Bipolar: Will it Make a Difference?

I'm not as bad as I used to be, really I'm not - I actually used to be worse about worrying about things and jumping to conclusions and letting things get me down. I had to find a way to get out from under all those things, because they were causing me to go into depressions, sometimes some real deep bipolar ones.

Bipolar disorder can be like that sometimes - take you places you don't want to go, like into the pits! You could be having a nice day, everything going along like it should, then WHAM! You get some bad news, and the next thing you know, you're crying and depressed.

I had that happen to me this week, and it took me by surprise, because I've been stable for so long! My mistake was that I let myself get complacent. I haven't been depressed in so long, so I figured it was, like, out of my system or something - that I can deal with things now.

Well, a lot of things have been happening to people close to me, and one day they all hit me at once. I made the mistake of taking them on myself, and they overwhelmed me.

I did what I'm always telling you NOT to do - I tell you NOT to take other people's problems on yourself. Well, for awhile there, I broke my own rule, and I stewed in other people's problems, which of course made me depressed. Not a bipolar episode, just about a half hour of crying and depression.

Then I remembered one of my old tricks to get me out of my depressions: It's called the "Will it Make a Difference Trick." I ask myself, "Will it make a difference if you get depressed about this today?" "Will it make a difference if you are depressed about this tomorrow?" "Will it make a difference if you are depressed about this over the weekend?" "Will it make a difference if you are depressed about this next week?" etc. etc.

In other words, will my getting depressed about it make any difference at all? And in 100% of the cases, the answer has always been NO! So, like this time, after only a half hour, I dried my tears, gave it to God, and went about the rest of my day.

I can't afford to take on other people's problems. Which isn't to say I don't care (I do) - these are two different things. I do what I can to help them, and then I leave the rest alone. Dwelling on their problems will only make me depressed, and then I have another problem to deal with (my depression), which doesn't help matters at all.

What difference does it make if I get depressed over things I can do nothing about? Absolutely none. So I'm better off leaving them alone. In my case, I leave them to someone who is more capable of doing something about them than I am - God.

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

Wishing you peace and stability,

Remember God loves you and so do I,
Michele