7 encouragements for depressed and economically-hit Americans

According to a national Gallup poll, the percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression has reached a record high at 29% (roughly 100 million Americans). That’s nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.

Women and young adults have experienced the greatest increases of depression, while black and Hispanic adults’ rate is rising at about twice the rate of white adults.

The highest rates of depression ever diagnosed by health care professionals were found among young adults (aged 18–24 years).

Therefore, it’s no surprise that nearly half of Americans (roughly 160 million of us) say their satisfaction with their personal lives is also at a record low, again according to a national Gallup poll:

The top cause of depression? “Stressful circumstances.” And chief among them is money worries, caused by inflation and our depressed economy.

An American Psychological Association study found that 72% of Americans feel stressed about money at least some of the time. The past four years of economic difficulties mean that even more of us are now facing financial struggles and hardship.

The federal government is deceitfully cheering their own half a percentage point interest rate cut last week – the first in four years, overlooking the fact they’ve raised it over 10 times (from 0% to 5%) since President Biden has been in office. And we’re supposed to be thrilled over a half-point cut?! (Is it also a coincidence that they cut it when we were only 48-plus days away from a presidential election?)

Forbes explained, “It’s easy to forget that the Fed was holding the federal funds rate at around zero as recently as the first quarter of 2022. The Fed was also still buying billions of dollars of bonds every month to stimulate the economy. All despite 40-year highs in various measures of U.S. inflation.”

That’s the bad news.

So, here’s some good news!

For over 20 years, my wife, Gena, and I have learned lots of lessons by running our Lone Wolf Ranch. Many of these principles apply to life itself.

I bet your life and experience have taught you many of the same lessons.

Whether you’ve struggled or have been depressed a lot or a little lately, I thought you might be encouraged and empowered by my reflecting and sharing on what I call my “7 Life Lessons from a Texas Rancher & Ranger.”

Ready? Here we go! …

1. Worries and anxiety will haunt you “until the cows come home.” Let go and let God.

If you’ve ever waited for cattle to come in from the range by themselves, odds are you’ve worried or stressed if they ever will.

They remind me of our worries and stressors that are scattered out in the fields of life, and we wonder if they’ll ever disappear.

I bet you’ve had your share of worry and heartache, right?

Every time Gena and I watch a sunrise or sunset on the ranch while sipping a hot cup of coffee, we think, “Why do we worry about the things we often can’t change?”

Troubles come and troubles go, but we don’t need to focus on them when there is so much right and good going on in our lives and even the world every minute.

Where’s our focus and hope? In our supply or the divine Supplier who has promised to provide?

You might say, “That’s easy for you to say. You’re Chuck Norris.”

However, we’ve had family struggles just like you and annual bills for our Kickstart Kids Foundation that helps thousands of middle-school students across Texas, and we’ve felt stress just like you many years to meet those challenges.

No matter what our individual needs are, we all have to learn, often the hard way: Let go and let God help you with your worries and burdens.

One of my favorite books in the Bible, the Psalms, tells us: “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you.

2. Remember, it’s relationships that matter most.

I learned the hard way in my younger life: Success depends far more on relationships than spreadsheets.

It’s a life lesson I’ve repeatedly learned on our ranch.

Outside of the Lord, my favorite companions have four legs and two.

I’m speaking about our ranch dogs, horses and, most of all, my family and friends.

There’s nothing better than spending time with all of them on our Lone Wolf Ranch.

But my absolute favorite moments are taking daily walks on our ranch with Gena.

Former President Ronald Reagan once said about his favorite person and place – his ranch in California: “I’m crazy about the girl who goes to the ranch with me!”

I totally agree with Reagan.

God’s greatest gifts to us come in the form of our relationships.

Don’t take one for granted, with two legs or four.

3. Even if you’re not home on the range, daily commit to eating well and staying fit, which will also give you brain power.

No getting around it: We are what we eat. And what we eat affects our moods, minds and mental health.

