Hi, how\u2019s it going? Hope you are doing well.<\/p>\n
The other day I was on my way to a very important meeting. I gave myself plenty of time to get there, just in case something happened like traffic, or anything else I couldn\u2019t predict. It ended up being a good thing I did that.<\/p>\n
It ended up I had forgotten I had very little gas in the car. When I got to the gas station, there was a line of cars waiting to get gas. I ended up having to wait 10 minutes before I even got up to the gas pump! I would have been something like 20 minutes late if I hadn\u2019t planned for the unexpected.<\/p>\n
And this was a meeting I could not afford to be late to. So it\u2019s a good thing that I thought ahead.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the thing about planning. You can\u2019t plan for everything, because you never know what is going to happen. But if you make room in your plans for the unexpected, then you can handle it when something unexpected happens.<\/p>\n
That means you can\u2019t procrastinate on the things that need to get done. If you procrastinate, and you are at the last minute scrambling to get it done, and then something else comes up that needs your immediate attention, you end up having to choose between the two. And especially if that other thing is an emergency, it can really mess up your plans. So it is better to get things done ahead of time, so that if the unexpected should happen, you can handle it.<\/p>\n
It also means allowing yourself extra time to do something, like what I did with the meeting. This may mean leaving early to get somewhere. It also may mean keeping a calendar to keep track of when everything is due or when events are happening. If you can see on a monthly calendar all of your upcoming events, then you can figure out which of them needs to be dealt with in what order. I would suggest using a monthly calendar for this, as you can see more dates at a time that way.<\/p>\n
So what does this have to do with being a bipolar supporter? Well\u2026<\/p>\n
Imagine this scenario. You have a list of things that need to get done over the next week. Everything on your list is very important and can\u2019t wait an extra minute. But you have waited until the last minute to start working on them.<\/p>\n
Your loved one has been depressed lately, and all of a sudden you realize that they\u2019re suicidal. That is something that needs to be taken care of immediately, regardless of how important those other tasks might have been.<\/p>\n
Now, you may feel like asking \u201cwhy did they choose now?\u201d But the thing is, they didn\u2019t choose it. You, on the other hand, did choose to wait until the last minute to get those other things done. See what I\u2019m getting at?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a less extreme example. You\u2019ve got that task list to do, the one that you\u2019ve procrastinated on. Your loved one ends up going into a manic episode and is likely to go on a spending spree or follow some \u201ccrazy\u201d idea if they are not watched closely. Do you stay home and take care of them, or do you ignore your duties as a supporter to get your list done?<\/p>\n
You shouldn\u2019t ever have to make this kind of decision. If you get the things you need to get done finished ahead of time, then hopefully you will never have to. You can\u2019t plan for everything, but you can make the most of your time and take certain precautions to make sure you have allowed for the unexpected.<\/p>\n
What things do you need to work on when it comes to this?<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi, how\u2019s it going? Hope you are doing well.<\/p>\n
The other day I was on my way to a very important meeting. I gave myself plenty of time to get there, just in case something happened like traffic, or anything else I couldn\u2019t predict. It ended up being a good thing I did that.<\/p>\n
It ended up I had forgotten I had very little gas in the car. When I got to the gas station,<\/p>\n