=>PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND LOVED ONES <= Hi, How’s it going? Bad day for me. I seriously have like 5 people with bipolar disorder
driving me insane on my list. They
email, call, email, call, email call. Each is
making things up that is beyond comprehension.

Even worse 30% of the time, some of them
are happy then mad. It alternates.

2 of them wanted to work for me? What
a strange thing.

What a week.

Sadly I see why so many people in this field
throw in the towel and go into other fields
with far less grief.

I also see why the turn over in organizations
that help those with these type of illnesses
is massive.

Anyway, I have to take off for a meeting.

Before I do, I wanted to talk about today’s
topic.

Here is a simple truth for you:

LIFE IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!

I’ve had hundreds of people who have
written or called me and they are so upset
and there is so much drama surrounding
them that you would think that to them,
life is an emergency! But as they go on
with their story, I see/hear that it is only
an emergency to them.

These people come to me for advice, but
they are so upset and so caught up in their
stories and what is going on in their lives
and their or their loved one’s bipolar disorder,
that they don’t even let me get a word in
edgewise.

Now, I’m just a third party, so of course,
whatever they’re telling me is not an
emergency for me. But even though they
wrote or called me for advice, they can’t get it,
because they won’t even stop long enough
to listen to me!

These people remind me of the Type A
personalities we hear of in business who
work 80 hours a week, who are so driven,
who have such high expectations, that if
they don’t meet that 80 hour work week,
that they have failed in some way. They
are always walking around like a chicken
with it’s head cut off, afraid that everything
won’t get done, because to them, everything
is an emergency!

I had a supporter who called me who was
like that. She was so upset over her inability
to be perfect that her doctor had prescribed
her anti-anxiety medicine. She was acting
(and feeling) like there was a gun pointed
at her head and the sniper was demanding
that everything she did as a supporter had
to be perfect – or else! Again, the silent
assumption was, this is an emergency!
The truth was, no one other than her had
created the pressure she was experiencing.

The truth is that:

LIFE IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!

In my courses/systems, I talk about and
teach ways to lower the stress in your
life, and that is a very important thing
to learn when you’re dealing with
bipolar disorder:

SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11

SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com

HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net

I’m not saying that some of us
have never done it, sometimes
we’ve jumped to conclusions
before getting all the facts, and
maybe overreacted, making an
emergency out of something that
wasn’t, but not all the time!

Sometimes we take our own goals
so seriously that we forget to have
fun along the way, and we forget
to cut ourselves some slack. We
take simple things and turn them
into conditions for our own
happiness. Or, we beat ourselves
up if we can’t meet our self-created
deadlines.

The first step in becoming a less
stressed person is to have the
humility to admit that, in most
cases, you’re creating your own
emergencies. Life will usually
go on if things don’t go according
to plan.

John Lennon said, “Life is what
happens when you’re making other
plans.” I’m sure he would have
agreed that life is NOT an emergency.

You need to cut yourself some
slack. Remember that your goal is
to stay relaxed, to not get too
worked up or concerned about how
you are doing. As long as you’re
trying your best to be a good
supporter, then that’s all that
matters. No one is a perfect
supporter all the time.

Practice what you’ve learned,
keep your strategies in mind,
and don’t worry about being perfect.
There will be many times when you
lose it, when you revert to being
uptight, frustrated, stressed, and
reactive – get used to it.
When you do, it’s ok. Life is a
process – just one thing after another.
When you lose it, just start again.
It doesn’t mean that it has to be
an emergency, though!

You just don’t have to make
little setbacks into large
emergencies – cut yourself
some slack. Look at your
mistakes as learning experiences,
not emergencies.

All that’s important is that you do
your best and that you are moving
in the right direction. Keep your
perspective, be the best supporter
you can be, and eventually your
loved one will respond to your
support and will be able to mange
their bipolar disorder.

This way, you can learn to live
with your own imperfection,
give yourself a break, stop
trying to be perfect, and
remember that:

LIFE IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!

Your Friend,

Dave

===>> Great Resources For You <=== Get Your Own Subscription To This Newsletter
Want your own copy of these daily bipolar
emails sent to you for F.ree? If so, visit:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/register3

Get More Help On Bipolar Disorder
Don’t forget to take a look through the
different programs I’ve put together… each
one is designed to help you with a different
area of bipolar disorder whether you have it or
you are supporting someone with it.
You can see them all and get the details by visiting:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/catalog.asp

View Past Daily Bipolar Emails For F.REE
Check out my F.ree blog with copies of emails
that I have sent in the past and lots of great
information for you:
http://www.bipolarcentral.com/supporterblog/

Get Audio Information On Bipolar Disorder For F.REE
Check out my F.ree podcast. Hear me give
mini seminars designed to teach you information
you can’t learn anywhere else.
http://bipolarcentral.libsyn.com