Mental

"Only I can change my life.  No one can do it for me."  ~Carol Burnett~     There are times in the lives of all people when a lack of motivation stops them in their tracks.  As a person ho struggles with mental illness, I find those times more frequently than I would like.      What is motivation?  A simplistic definition is a force that moves a person forward in the pursuit of their goals.  This force can be internal, like a driving need that will not be satisfied until the goal is reached.  Other times the force is external, like a crowd cheering a person forward to the common goal.  In life, most of us experience a combination of both internal and external motivation.  But what happens when motivation evades us?  How do we manage the lack of motivation that overtakes and envelops us?     Personally, I had a recent flood of creativity followed by a complete lack of motivation that l...

The image above says, " I have come so far. I have done so much to get where I am. Although I know I will have setbacks, I know I will have days where I absolutely fail. I will never give up.  I deserve health. I deserve happiness. I deserve a day with absolutely no pain.  We will get there.  On day we will find a cure."  Many people live with invisible and chronic illnesses.  I live with chronic pain.  Most people who know me, know only about my knee or back.  They were two of my most serious injuries over the years.  What most people don't know is that my entire body is wracked with pain.  Something ALWAYS hurts.  It could be my head, my knee, my stomach, my shoulders or every muscle or joint all at once.  Every injury has left me with permanent pain issues.  Some days the pain is just barely there and I can ignore it for the most part.  Other days it's impossible to concentrate or move with out groaning from the i...

"I came here to let you know the letting go has taken place." Melissa Etheridge ~The Letting Go~ We all have things in our lives to let go of.  Relationships, pets, property, expectations, and                people are all things we will have to let go of at various times in our lives.   Most of us have heard the song "Let It Go" from "Frozen" sung to death over the years (especially those of us with children in our lives).  Idina Menzel sang the song in the Disney cartoon.  She also sang it for a New Years Eve celebration in 2015.  Many have criticized her imperfect live rendition.   "You can't get it all right all the time, but you can do your best." She said in an interview regarding the performance and her own perfectionism. She went on to say,  "If you've done that, all that's left is to accept your shortcomings and have the courage to try to overcome them."  This quote,...