illness called DEPRESSION, by taking necessary steps NOW toward being and feeling ALIVE.
My personal favorite and most powerful step is that of expressing gratitude at 3:16pm every day! At that time, I am reminded of my self-inflicted near death experience, and am just grateful to be alive to be doing whatever it is I’m doing then… (This sometimes take place at 3:16am if I’m awake… lol)
Time and time again, it has been scientifically proven that GRATITUDE improves psychological health. Gratitude is an emotion so well researched, and it’s so powerful it can help us end unnecessary suffering. Why is this important? Because we EACH have a favorite flavor of suffering of some kind, in my case…it’s STRESS.
Appreciation, gratefulness, and love can destroy that suffering, and mine personally ends when I express gratitude on the spot! If I get sidetracked during the day, at least 3:16 rolls around and get I reminded to be grateful for so much more than just what I post on the spot (obviously there’s not enough time to take pictures of EVERYTHING I’m grateful for in that moment…lol)
It’s time to start being grateful about all the good things in our lives! That time starts NOW and every 3:16 Day (March 16th), where I ask that you join me throughout the day by pausing, being grateful, and make a post about it on any social media platform of your choosing. It can be a FB status update or live video, an Instagram post, a tweet, etc, followed by the hashtag, #its316andimalive. I of course invite you to continue to pause with me at 3:16pm (or am) every other day that follows, and express gratitude in that moment. If you can't pause at 3:16pm in your time zone, set an alarm for the 16th minute of another hour, because at the 16th minute of EEEEVERY hour "it's 3:16 somewhere...". It's either 3:16pm in one part of the world or 3:16am in another! Know that at that time, you will simultaneously be practicing gratitude with someone else in the world.
You don’t necessarily have to make a post like I do daily at 3:16pm (in whatever time zone). Whenever you do, though, you might just be inspiring someone else to be grateful and mentally healthier in the long run!
Thank you for joining the Movement!!