Abraham Lincoln: Life's Greatest Medicine

During the early 1940s, Abraham Lincoln entered one of the darkest periods of his life.

As he said to a friend,

“I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forbade I shall not. To remain as I am possible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.” 

His relationship with Mary Todd, who he would later marry, spiraled out of control. His ambitious infrastructure efforts in the Illinois state legislature—plans to develop roads, rivers, and railroads—had collapsed under the weight of a statewide recession. His proposals, though well-intentioned, had worsened the financial burden, taking the blame, and vowing not to run again.

With his love life falling apart and his career now crumbling, depression—a feeling he would deal with throughout his life—took over. To the point where his friends feared he might kill himself. They removed anything and everything from his house that could be used as a weapon: knives, razors, and even scissors.

And as deep as Lincoln descended, he was enduring the fee for being human. The low points. The dark days. The hopeless nights.

They attack everyone. The question is when and how much. But Lincoln, for all the despair and depression he felt, understood a simple principle. An idea, a tool that, when utilized, can be one of life's greatest forms of medicine.

Instead of sulking, moaning and groaing, and getting stuck where he was at, he kept chugging along. He rebuilt his law career, forming a new practice and gaining respect throughout the Midwest. From law, he continued back into politics, where the rest is history.

His depression, no matter how much he overcame, no matter how much progress he made, never left. But he was able to endure because of a simple idea, a simple sentiment shared by Lincoln,

 I must die or be better.

Don't forget when you're feeling down, the greatest medicine can be improvement.

Happiness. Satisfaction. Contentment. Those feelings when you are at peace with yourself are not a result of just sitting on the beach, hanging out with friends, or having a good laugh—those are important. It comes from being proud of who you are and being able to look at yourself in the mirror.

That satisfaction can only come from being better. In your health. Relationships. Work. A certain craft. Community. Religion. A project.

Just be better.

You can be depressed or be better.

You can be sad or be better.

You can feel worthless or be better.

Much of how you feel and view yourself results from what you’ve done in the past. And if you’re not proud of that, the only way to be proud of yourself is to improve. To work harder. To live by better morals. To get up and get going.

It’s not simple, but at the same time, it is simple.

If you want to feel better, be better.

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