Mental Illness....look for the positive not the negative!

Being someone who has experience with depression and anxiety, I have found many tools and techniques to help better my life. Today I want to talk about something I did that helped me with treating and understanding my sickness. Hopefully this will help some of you. 

When I was in my darkest times I found myself always looking up on the internet depression symptoms, anxiety descriptions, mental illness facts, which would lead me into negative thoughts and feelings. I would end up reading peoples stories on the internet about their struggles and how they were negatively affected. I found myself worrying I was going to turn into these people and started to relate myself to everything negative I read. I was unaware I was feeding my depression/anxiety with this research. I was told by a friend to stop using the internet to research my sickness unless I only search for the positive. Great advice!

I started going on to YouTube and I found success stories about people just like me. I found videos of everyday average Joes who live with mental illness and their techniques they use to better themselves. Instead of just looking up depression treatments on Google I looked up people who have survived and read their stories. When you look up depression/anxiety treatments on Google you will find the following:

-Exercise

-Meditation

-Therapy

-Medication

-Diet etc......

The above are all true, but reading those words did not help me. Hearing peoples success stories of their personal struggles helped me. Hearing how they used that list of words to help themselves motivated me to help myself. Seeing peoples enthusiasm when they have found what works for them is so encouraging.

So my unprofessional advice to you is go on YouTube or Google or any other search engine and instead of looking up depression symptoms or anxiety statistics etc. Look up depression success stories on you tube, or celebrities who have beat mental illness articles or look up anything with a positive spin on it. When researching about mental illness be sure you do not get sucked into the negative always look for the positive.  

This tip can help you find a little freedom x

What to do what to do what do...

Well I have overcome a big obstacle being my job. My job i loathed  it was draining and occupied most of my days. I didn't have a chance to do my passions, I didn't even know what my passions were at the time. I had no clue what I liked. Since quitting my job I have really got into reading. I love a good book. If i find a book i like i can easily plow through it in 4 days. I like writing and I'm kinda good at it. I learned to crochet and have made a couple scarves and a blanket. I was also able to get back into volunteering at a animal shelter with the extra time I've had.

Now if i was rolling in the doe and didn't need an income I would be able to live this relaxed lifestyle. But unfortunately like the majority of the worlds population I need to work.

So now the question is "what to do?" and " How to do it?"

Education has become key in pursuing ones desired career path. But what if you went to school for the wrong field and didn't want to go back to school for 4 years in order to change your path. Can you become successful without the proper education? If your passion is strong enough can you make it? Adam Sandler did it, and he didn't even graduate high school. Is that because he had a deep passion and perused his dream or is it just luck?

There is so much pressure to be "successful" these days that sometimes you don't have  time to look into following your passion.  At age 18/19 you leave high school and are expected to know what you want to do with your life, so quickly you apply to school for a field you think you would like. You pay thousands an thousands of dollars for 4 yrs of schooling and its so busy with essays,tests, exams that you don't have a chance to second guess. After the 4 yrs you are in extreme debt finished school in a field your not sure about but go with because its what you put your time into. Then a couple years later you realize you finally find your passions and what you truly love doing but it seems too late.

This world sometimes spins so fast you don't have time to stop and think. But if you didn't have time to stop and purse what you really want how would you do it? Well that's what I am in the middle of doing. I gave up a great paying successful job because it not longer served me. I put the my world on hold and I'm taking a step back to try and find a path I'm more fond of. Whether its socially acceptable or not I'm doing it. It is a little scary and nerve racking but all i know is it wasn't working for me the other way by trying to keep up with the world so hopefully i find more peace and fulfillment this way. Now "all" I have to do is find out what I wan to do and how to get there. I wonder if I can go totally against the socially expected timeline of life and create my own success.

- Finding Freedom

One Possibility a Day..

 Open yourself to one possibility a day. It is so easy for us to close ourselves off from change and opportunities without even knowing it. We do this by getting stuck in our daily routines, being lazy and being afraid of the unknown. By being open to new possibilities  you can meet new people, find a new passion by mistake, learn a small life lesson or become a better person. By no means am I saying make a career change or go to school or move to another country..start small and it will make a big difference.

We all have our routines, our ways of going about our day, our likes and dislikes. I recommend you shake your day up with something small and see what comes from it. When I say “something small” I am serious; being open to something small can bring something great into your life. For example I never drank water. I would have a coffee or tea during the day and maybe a couple sips of juice. I never thought anything of it, it’s just what I did. Friends would tell me “you need to drink water”  and I never cared to because I felt fine and never had the thirst for water. One day I decided I would drink two glasses of water a day just for the heck of it and see what happened. Well I now drink 4-5 glasses a day and feel great. I have more energy, less headaches and I find I now crave water rather than forcing it down because it’s good for me. I opened myself to one small possibility and I gained a large benefit.

