# How I went from depression to happiness



## Aaron Tupaz (Apr 4, 2016)

Hey I'm Aaron and 27 years old. 5 years ago a lot of things went downhill for me.

- I got tuberculosis almost died and had to drop out of the semester
- Girlfriend of 2 years left me for ex
- Sister-in-law, grandmother and 2 of my best friends died that year

For 2 years after that I started suffering from depression. I didn't do so well in school (failed some subjects), wasn't as social and I just became lazy overall and blaming that the world was unfair. I got addicted to lots of videos games.

Then I started reading a lot of self help books. One that helped me was "What to say when you talk to your self" by Shad Helmstetter. It taught me how to reprogram my mind using affirmations. So I spent a lot of time voice recording affirmations of various topics like time management, dating, eating healthy, working out, studying ect.

After a few months of listening to about 5-7 affirmations recordings daily (usually each were 2-5 minutes long), things in my life started for the better. Made more friends, started dating, grades got better, ate healthier and much more. 

However, eventually I started getting bored of listening to the same recordings, and sometimes an event or emergency would happen that would throw off my schedule, and before I knew it I would revert back to being lazy and depressed. 

With my background in a computer science, I wanted to create a system to never lose motivation and always be listening to positive self-talk. So what I did was turn my alarm clock into self-talk. It would encourage me, remind me what I'm thankful for and ask me the big questions like
- What are your goals?
- Who will you surround yourself today to help your achieve them?
- What are you willing to sacrifice today to achieve them?
Then most importantly, remind me to listen to more recordings.

The one good thing about being addicted to video games for awhile, I learned how to make things addictive and fun. I made what recordings I would listen to each day random by spinning a wheel and gave myself rewards each time did so.

So fast forward to present. My library of self-talks I've created has helped me learn to speak 10 languages, get a girlfriend who I literally ran across a parking lot to stop and introduce myself, grow my business, finish my school, eat much healthier and workout earlier and much more. Because of my alarm clock, I would always be motivated to think positively and be productive. Hope this story has inspired at least one person


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## StephCurry (Jan 11, 2016)

Nice youtube vids & really inspiring story 



Unfortunately I'm going through a pretty dark period and honestly I can't see a way out.


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## sajs (Jan 3, 2015)

Congratulations.

But I think your system worked because you were all of that in a not so distant past, it is like you reversed to that period. Now, how that would help to someone who is depressed since they have use of memory? I think your system helped you to reverse to a previous situation rather than defeating the depression.

In other words, its like you went to a backup restore point.


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## Aaron Tupaz (Apr 4, 2016)

StephCurry said:


> Nice youtube vids & really inspiring story
> 
> Unfortunately I'm going through a pretty dark period and honestly I can't see a way out.


Thank you



sajs said:


> Congratulations.
> 
> But I think your system worked because you were all of that in a not so distant past, it is like you reversed to that period. Now, how that would help to someone who is depressed since they have use of memory? I think your system helped you to reverse to a previous situation rather than defeating the depression.
> 
> In other words, its like you went to a backup restore point.


I understand my situation is different than that of someone you described. But this is why the system I want to create would ask an individual first how they are feeling that day. Depending on how they feel, the affirmations they would listen to will be different. Ex: A person waking up happy would probably be satisfied enough hearing, "I am full of energy and overflowing with joy." While someone whose been depressed since child hood would be better off hearing something like, "I understand life is not perfect. Healing is a life long journey."

Also, as much as I like affirmations. Most of what I listen to are afformations, or in to other words, asking empowering questions like, "How am I able to get pass this dark period I'm going through? How am I able to summon the strength to overcome these obstacles." See the problem with affirmations alone is that if you say, "I'm a successful millionaire," there will be a small voice in your head that'll say, "yeah right... Are you kidding?" On the other hand, asking empowering question automatically makes your mind search for a solution. I'm confident that any person who keeps asking the right questions, they'll be able to overcome more than they believe is currently possible.


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## AFoundLady (Feb 8, 2013)

Thank You for sharing your story. It is certainly inspiring.


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