Hi,

You know, my brother and I couldn’t be any more different than we are. Not just physically, but I think psychologically, too. He looks at things negatively, while I choose to look at things positively. That’s why I think he couldn’t handle my mom’s bipolar disorder like I (eventually) could. I also think that’s why he has so many more problems than I do. It’s all in the way you look at things, I think.

Like one person may look at something as being impossible…While someone else might say, “The impossible just takes a little longer.” One person may look at something as a problem… While the other person looks at it as a challenge or an opportunity.

If you think about it, as the way I’m saying, you have the power of choice. You can choose the way you react to something. You can choose your attitude: You can choose to look at things in a negative way or in a positive way. It’s your choice. And your choice affects how you look at things. So let’s look at bipolar disorder. You can say, “My loved one suffers from bipolar disorder.” Or you can say, “My loved one is recovering from bipolar disorder.” Which do you think is the better way of looking at it? Do you see how even your choice of words reflects how you look at something?

If you look at a situation confronting you and call it a problem, that’s looking at it negatively. Especially if you don’t have good problem-solving skills. On the other hand, if you look at it as a challenge to overcome, you are looking at it in a more positive way. And chances are, you will conquer that challenge and even grow from it.

How does your loved one look at things? If they are negative about things, it can keep them sick. At its worst, a negative attitude can even cause them to go into a bipolar depressive episode.

Whereas, if they think positively, they can recover from bipolar disorder faster. They have to have an “I can do it” type of mentality to overcome the challenges of bipolar disorder, and so do you. You cannot defeat something that you don’t believe you can defeat. But you CAN defeat something if you have it in your mind that you can. Like the saying, “If you believe it, you can achieve it.” Do you see the difference? Because the difference is what will determine the outcome. It also has to do with effort. You need to put the right amount of effort into the task.

Your attitude also determines your effort. If you believe you can do it, you will put forth a great deal of effort to achieve it. But if you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t even try.

Well, I have to go!

Your Friend,

Dave