I Used to “Hate” my Birthday.

Yes, it’s true. I used to hate when my birthday came around. It seemed that for a while, this was the time that I would get sick with mental illness and I spent a lot of birthdays avoiding the psych ward. Then after the years of suffering with hospitalizations, I was still very depressed and it would was hard to celebrate my birthday with feelings of doom and gloom lurking in my thoughts. All I can say now, is, BUT GOD!!!! With and through Him, my life has become so much better. With working on my thought patterns, changing my lifestyle, and focusing on choosing happiness I am enjoying life and mental illness challenges are at a minimum. I was speaking with my brother this morning and we were discussing exercise, I expressed how important it is to continue things like getting in activities like walking and yoga to make sure that my “mental” well-being is great! Sure, weight loss is good, but good mental health is vital!

So, tomorrow is my birthday! And, I have to go to work on my birthday. But even with that, I am good. Because I was able to spend time with my family a few days ago for a pre-birthday celebration instead. We have to learn to look on the bright side. Continue to make “lemonade” out of lemon-filled situations and move forward. My life is still full of challenges, but I “choose” to look at the cup as “half-full” now instead of “half-empty” and trust me, with a positive mindset it changes your level of stress, your outlook on life and how the outcome of your day is on a daily basis. Try it! You will be amazed at what being positive can do for you.