Mental Health Recovery is hard work.

In 2016, I became a published author for the Canadian Mental Health Association. There was much excitement while the book was being released, and published. The book is a compilation of stories from real people, who have been touched by mental health in some way. I remember reading the book for the first time, which included my story "Created for Joy." I remember trembling at the intensity of the stories, and felt a little overwhelmed and grateful to be a part of project like this. The book is called "Hearts Linked by Courage" the second in a series of books, published by IC Publishing in Canada. The author is the Canadian Mental Health Association in York and South Simcoe.

Since the publication of the book, I realised I had a lot more to learn, (and I am still learning) that recovery takes a lot of work. With a diagnoses like mine, not only do I need to take meds for the rest of my life, but what I have been finding really difficult is dealing with the stigma that comes with such a diagnoses. People that are on the front lines, are not only fighting their own stigma, but the challenges that society and even family can have on a persons recovery. I am working with some great people right now at my local branch of the CMHA, and I cannot imagine the stress that comes with this kind of work. One word comes to my mind right now, and that is perseverance.

Not only does it take perseverance just to get out of the bed in the morning and start your day, but interacting with your goals and your dreams takes great courage. The more I have been learning about why I do the things I do, the more insight I get into my illness. Recovery is a real possibility, even when the stress of life starts to get to you. When I start trying to solve the worlds problems, without looking into my own heart, it can often create a sense of entitlement which in turn creates a huge obstacle in moving forward. When living with an illness, you really have to have a heart for others (even when you are suffering.) It takes sacrifice to see through the difficulties sometimes, but it is in those moments of clarity that some of the answers start to come!

It takes patience to deal with other people's problems without it affecting your pain or your health. No matter how many people have read my story, I have also found that there will be opposition to your message, and sometimes it comes from the most unexpected places. It is important during this time, to develop a support system. We all need people, and when the stuff hits the fan, looking back can help, but it is more important to look forward or even to the present moment. I always ask myself, what can I do now to be happy? If we wait untill tomorrow to take advantage of the opportunities that today offers us, we could end up lost. This is Mike.

Comments

Catholic Identity.

I was born into the Catholic Church and was baptized as an infant, I had my first communion and reconciliation as a child, and was confirmed as a teenager. Although I was never devout, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour when I was 21 through an evangelical Christian radio ministry, which in turn gave new life to my Catholic faith. Although I remained a Catholic, I identified as a born again Christian. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I learned the difference between the two denominations and what they taught about being born again. Regardless, there was a significant change in my life back then, which continues to this day. Being Catholic is much like an identity to me and I remember growing up under the papacy of St. Pope John Paul II. The culture I grew up in was largely affected by his papacy, and the way the culture viewed the church was significantly different from the way the current culture views it. Growing up, the pope didn’t try to be rele...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

Search This Blog