Whole heartedness, baseball and bliss

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog so I thought I’d pull together a quick and dirty blog to catch you up to speed with my summer. Also, don’t forget that you can always read my inspirational prose at Healthy Place.

Becoming a whole hearted person

I recently listened to “The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown. These talks changed my life. I listened on my head phones and work and found myself saying, “Mmmmm,” over and over like a white Protestant at Sunday service. Brené is brilliant and her message is simple —when we let go of the person we are supposed to be we can become who we truly are meant to be.

Those words penetrate straight to my soul. Time and time again, I have had to adjust my expectations —first when I was diagnosed with bipolar, and then most recently when I made the decision to get divorced and raise my daughter as a single mom. Life never comes at us in the way we think it should. But I have found that when I embrace those curve balls and face them with own unique gifts and talents that not only are they manageable, but I’m sometimes able to swing hard and hit homer.

How about them Royals

When I’m not listening to self help books, I’m mostly likely listening to the Royals. I never was the kind of baseball fan who listened to every game on the radio until this season. Last year’s run to the World Series seemed to come out of nowhere — especially to me since I only half ass followed the season. But we made it. We rocked it.

And when I look at my life, and the lives of the clients I work with who suffer from mental illness, I think of the Royals. I think we too can be Royal. We can rock it. And we are.

You know who isn’t rocking it? Sam Brownback

It’s not always rainbows and gummy drops in the realm of mental health advocacy. In fact it rarely is. I have moments with my clients that seem perfect. Moments where I think, “this, this is what it’s all about.”

But life isn’t a book or a movie. There are always trials beyond that moment. I experience this myself as someone who has bipolar 1. Just this morning I woke up at 3:30. When life is good sometimes it’s too good. Sometimes I need make a medication adjustment. And by sometimes I mean just about every six weeks. It’s complicated.

State legislators don’t always get just how complicated and difficult life can be with a mental illness. In Kansas funding for mental health is being slashed — just another sign that I made the right decision to move to Missouri.

When I read stories about mental health policy they seem to focus a lot on keeping people out of jail and the hospital. I get that. But I wish we could move the conversation beyond that. When I got my diagnosis I didn’t feel devastated as much as I felt hopeful. I had a great psychiatrist who told I could get my life back if I took my treatment plan seriously. I was back to work in about three weeks. I wasn’t back to fully functioning, but I was back.

Within a year after my diagnosis I won a first place KPA award. My point in sharing this isn’t to backhanded brag. It’s just to show that you can be successful with a mental illness. You can live up to your full potential with a mental illness. And not only can you, but you should. You have gifts to share to the world that no one else has. This is the message I try to share with all of my clients.

I wish that we could turn the conversation about mental health beyond surviving and talk about thriving. Whole hearted people do more than just survive. Whole hearted people thrive — just like the Royals.

So, that’s my summer so far. Hope yours has included whole heartedness, baseball and love.