What if today you randomly decided to go to the library and take out a book ? or went to a different place for lunch, called up a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, went to a yoga class, start a blog, volunteered, bake, have a conversation with someone at work that you have never talked to before or in my case simply drink a glass of water. You may be thinking “are you kidding me? Those things won’t bring anything great into my life” but your wrong they bring, a new friend, a new healthy habit, a new interest, an new experience bad or good and at the very least a different day from all the other days you have had.

A tiny step to finding freedom.

You are your personal alarm system…

What is an alarm system?

 It is a set up your house or work has to bring awareness when trouble arises. It’s a scary thing when the alarm goes off. The loud startling sound brings panic and fear (which does not help the situation). As horrible as it seems when the alarm goes off remember it is a good thing. The alarm notifies you of danger, it makes you aware of something that can bring you harm. The best thing to do when the alarm goes off is acknowledge it. A lot of people just turn it off maybe check the house for a second then go back to bed or carry on with their busy lives. This can result in bad consequences.

We all have our personal alarm system. We all have different alarm systems; some have it more in their mind and some in their body and some in their soul.

When something bad is happening to you (which you may not even be aware is happening) something in you will trigger an alarm. This alarm can go off in any form, depends on who you are. It can be in the form of back pain, anxiety or bursting out in tears and not knowing why. The alarm goes off to bring you awareness to something that is not right and you need to pay attention.

If you have back pain maybe it means you are stressed. If you have anxiety maybe it means you are in a situation you don’t enjoy, if you cry maybe it’s a sign that you just need to simply release some emotion. Like I said before, alarms are unpleasant. So we quickly want to run and turn them off with Advil, antidepressants or any medication, or we ignore it by staying occupied and putting on a strong face even though an alarm is ringing loudly in our ears.

Be appreciative of this protective system we have. The alarm going off does not mean it’s the end of the world or that you are screwed and have to endure this horrible pain. It means wake up and do something about it! Attend to it! There is something in your life that isn’t right or that needs attention.

One of my alarms expresses itself in the form of a little back pain. I would always take Advil which masked it. But I realized it was my body saying “hey you are dehydrated, drink more water and stop carrying your stress in your shoulders” when I am stressed I raise my shoulders and after a while it gets tight.

Another alarm expresses itself in the form of worry and anxiety. But really it was my mind and soul saying “you are no longer happy in your current situation” . This is true I was working a job my heart was no longer in and it would cause me stress and anxiety.

I am now tending to these alarms by drinking more water and lowering my shoulder for my back. I moved on from my job to find something more fulfilling for my own happiness.

Listen to yourself be aware and take action. It is not always a quick fix and may be something that you will have to attend to for a long period of time but you will be better because of it. Don’t not fight against the alarm but tend to it.

Take care of yourself xo

What do you want??

Over the past while I have and still am discovering who I am and what I truly want for myself.

People think they know what they want but if you actually listen to what they are saying most of them are repeating one another. They (I am guilty of this as well) say what has been ingrained into their minds by parents, groups of friends, media, culture and religion ect. And many people find it always a struggle or fight to obtain these things "we want". Maybe the struggle is because it is not truly what you desire but you have been trained to believe it is what you want so you continue to struggle and for an image you don't even truly care for.

Nobodies true desire and being is better than another.  If you are an outdoorsy person who loves animals and wants to travel on pennies made from bartending, then do it and love it and appreciate it and don't be ashamed. If you are a person who takes 2 hours to get ready in the morning goes to a corporate job and likes to shop on their days off then do it and don't be ashamed, be proud. Or you can be someone who loves to dress up and go out on the weekends,  loves hiking and being outdoors but while always wearing makeup, then do it proudly. The point I am trying to get to is be who you are and do what you enjoy. Following the social norm will not make you happy and will always be a struggle. There is no right or wrong way to be, or better or worse way to be just listen to what you truly want to be and who you truly are and follow it and you will be happy and grow. The process and path you follow will also be a smooth positive path rather than a fight and struggle.

Listen to your true self for only your true self knows what will make you happy.

Find Your Freedoms...

What helps you release? What calms you and makes you feel whole? What brings you awareness? What action/practice helps free your soul? This blog is a place where I will share how I free myself as well as provide tips to what can be done to help yourself feel lighter. 

Listen to your mind, body and soul.