Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Insert clever title here

Original date: August 12, 2012

It's definitely been an interesting past few weeks.  I've had time to blog but didn't. Nothing really to blog about except the total awesome fun I had visiting my brother on the west coast for two weeks! So now I sit to type, pour my heart out about something that I have never encountered before. You know how you see these mental illness campaigns that beat it into you to focus on the person and not the illness? I never had a problem with anyone focusing on anything other than me before. Until recently that is. And it was someone that is close to my heart. So it hurt even more to hear the words come from this person's mouth. To them, all they could see was my mental illness. And the negative traits that I possess because of my illness. I use the term mental illness and mental disability loosely in this entry, as I do in normal everyday life. I do not feel that I, nor others in any situation similar to me, have an illness nor do I feel that depression, anxiety, etc. are a disability. It is a minor inconvenience in my day to day life, that is all.

I am not my mental illness.
My mental illness is not me.
My positive characteristics outweigh any negative characteristics that I may have.
I am not a quitter; it just takes me longer to accomplish things than it might take you.
I focus on today: one day at a time, one thing at a time. This does not mean that I am unable to commit or that I cannot plan for the future.
I can only give you my best at any time. My best today might not be as good as yesterday but it's always my best.