A Scout is Cheerful?
Every week end our meetings by reciting the Scout Law. It’s our reminder to ourselves to strive to live up to those 12 values in our daily lives. Some of them are pretty easy. It’s not hard to find ways to be helpful, for example. Others take a little more work. It can be tough to be brave when you feel intimidated. When you’re angry about something it can be difficult to remember to be kind. All of the values of the Scout law are essentially choices. We can choose to be courteous. We can practice being thrifty. Etc. All, that is, except for one—cheerful.
Being cheerful is an expression of happiness. It would be great if everyone could be happy all the time, but sometimes happiness has to make room for other emotions like sadness or being scared or being angry. That’s totally normal. If you’re being attacked by a bear it’s better to be scared than happy. If you lose someone close to you, it’s normal to feel sadness.
Sometimes we also feel sadness for what seems like no reason at all. The things that usually make us happy don’t bring us the same joy they used to. We laugh less. We get irritated more easily. We see the negative side of things more than we see the positive side. We feel bad about ourselves and don’t understand why. For some reason we just can’t seem to choose to be happy. When these feelings stay with us for several days or we feel them more days than we don’t, we call it depression.
Depression is hard. The feelings are hard. So is the sense of hopelessness that the feelings will never change. I know because I’ve been through it. For me it felt like being in a really small room and being frustrated trying to get out. When I was with family or friends it felt like they were far away—like trying to hold someone’s hand but not being able to reach it. Thinking about the future somehow made me sadder. I definitely wasn’t cheerful.
But I am now.
I found people I trusted to talk to. They helped me realize that even though depression isn’t normal, it is very, very common. They helped lift me out of that tiny room so I could see what was on the other side. They did that just by listening. They showed up for me until I felt good enough to start showing up for myself again. They were Scouts.
If you struggle with these kinds of feelings as well, find someone to talk to. Tell someone. As Scouts we know the importance of not doing things alone. We know that offering help is an expression of compassion, and that asking for it is a sign of strength. Talking to someone about your feelings is like letting them know your pack is too heavy. It helps unload some of those feelings from the inside where only you can carry them, to the outside where someone you trust and who cares for you can help share the load.
All you need to do to get started is ask, “Can we talk?”
Christopher Simmons
Scoutmaster, T333
