Hi,<\/p>\n
I once heard an old lady say: \u201cIf life gives you scraps, make a quilt!\u201d And I thought, \u201cWhat a great attitude!\u201d See, I believe the attitude you have determines how you\u2019ll be able to face what happens to you. Notice I didn\u2019t say that you have any control over what happens to you, because you don\u2019t. (Now, I\u2019m not going to get into any great long discussion on fate or anything, cuz that would just get me into trouble here, wouldn\u2019t it? LOL)<\/p>\n
But anyway\u2026Even though you can\u2019t control what happens to you, you do have control over how you react to what happens to you. Which is really important when it comes to bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
In other words\u2026You can\u2019t change the fact that your loved one has bipolar disorder. But you can change your reaction to it. You can\u2019t change their behavior that they exhibit sometimes because of their bipolar disorder. But you can change your reaction to it. See what I\u2019m talking about?<\/p>\n
There are some supporters who just plain \u201cfold\u201d at their loved one\u2019s diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Do you know what I mean? They just give up. That\u2019s their reaction. But you can\u2019t do that. You have to get in the fight. And you have to believe that you can win. And the fight isn\u2019t against your loved one (even though it can seem that way sometimes). The fight is against their bipolar disorder. And that\u2019s a fight that the two of you have to fight together if you\u2019re going to win. So that\u2019s the attitude that you have to have in this case. A winner\u2019s attitude. A fighter\u2019s attitude. A survivor\u2019s attitude. A positive attitude. You just can\u2019t afford to have a negative or defeatist attitude at all. Otherwise the bipolar disorder will win\u2026And you don\u2019t want that. You want your loved one to recover\u2026And the best way to do that is for you to keep a positive attitude about it. In spite of their sometimes bizarre and unpredictable behavior, or even crazy behavior that you don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
You just can\u2019t let their behavior get to you, or get the best of you. Because if you do\u2026It will make you crazy. It will make you angry. It will turn you against your loved one. It will make you hate your loved one. It will stress you out. It will even make you depressed. But you can fight it with a positive attitude. Remember that your loved one\u2019s behavior is only a part of their bipolar disorder (and not them), and that you will win over it in the long run! Tell yourself that this behavior will NOT go on forever!<\/p>\n
Well, I have to go!<\/p>\n
Your Friend,<\/p>\n
Dave<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi,<\/p>\n
I once heard an old lady say: \u201cIf life gives you scraps, make a quilt!\u201d And I thought, \u201cWhat a great attitude!\u201d See, I believe the attitude you have determines how you\u2019ll be able to face what happens to you. Notice I didn\u2019t say that you have any control over what happens to you, because you don\u2019t. (Now, I\u2019m not going to get into any great long discussion on fate or anything,<\/p>\n