So, fight hard every day to eat well, whether you like cooking or not.

To be honest: I’m not home on the oven range.

Fortunately, Gena does most of the meal preparations in our home – she’s amazing!

Committing to daily eating and living well is exactly what prompted Gena and me to partner with my Roundhouse Provisions team in creating the best and most delicious products and health supplements. If you’re looking for more energy, a better attitude or even some weight loss, check out the Roundhouse Provision products here. We even used top veterinarian nutritionists to create a line of delicious USA-made power dog food!

As sisters Bessie and Sadie Delany recommended before they died (Bessie at 104 and Sadie at 109): “God gave you only one body, so you better be nice to it. Exercise, because if you don’t, by the time you’re our age, you’ll be pushing up daisies.”

4. Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway.

I didn’t create that saying. It is a quote from my hero, John Wayne.

Life can throw at us lots of very tough situations and obstacles.

Facing our fears are essential steps for our continued growth.

Life on the ranch has repeatedly reminded me of the truth of Wayne’s wisdom: “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway!”

5. Sometimes you follow wagon tracks, and sometimes you create new trails.

Much of life is a repetition, but watch out not to turn repetition into a rut.

It’s been said: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.”

There’s wisdom in following the advice of others.

But sometimes we just need to set out and venture where few have been.

Continue to challenge yourself with something new – by creating your own trails.

There’s nothing like exploring new wide-open spaces, towering peaks and big horizons!

6. If you’re riding ahead of the herd, look back every once in a while to make sure it’s still following you.

Someone once said, “If you think you’re leading others and you look back and no one’s following, you’re just out taking a walk.”

Leadership is influence, and we all can influence and encourage others, whether our four-legged friends, family members or others.

The proof of leadership is if others are following. So, don’t forget to look behind you for the herd.

George Bernard Shaw passed along some great wisdom here: “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.”

7. There’s no success without a lot of sweat and hard work.

It’s so true: the only place success comes before hard work is in the dictionary.

No one (and I mean no one) owns an active ranch who doesn’t work very hard at it.

If you’ve been successful, odds are it didn’t come because you were born with a silver spoon either.

The hard work we hated as kids made us who we are today, right?

It’s still true: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Grit and perseverance still win the gold!

Two things that young people today can definitely learn from older generations: the power of perseverance (weathering pain and difficulty), and the ability to find true happiness and contentment outside of a quick and temporary fix.

I encourage more older adults (including of course parents, guardians and grandparents) to invest more time in the near future to encourage these character traits in their younger family members.

If a lack of happiness is bringing you or a loved one down, then I highly encourage you read the bestselling book, “Happiness,” by my friend and prolific author Randy Alcorn (it’s available right now at half off through his website).

“Happiness” is one ginormous resource to discover yours and others’ true happiness, and regain health and balance in our hearts, minds, souls, households, communities and nation.

I also encourage people to listen to Randy’s Happiness audio and video messages and check out the resources on his Happiness blog, where his series of Happiness articles are available free of charge. Start with this great Lifeway interview with Randy about the subject of happiness.

Randy couldn’t have put it better when he addressed how we are hardwired for happiness but with one serious flaw: “I argue in the book the problem isn’t they’re trying to be happy. God wired us to seek happiness. The problem is we seek happiness in the wrong places.”

In so doing, we simultaneously overlook or forget the true source of happiness: our Creator.

That is also why Randy quoted in his book from Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), an early migrant to America, captain of the militia and well-loved pastor, who explained 400 years ago an age-old truth: “Nothing can make that man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, nor nothing can make that man truly happy that [lacks] God for his portion. God is the author of all true happiness; he is the donor of all true happiness; he is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of all true happiness. … He that hath him for his God, for his portion, is the only happy man in the world.”

The Bible describes it this way: “God, You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with happiness in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

America’s founders understood that spiritual fact. That is why they stated it among our unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence: We are “endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”