Hi Katie, love this post! I've been trying to find some powerful songs to get me going when all else fails and your list does a pretty good job of it! I've actually included your post as part of a roundup on my blog because it's that good. Thanks for sharing!

Wow.....that was profound.....I love it!!!

When I was put completely out of my comfort zone and felt more alone then I have ever been in my life but that's when I found myself, learned to love myself and cured my depression.

This isn’t about me or curing depression though, it’s about the learning to find yourself and not to get so caught up in society and this rat race we live in. I don't know where I'd be today if I never traveled to the other side of the country with no friends, family and experienced a completely different way of living. Might not even be here at all.

What I learnt was that happiness isn't a destination, it's a mood, an emotion. I know I keep repeating that but really think about it and it makes sense. I learned that it's OK to be sad, people get sad all the time and it's OK to be angry, frustrated and excited etc. These are all emotions and they don't last forever. Same goes with happiness, it comes and goes and the more you think of it like that, the more you appreciate and embrace feeling happy.

I stopped trying to rush out of feeling any emotion I felt. I still feel upset and angry sometimes but I just had to think about why I was feeling like that and what I could do to change feeling like that. I didn't necessarily need to change the situation that was making me feel like that, I just stopped numbing myself to every emotion I felt. It's better to feel pain then nothing at all.

You don't always have to be strong, you just need to be a fighter. Just feel whatever your feeling and don’t be afraid of emotions, you are human; it is natural for you to feel things that aren’t always physical. Embrace it.

I remember I was too afraid of feeling happy; Because I knew it wouldn't last, I thought what's the point of even feeling like this when I'm just going to feel like shit when someone or something ruins my happiness? I came to the conclusion that people, friends, family or strangers are going to make you feel like shit sometimes, there a certain people out there that will purposely try make you feel smaller then they are and this is ALWAYS them having a problem with themselves, it has nothing to do with you. Ignore it.

Life is always going to get in the way of your plans and things always change in a blink of an eye. Learn to adjust to change because no matter what's going on around you, at least you have yourself. At the end of the day all you have is you and yourself, so you have to learn to like you.

Another thing I have learned is you can never convince someone how amazing they are and make them realise their worth, I know because when people tried to tell me, I didn't believe them, I listened and agreed but I always ignored it. You have to convince yourself. No one will save you. Everyone is too busy trying to save themselves.

As I said I'm not trying to be an expert I just really want people to see this world for what it really is and count their blessings everyday, my life is far from perfect but I'm grateful for everyday because I know I'm here, I'm alive and one day I'll be gone, dead. So when I'm on my death bed I can say that I made the most of everyday and I was always kind but at the same time didn't take shit.

Everyday is beautiful no matter where you are or what your situation is, there's always going to be someone who has it worse then you and someone is always going to have it better. Thats just life.

Eliminate toxic people from your life, eat good food, read good books, go for walks, love those who care about you, think positive, embrace the earth, read inspiring stories, learn from and accept your mistakes (never regret them) and embrace what you have (not what you don't have).

Your vision of you being forever happy when you have a certain something or you’re in a certain place will not happen unless your happy with yourself. Happiness is a mood, it's not permanent.

- K x