AS WITH ALL IMPORTANT LESSONS, THIS ONE IS BEST EXPRESSED BY TELLING A TRUE story. In 2007 I was battling quite unsuccessfully with clinical depression. I was unhealthy, unhappy, and uninspired. I looked around at the world of adventurers and smiling people displayed online and in the world around me and felt bitterness and resentment. I had barely graduated from high school (a three-time failing of a required math class was conveniently overlooked by an empathetic administrator), and after failing to get out of bed to take a required final college exam, I was on my way to failing out of university. I knew I had a wealth of potential, but I could not figure out how to battle the mental illness that was holding me back. Depression is a brutal personal illness. Even if you are a strong person it will find your weaknesses. If you are clever, it will find ways to outsmart you. It wins by persistence. Day after day, week after week, depression slowly wears you down. It is relentless and merciless.
