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A CONDITION TO LIVE
WITH
(Bipolar Disorder)
Denial is the first and worst symptom.
Your doctor gives you the
news.. you have a chronic disease. How do you react? Your heart catches. Air rushes out of your lungs. Your fists and throat
tighten with emotion. But your mind makes all the noise. It silently insists, "no! You must be mistaken... sure I feel
lousy, but it couldn't be that" You have entered the first - and perhaps most dangerous -stage of your chronic disease: Denial.
You refuse to admit this disease
is now a part of your life. This is a natural reaction - no one wants an incurable illness. It's difficult to believe
that no pill, no operation, and no amount of time will banish it. But you may be able to control this disease with your doctor's help, calm its symptoms
and get on with your life - unless you flounder in denial. What's so dangerous about denial? When you deny the disease, your self-care becomes erratic.
You block the road to feeling better, you shut out your doctor, and your health deteriorates. You settle for a life of illness.
"You have a
choice," says Nancy Sanders. "You can choose to control the disease, or you can let it control you. Either you can
learn to cope or you can
feel hopeless, guilty and crippled."
As for fear, Ms. Sanders believes it is crippling. "Knowledge erases
fear," she says. "To move ahead you need to raise your expectations of what you can do...never accept mediocrity."
• Learn as much as you can
about the disease. • Consider counseling.
• Meet with other people who have your
chronic disease. • Laughter is always
good medicine. • Don't
depend on your doctor to drag you out of denial. He'll try, of course, but denial is a personal enemy you have to meet
yourself. Condensed from Family
Health Update/
Advice for those who are bipolar:
1. Don't muddle over negatives. Try and keep yourself
busy. Get up and find a distraction.
2. Remain open to feedback from loved ones who may recognize early symptoms of an
episode before you do. Use their reactions and comments to give you clues if you are heading down or slipping into mania.
Pay attention to them. When you begin to head down, call them and ask for support.
3. Don't isolate yourself when
you begin the downward spiral. Force yourself to be around others.
4. Try your best to get the right balance of sleep
-- not too little and not too much.
5. Use what medications help you as people are different and react differently to
the same medications. Be careful with using over the counter drugs and make sure they are OK to take with your medication.
6. Keep on a daily schedule of exercise and rest, keeping your life as predictable and stress-free as possible.
7.
Find a support group that is positive, encouraging, understanding, and supplies the needed tools for coping.
8.
Be open and honest. Use the support of fellow Christians and depend on prayer -- their's and your's.
The Key
to Happiness
By Dot Holladay
The key
to happiness is so simple. It comes through having the right attitude toward life. Solomon said, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov.23:7). The Christian should
be the happiest person on earth because he has forgiveness of sins and the Word of God to guide his thinking. No one “finds”
happiness. Happiness is not to be found in another person, place or thing. We do not experience happiness because of what we get. We experience happiness because
of how we live each moment. True happiness comes from within. One must be happy with oneself before he can achieve true inner
self respect. The state of being happy is an acquired skill, a thinking process. So, how can we achieve
happiness? Think on these things:
1.
Replace covetousness with contentment (Phil. 4:6-7). “Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Are you consumed with what someone else has or does instead of being happy with what you have, thanking God for His
blessings?
2. Count
blessings rather than burdens. What do you think about all day? Do you go through the day remembering
things that have brought you joy? Your mind, if you are not careful, will play tricks on you and you will find that unhappy
thoughts crowd out the good thoughts. We all have unpleasant experiences; but we must not let our minds dwell on them. Remember
Jesus said, “Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and
I will give you rest.” (Matt.11:28). James 5:11 tells us those who endure under hardships
and adversities will be blessed.
3. Let
go of selfishness. Webster’s Dictionary: “Concerned excessively with oneself; seeking
or concentrating on one’s own advantage, well being without regard for others, etc.” Phil. 2:3-4: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest
of others.” Giving of ourselves is something we must learn; but don’t you come
away feeling better after you have ministered to the elderly or the sick? Once we begin to practice
such things, we begin to see what is really worth while in this life.
4. Let
go of self-seeking. Do you go through each day searching for something to fulfill your needs and desires?
We will be unhappy and miserable until we realize that trusting in God is the answer to our need for peace. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
5. Let
go of anger. Free yourself from the emotions that harbor anger. Someone once said,
“Anger is the acid that destroys the container.” The person anger hurts the most is the one who cannot let go
of it. To neutralize anger, one must make a choice to control it and to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind
to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32). ”But now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8).
Happiness is an attitude, not a condition.
It’s cleaning the house or organizing your closet while listening to music. It’s your family assembled at the
dinner table. Happiness is in the present not in the distant promise of a “someday when.” Are you one who says,
“If I had a house, a new car, etc., then I would be happy?” Don’t fool yourself and waste your life waiting
on “someday.” The apostle Paul said he had “... learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11).
So many times we accomplish things we think
we want and upon doing it we realize it has not made us happy. Having experienced cancer myself, I want to share with you
something Chris Cowley has written in “The Sandra J. Bryant Bosom Buddies Newsletter” which she publishes for
those who have had cancer:
TODAY Today
I smiled, and all at once
Everything didn’t appear so bad.
Today I shared with others
The love and hope I had.
Today I sang a joyful song
And felt my heart grow light.
Today I loved a little more freely
And complained a little less.
In the giving of myself
I found peace and happiness.
The attitude of happiness is developed by
consciously experiencing where you are, what you are doing, and how you re feeling. It is living in the present. It is paying
attention and perceiving that which normally goes unnoticed. Another cancer survivor, wrote the following:
TODAY Outside
my window, a new day I see,
And
only I can determine what kind it will be.
It can be busy and sunny, laughing and gay,
Or boring and cold, unhappy and gray.
My own state of mind is the determining key,
For I’m the only person I let myself be.
I can be thoughtful and do all to help,
Or be selfish and think of just myself.
I can enjoy what I do, make it seem fun,
Or gripe and complain and make it hard on someone.
I can be patient with those who may not understand,
Or belittle and hurt them as much as I can.
But I have faith in myself, and believe what I say
And personally intend to make the best of each day.
1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3.
Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time
schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6.
Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more.
(Although one is often not
enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9.
Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns .. If a situation is a concern, find out what
God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
12.
Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key
in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This
single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve
your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's
time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite
scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you
Jesus '
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself
at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind
people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34.
Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 Every night
before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING
THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.
'If God is for us, who can be against us?'
(Romans 8:31)
author unknown
thanks to Susan Grant
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