The Mystery of Mindfulness

6 / 20 / 196 / 19 / 19

Let’s talk about one of the biggest mental health buzzwords floating around right now: mindfulness. We all hear how we should be practicing mindfulness in our daily lives. It’s the key to staying content, being healthy, and living a long life. It will change your life!

Or so they say. I mean, how is eating an orange super slowly going to help me manage my illness?

Basically, mindfulness feels like some weird little thing therapists and friends throw around when we talk about our unending depression or inability to feel anything. Like somehow that orange is going to save me. What even is this mindfulness thing anyway?

How To Prevent Missed Moments – A Guide

6 / 13 / 196 / 12 / 19

I hear this one a lot lately: I’m scared of all the memories I’m missing out on because I’m sick. And honestly, I feel ya. I spent 3 1/2 years living in a separate state from my husband and daughter so I could go to college. That’s 3 and some years of missed moments, like preschool, kindergarten, plays, all sorts of firsts, and so on.

And now that my mental health has taken a turn for the worse, I’m living everyday with the fear that I’m missing out on even more.

So how do we prevent missing out on everything important even when we’re feeling at our worst?

It’s Not New Year’s But It’s A Smart Goals Resolution

4 / 4 / 194 / 5 / 19

Yeah, I’m leaving it a bit late for the whole New Year Resolution thing. After all, most people give up their resolutions by now, not start them. But, as of now, I’m making a decision to focus on making SMART goals for myself and this blog. What does that mean, you ask? Well, TONS of planning, for one… and a whole lot more.

But first, let’s look at what happened and how I’m going to fix it!

Gobble, Gobble…And with that, the holidays begin!

11 / 1 / 183 / 22 / 19

Well, Halloween is done and you and I both know we’ve crammed as much candy down as we could. After all, this begins the season of tasty treats. Next up: Thanksgiving! Oh, goodie… Crowds of people, hours of travel, days of cooking, and a week of cleaning that kitchen afterward. Actually, scratch that last one… I’m using paper plates.

All in all, there’s a lot to do this month and only a month to do it all in! Not going to panic, right?

But before we get too far, let’s take a second to reflect back on our goals for last month and start thinking about our goals for next month!

September Goals – That Went Fast!

10 / 2 / 183 / 22 / 19

September sure blasted by for me. Admittedly, there was a lot of chaos in this house. For one, I left my job…finally. It was a painful choice because I seriously loved working with everyone, but at the same time, it was clearly necessary. No one should be having panic attacks over going to work. For two, there’s a bit of transitioning going on in my house as far as relationships and what our future as a family might look like. Between those two things, well, I’ve been a bit absent. I apologize for that.

Plus side to me not working right now, though: I can crank up the heat when it comes to getting this blog going! To that end, I figured I should actually write out my goals post for the month. So, without further ado…

Let’s recap!

August Goals – Made It!

9 / 8 / 183 / 22 / 19

Well, August started strong and then kinda crept out the door when I wasn’t looking. So, I guess that means it’s time to look at my August goals and see just how I did! Let’s be honest, I started really strong, but the last two weeks have been a wash for me. There are totally reasons (which I’ll probably write about later), but the ultimate point is that I didn’t do quite as much I might have hoped for the end of August. Still, I did something. So! Let’s review!

July Goals – Good and Gone

7 / 31 / 183 / 22 / 19

Whoa, looks like July is done and gone! Which means, it’s time to review how we did on our goals. Hopefully you guys followed along and set yourself your own July goals. If you did, leave a comment below letting us know what your goal was and how you did.

And now: time to recap last month’s quest!

May Goals…Maybe Not?

6 / 28 / 183 / 25 / 19

Whoops! Remember that goal I set myself the beginning of May? I was going to get everything migrated to this new site, set up, and all that fun stuff by the end of the month, right?

Well, guess what…

I failed!

April Showers Bring May Goals?

5 / 7 / 183 / 22 / 19

Okay, it’s a weird title, but it gets the point across. I’m here to talk about goals. I’ve mentioned before on my review of Stuff That Sucks that ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) is one of my favorite therapies because it speaks to my heart. In it you learn to accept that things sometimes hurt, embrace it, be kind to it, and move on to pursue those things you value. It’s important to set yourself goals and go for them!

That said, I’m really not a master at it.

Is Distraction a Healthy Coping Method?

3 / 26 / 183 / 22 / 19

Let’s be honest here…life with mental illness is a full time job. Some days are not bad, some are even good, but some are completely horrendous. For myself, most days fall into the “not bad” category, where I can function and even have good moments, but they’re still colored by an underlying depression. The good days are a treasure. The bad days, though… The bad days can be really bad. On those days I lie in bed, watch TV, and pray it ends soon. On those days, it feels like the only way to keep going is by distracting myself, but that leaves me with a question. Is distraction a healthy way to cope, or am I making things worse?