Hi,<\/p>\n
I was thinking about hope today. But not in the usual way. I was thinking about how hope can<\/p>\n
be a bad thing. See, I\u2019ll compare it to the lottery.<\/p>\n
There are some people, well, all they do is spend their money on the lottery, hoping to get rich and be able to quit their jobs and have an easy life.<\/p>\n
Those people don\u2019t try very hard at work \u2013 some of them aren\u2019t even able to hold down a job very long, because of their attitude, thinking that they\u2019re not going to be there long because they\u2019re going to be rich this week, just you wait and see, this week is the week they\u2019ll win the lottery! See what I\u2019m getting at? And that\u2019s how they live their lives. On hope. From day to day. But it\u2019s not a good hope. It\u2019s not a realistic hope.<\/p>\n
This \u201chope thinking\u201d person will sit back and almost be (or might actually be) lazy, just waiting<\/p>\n
for luck to find him, so he doesn\u2019t think he has to do anything in order to get ahead and be successful at anything. He won\u2019t take responsibility for anything. He might even act like the world owes him a living! Or if he\u2019s got bipolar disorder, he\u2019ll act like HE\u2019S the victim! Have you ever known anyone like that (or maybe your loved one is even like that)?<\/p>\n
And there he sits, day after day, buying his lottery tickets, hoping to \u201cwin\u201d his way out of poverty.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s take this same man who, ok, maybe he\u2019s not rich, maybe his job isn\u2019t the greatest job in the world, but it\u2019s enough to put food on the table, and it makes him feel good about himself because he\u2019s being productive. Sure, he\u2019d love it if he won a million dollars (we all would).<\/p>\n
But he doesn\u2019t sit at home waiting for it to come to him. He works hard for the money he makes, and in his small world of influence, he is considered a success. No, he\u2019s not a millionaire, but he\u2019s got a fairly decent life. He pays his bills, has a wonderful wife and family, a few friends, etc. And he\u2019s happy.<\/p>\n
Do you think the first guy, the one waiting around to win the lottery so he can be a millionaire and finally be rich is happy? Or do you think he is discontent, always wanting for something that just seems to elude his grasp?<\/p>\n
So what does this have to do with bipolar disorder?<\/p>\n
Well, first of all, we can talk about how to be proactive \u2013 you can\u2019t just sit around waiting for help to come to you \u2013 you have to get out there and do some things for yourself. You can\u2019t just sit at home waiting to be a millionaire by buying lottery tickets, either. But you can still hold down a job outside the home, or work from home, start a home based business, etc. Bipolar disorder does NOT have to stop anyone from caring for their family. It\u2019s up to you.<\/p>\n
And this concept can go for more than just money, or work, or financial things. Like, you can sit back and \u201chope\u201d that your loved one\u2019s bipolar disorder will magically go away by itself, or you can be proactive and see what you can do to help your loved one manage their disorder better.<\/p>\n
You can \u201chope\u201d to be a better supporter, or you can be proactive and learn how to be a better supporter. You can either \u201chope\u201d for things to get better, or you can actively do things to make them better.<\/p>\n
The best thing is to be realistic. For both you and your loved one to work together proactively to help them get better with their bipolar disorder and handle things as they come up, solving problems as they happen.<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
I was thinking about hope today. But not in the usual way. I was thinking about how hope can<\/p>\n
be a bad thing. See, I\u2019ll compare it to the lottery.<\/p>\n
There are some people, well, all they do is spend their money on the lottery, hoping to get rich and be able to quit their jobs and have an easy life.<\/p>\n
Those people don\u2019t try very hard at work \u2013 some of them aren\u2019t even able to hold down a job very long,<\/p>\n