And Maggie Robbins said,
"I used to volunteer in an AIDS clinic,
and I would just talk and talk and talk,
and the people I was dealing with
weren't very responsive, and I thought,
'That's not very friendly
or helpful of them.'"
(Laughter)
"And then I realized,
I realized that
they weren't going to do more
than make those first
few minutes of small talk.
It was simply going to be an occasion
where I didn't have AIDS
and I wasn't dying,
but could tolerate the fact that they did
and they were.
Our needs are our greatest assets.
It turns out I've learned to give
all the things I need."
Valuing one's depression
does not prevent a relapse,
but it may make the prospect of relapse
and even relapse itself
easier to tolerate.
The question is not so much
of finding great meaning
and deciding your depression
has been very meaningful.
It's of seeking that meaning
and thinking, when it comes again,