You may recall the 1966 film, "Born Free," based on the true story of Joy and George Adamson, who raised the orphaned lion cub Elsa to adulthood in the wilds of Kenya. In due course, the couple were given the choice of releasing Elsa back into the wild or sending her to a zoo. Elsa, of course, had no knowledge of the basics of surviving in the wild. The challenge in the movie was for Joy and George to teach her new skills. 

We have been focusing a lot on the topic of happiness, lately. Why? Because it turns out to be a skill set that is as vital for our species to survive in the wild as feeding and sheltering ourselves. The catch is we are not very good at it, particularly those of us prone to depression (which takes in just about all of us with bipolar). Psychiatry and its related disciplines are fairly good at taking depressed people such as ourselves and "undepressing" us. Then what?

The major thing I observed in my seven years with support groups were individuals on the cusp of recovery who could not push through that final barrier to lives they considered worth living. What was going on? Yes, a lot of these people were still depressed and also dealing with other issues, but they were hardly incapacitated. Moreover, to a person they were all compliant with their meds and therapies, were smart about spotting their emotional triggers, and did not outrageously violate commonsense lifestyle guidelines.

Yet it was as if they could not survive out in the wild. So here they were, living in their own version of the human zoo - caged in their confining present, unable to escape their past, and fearful of their future. What was going on?

I do not profess to have any answers, but Martin Seligman's 2002 book, "Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment," got me thinking. Perhaps we're paying attention to all the wrong things. We tend to put all our energy into digging ourselves out of the hole or not falling back in. But we are rarely focused on that distant mountain we need to climb. Mountain? What's a mountain?

I vividly recall 11-and-a-half years ago when I finally sought professional help for my depression. My only goal was to be "undepressed." Once undepressed, I thought, I could fend for myself. Wrong, I discovered. I lacked the basic instincts for life in the wild. Put me back in that concrete jungle and I would get eaten alive.

For one, like nearly all of you, I inherited a vulnerable brain, more sensitive to stress and overload than most of the rest of the population. So, even on a level playing field I was going to get leveled. Once I got smart about this, I slowly acquired new skills, such as mindfulness. A lot of the recovery literature - and my own writing - focuses on these skills.

Then what? We learn to survive. But what about thriving?

Last week's sharepost took a first look at Dr Seligman's "Authentic Happiness" and its fundamental principle that we need to be aiming for lasting gratification rather than fleeting pleasures. Gratification typically requires effort, such as cooking a meal from scratch (preferably for the benefit of others, as well) rather than simply popping something in the  microwave.