Hi,
Have you ever heard the following expression: “Today is the tomorrow that you worried
about yesterday.” It’s sort of a humorous way to look at a serious subject. It’s about how you look at life. Like whether you’re one of those people who are always worrying from day to
day. Or if you project from one day to the next what might happen. And especially if you tend to think on the negative side of things. You need to be a positive thinker if you’re dealing with bipolar disorder, because it helps you cope with the disorder better.
It just helps to look at things in a positive way when you’re dealing with life in general, because so much of it can be negative. But you don’t have to worry all the time, that’s for sure. If you do, you’re just going to set yourself up for negative things to happen. Because you’re going to be looking for them. Enough bad things are going to happen in life all by themselves, you don’t have to help them along. To fight them, you have to think and act positively.
For example, when your loved one picks a fight with you, which can be a normal occurrence
when you’re dealing with the rage of a bipolar manic episode, you can either react in a negative
or a positive manner. If you react in a negative manner, it’s just going to prolong the fight. But if you react in a positive manner, it might just de-escalate your loved one’s behavior.
So what I’m talking about are things that may be inevitable, but that you can do something
about just by changing your attitude and outlook about them. If you go around expecting bad things to happen, they probably will. You’d be a sort of magnet that bad things will be attracted to. But it can work the opposite way, too. Like with people. Have you ever noticed that negative people seem to attract other negative people? But that positive people tend to attract other positive people? It is like a magnet sort of thing.
Think of it this way: Your positive attitude can help change a negative situation. Like the example I used of fighting with your loved one. When your loved one is negative, your being
positive can have that positive kind of influence on them. Who wants to fight with someone who won’t fight back?
Now, I never said that having a positive attitude in the face of a negative situation would be
easy. It isn’t. But it sure gets you further, and with a whole lot less stress. And, hopefully, eventually, it will turn things around for you. Hopefully, given time, your loved one will even
change. Hopefully, they will begin to be more like you. And hopefully, you will begin to experience more positive situations than negative ones. And, like I said, a lot less stress as a by-product as well. Positive people just seem to be healthier, too. Probably because they have less stress, they are physically healthier.
Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave