Taken from DeeBear from http://www.depressionforums.org/forums/blog/1378/entry-21644-beware-whinny-venting-ahead/ 

 I've had lots of time to think about it, and I came to the conclusion that living with depression is like walking a tightrope over a giant dry well. 

If you look back too far, you fall. If you look forward too far, you fall. 

But if you concentrate on one step at a time, you can stay on that wire a little longer. And when you fall, you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel because it's not there. 

You see the light high above your head, and wonder how you'll ever climb back out. It only takes a moment to fall, but it takes a long time to climb back out. 

I guess the trick is to leave yourself footholds as you climb out to make it easier the next time. It's always a struggle though, climbing out, and while it's hard knowing you've been here before, and that you'll be here again, there is another way to look at it. 

Try to take comfort in knowing you've been here before and gotten out before, and that this time is no different. That's the "footholds" I use to help me remember how to get out. Another thing is to allow yourself to rest. 

 Climbing back out is hard, and you don't want to be where you are, but resting and building up strength is often necessary before attempting the climb. 

Resting to build up your strength and courage is an important step, though it's hard to do when you're down in that hole. I firmly believe that people who've never been down in that hole couldn't handle it. 

It takes an enormous amount of strength and courage to live with depression, to survive all it throws at you. Many people don't have that strength. 

 Look back, remember you've always made it through, and that you'll make it through this. 

 "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." -- Booker T. Washington