As I present to kids in classrooms about bipolar disorder and my personal story, I clamp my fingers together and form a type of grasp that displays, if I ever were to fall I would be caught.  In my wellness plan I have created wholeness in every area of my life down to the amount of water that I drink every day.  We often know the rules: eat well, exercise, and form to the perfect image of health.  Realistically, I cannot keep up and I am sure you find it difficult to do so as well.  It is so vital to ‘try’ and conform to your own sense of well-being, creating a personal foundation that works for you.  I have found that simple details such as going to bed at the same time every night is so vital and even things such as having a positive love relationship is key.  Having a supportive partner has not only helped me flourish as a person, but it often feels that my mental health has been bathed in a pool of passion filled with positivity and love. 

People ask me, “How do you stay well?”  I believe that my helpful crutch has been to maintain a solid attitude, not just positive, but an approach that emphasizes wellness, openness and most of all the ability to ‘go with the flow’.  No matter how trite, the ability to roll with the waves can spell your fate from a place of wellness or faltering with illness in a deep sea of hopelessness.  I don’t expect anything.  I don’t anticipate that I will be healthy tomorrow and I have learned to let go of the fear.  I used to be torn with the facade that I had a terminal illness; every crack in my knees spelt arthritis and certain headaches were surely leading to a brain amorism.  Am I afraid?  Sometimes, it is unnerving, not knowing what turn my illness will take, especially when it is out of my hands, but really that is what life is about.  It is unpredictable and we can never anticipate anything at the next instance.  We must as I said, ‘go with the flow’…