Mind Blown

 

This is a long post, but I felt it was pretty important to address all these statements at one time. As usual, I have no idea where I picked them up in my travels across the web…but they really made me think.

 

The fact that you are high functioning doesn't mean that your illness is easier for you to deal with, it means it's easier for OTHERS to deal with. I’ve surprised a lot of people with some of my posts about my life during childhood and young adulthood. It took me many years to be able to talk about it.

 

You do not have to attend every argument you are invited to. I have always disliked confrontations and arguments. I always preferred to remain silent. If it’s an issue I am truly adamant about, like protecting the life of the unborn, I will engage. Otherwise, I will back away. If it makes the other person think they’ve won, so be it.

 

The brain isn't designed to keep us happy. It's designed to keep us alive. I love this one! No one is happy all the time, but they can achieve contentment. Big difference! I try to cling to St. Paul’s statement in Philippians 4:11-13.

 

Your internal monologue isn’t always reliable. Boy howdy on this one! I can have HUGE conversations with myself where I go back and forth in an endless loop and neither side wins! Positive thinking and positive self-talk is a good idea, but you can get caught up in that endless loop.

 

 

No one sees the version of you that you see of yourself. This kind of goes along with the statement above. Not much more to add to that, except that it helps to focus on something other than yourself.

 

You're the only constant you’re going to have in your life. This one I take exception with. I was raised with knowledge that I was NOT alone. I had Jesus Christ with me ALWAYS. He is the perfect constant. Obviously, having consistent love from friends and family is very important, but they can’t be with you 24/7. Jesus can! And is!

 

Be a friend to yourself. You wouldn’t say any of the negative things to your friends that you say to yourself. This one smacked me between the eyes. I have always had the tendency to judge myself harshly. Over and over. Part of it came from things said to me when I was young and in school. And I believed those things and reinforced them in my mind.

 

Progress, not perfection. Yes! I am absolutely NOT perfect. But I have progressed SO much farther than I ever thought I could in my younger days.

 

That my mental illness isn’t my fault, but it is my responsibility. The first part of this statement is true and should be reinforced. Completely. The second part depends on the age of the person and the nature of the mental illness. A child can’t take complete responsibility, but can be taught and encouraged on how to deal with it. Filling someone with antidepressants won’t help if it’s not accompanied by some kind of therapy. And hold that person responsible for their subsequent behavior as much as possible. It’s a tricky illness and everyone is different.

 

You can watch people on their rollercoaster, you don’t have to ride it with them. This SO applies to me! I can get very emotionally involved with someone who is struggling. I know what it is to struggle and if it’s someone I’m close to and love, I’m ready to climb on that rollercoaster myself. Empathy and sympathy is a good thing, but it won’t help someone else if you’re standing there sobbing into the Kleenex yourself.

 

You can’t love others if you can’t love yourself. ABSOLUTE BS!! I know this platitude is 100% false. Yes, you should have a healthy self-esteem, but it’s not a requirement in order to love others. For so many years I hated everything about myself. BUT…I had no problem loving and being fiercely loyal to friends and family. I still can’t say that I love myself, but I can say we’re pretty good friends…