Hi,
I hope you’re doing well today.
Let me ask you a question.
Are you a willing person?
I bet you are, aren’t you?
Because you’ve been willing, all this time, to put up with your loved one’s bipolar disorder.
Now let me ask you something else.
Is your loved one a willing person?
I don’t mean strong-willed, because that’s something else. Many people with bipolar disorder are strong-willed people.
But is your loved one willing? That’s what I’m getting at.
Because if your loved one is willing, they might be willing to do this:
CHANGE.
Without the willingness to change, there is no hope for stability.
But with the willingness to change, there IS hope for stability.
And isn’t that what it’s all about?
Here’s how it goes:
Willingness leads to change.
Change leads to growth.
Growth leads to stability.
Now think about yourself.
Are you the same person you used to be?
No.
That’s because you’ve changed.
It’s because you “grew up.”
You matured.
Somewhere along the line, you changed the way you thought about things, and changed those patterns of thinking into new ones.
But has your loved one done that?
Perhaps not.
Perhaps they even resent you for doing it while they haven’t.
Maybe it has to do with you being positive, willing to change, while they’re still being negative, and unwilling to change.
In my courses/systems, I talk about how your attitude has so much to do with how you or your loved one progress in your recovery:
NEW
LEARN THE SECRETS OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WITH
BIPOLAR DISORDER?
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/bipolarmastersystem/
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
Have you changed enough to be willing to help your loved one to change as well?
Have you learned enough about bipolar disorder to know that change is very hard for someone with the disorder?
I know someone in a 12-step program, and they told her when she first got in the program, “The only thing you have to change is everything.”
Can you imagine being told that?
Well, that’s practically what your loved one was told when they were diagnosed, isn’t it?
They thought things were a certain way, and then they were told they have bipolar disorder. And with that diagnosis came some changes they would have to make.
What changes? Everything!
Their sleep patterns. Their exercise patterns. Their eating patterns.
Their daily routine. Probably their job.
The way they think. The way they feel. The way they deal with things (and other people).
The way they approach life, and especially stress and stressful situations.
That they have to take medications every day now.
That now they have to see a doctor, psychiatrist, and therapist on a regular basis, and report to them (now, that’s probably a REAL big change for them – they’re an adult, after all, and not used to reporting to anyone!).
Can you imagine all these changes at once? It must have been so overwhelming for your loved one.
Still, these changes must take place in order for them to reach stability.
And, in order for you to become a good supporter, you had to join in on many of these changes as well. And that may not have been very easy for you.
I know, because I had to do it, and I had to help my mom through it.
But change is necessary for growth.
And growth is necessary for stability.
And so I ask you:
Has your loved one been able to do it?
Have you been able to do it?
David Oliver is the author of the shocking guide “Bipolar Disorder—The REAL Silent Killer.” Click Here to get FREE Information sent via email on how and why bipolar disorder kills.