Chapter four may have left you without a story. You looked at the events and impact of your depression-anxiety in chapters two and three, then let go of the destructive narratives that you used to explain them in chapter four. In chapter five you learned to mourn the presence of depression-anxiety without giving in to unhealthy wallowing.

To this point it is as if you found an old pocket watch on a walk through the woods. It was dirty and tarnished. You’ve disassembled its parts to clean and polish them. You appreciate its value enough to be sad for the person who lost it. Now we’re about to begin the process of putting it back together again.

Chapter six is intended to give you the right story out of which to live out the practical directives you’ll find in chapters seven and eight. Just like an athlete can train hard for revenge (one story line) or to reach his full potential (a different, healthy story line), we can strive for healthy emotions with several different narratives fueling / explaining our actions.

The reason we take the time for this step is not primarily about effectiveness; many athletes train very well when they are seeking revenge. Our goal in this chapter is to ensure that our pursuit of emotional heath is spiritually healthy.

In this chapter we will seek to answer six questions that often become distorted in our struggle with depression-anxiety. We will offer key points of clarification that are commonly helpful for re-orienting people’s struggle through anxiety-depression, but encourage you to take the time to write out your thoughts on what a healthy response to your experience of depression-anxiety would be.

1. Who Am I Now?
2. Who and Where Is God?
3. What Should I Expect from My Friends?
4. What Is Sin If This Is Suffering?
5. Is Hope Worth Disappointment?
6. What Am I Living For?

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