Taking it with a Grain of Salt with Bipolar

My mom used to have an expression that went, "Take everything with a grain of salt." When I was younger I didn't know what it meant, but as I grew, I also grew to understand its meaning, especially when it came to bipolar disorder.

Too many people take everything too seriously - too "black and white," with no gray areas, no room for flexibility. When applied to bipolar, those people are the ones who end up in episodes, because there is no room for flexibility in their thoughts or thought patterns - everything is just black or white.

When you take things with a grain of salt, you don't take them so seriously - every mistake is not a fatal mistake. You don't get so down on yourself all the time. So your self-esteem isn't crashed at the bottom of the ocean, like so many other people's who have bipolar (or even those who don't have it).

We have to lighten up once in awhile, especially because we have this serious disorder. We have to take it with a grain of salt, like my mom said, because otherwise it will overwhelm us.

There are times to be serious, to be sure, but there are other times to (dare I say it) be spontaneous! Be flexible! Have fun! Do something different! Yes, we can do that, too. And, I'll go a step further and say, we really need to, or else we can get so caught up in the fear that the fear itself will cause us to go into an episode! Do you see my logic?

Letting go and having fun once in awhile is NOT going to put us into a bipolar episode. And being spontaneous does NOT mean that we're manic! It means that we're normal, as a matter of fact.

If we don't inject some spontaneous fun into our lives, we run the risk of boredom and idleness overcoming us, leading to depression, which we all know can very possibly lead to a depressive episode.

So it is necessary to have fun, especially if you have bipolar disorder. Doctor's orders!

Don't forget to check out my new bipolar book at: www.brokenroseministries.com

Wishing you peace and stability,

Remember that God loves you and so do I,
Michele