Speak Up 4 Mental Health Now!

Broken. Yup that pretty much sums up how I feel right now. Defleeted, yes I know this isn't a real word but to be honest it should be. It is a great way to explain how I am feeling right now. A combination of defeated and deflated. That is me right now.  I am that child's old balloon that used to be big and bright and floated around on the ceiling. Now I am forgotten because I am no longer fun. I sit on the floor being kicked around until I am lost under the bed. I am no longer bright or full, I am deflated, no longer able to float around and play.  I am also the Broncos right now, (ugh come on guys) continuously defeated by the other teams. I know this is only temporary and I will rise up like the beautiful phoenix that I am and win again. Now the Broncos on the other hand, they better do this like ASAP, Sunday maybe. Hint hint guys.   I know I haven't been writing as often lately and that is due to my mental state. As much as I am an advocate for speaking out...

Last night watching the news my heart broke. I mean the news is always sad anymore, there is hardly any "Good" news on the news these days. On top of the mass shooting in Jacksonville, FL we heard about a 9 year in Denver that took his own life over the weekend.  How does this happen? What is wrong with our world? When I was 9 I was thinking about playing with friends, softball, and handing out with my family. Sure kids were mean back then, but they are even worse today with social media. Back in my day, LOL that is funny I sound like a grandma, anyway....we didn't have social media. It is a great thing, but however it can be used to hurt people. Kids and adults alike, will totally just say the worse things about people to them via social media. Just totally bash them and make them feel horrible; they have no filter and can't be stopped. They just say whatever they want and not think about the ramifications of what they say, and how it might effect the other people....

As I lie in bed Friday morning, struggling to get out of bed, I tried to look at the bright side of things. My philosophy in life is to always see the brighter side of every situation. However, this morning I didn't know if I could do that.  It's Friday, I should be welcoming in the weekend. Rejoicing in the fact that I am finally over that cold and soreness from my fall down the basement steps. Yup that is right, I fell down the stairs to my basement. I tripped over the baby gate and missed the second step and slid the rest of the way down to the landing on my butt. If you knew me personally you'd know: 1.  I am one of the clumsiest person in the world. 2. It isn't the first time I fell down a flight of stairs.  (Just last time, I broke my ribs. This time I only got rug burn.) Instead I was depressed, and not feeling any motivation to move. Luckily I have two dogs that need to go out and go potty, or I probably would not have gotten up when I did. I didn...

Enjoying the present and living in the moment, this is something that I haven't had in years. When I am out in public I am always "looking" for things that make me uncomfortable. If certain things bother me, then why on earth would I intentionally look for them. But that is how I am; I am so focused on the things around me that I can't enjoy the time I am spending in places with others.  A couple weekends back was the first time I was able to enjoy myself and not "look" for things. My husband and I went out and checked out a new Brewery that had just opened and listened to live music there. I wasn't focused on finding something gross or unsanitary, I was just enjoying myself. This was a shock when I realized it was happening. I didn't want to ruining a good thing so I just continued on without dwelling on this success at that moment. However later that week I did celebrate this when I was with my therapist at therapy.  I think we tend to focus so...

My heart was pounding in my chest and it felt like it was going to burst through my throat. Then the nauseous kicked in and of course I am on a phone call with a client. "Okay, just breath thru this and you won't get sick on the call." This is what I was telling myself. Luckily I was able to make it through my call without getting sick. Thank goodness!  I woke up not feeling so hot, but figured it was just a case of the Mondays. As the morning went on, the worse I started to feel. Of course work was crazy busy and my anxiety was already in overdrive. Getting sick was just not what I needed.  I decided to take a nice long Epson Salt soak to help me with my muscle soreness and nausea. It helped relaxed my muscles and the heat helped my stomach feel better, along with a Tums or two.  However, while I sat in there I could hear my heart beat in my ears as it pounded hard in my chest. I also felt like I couldn't catch my breath. Why would I be out of breath, I was l...

After a really rough day, tonight was a great way to end my day. The softball team I coach had their last game tonight. Not only did we win the game and I believe were in first place for the season, but we won the season's Sportsmanship Award for the league. I am so proud of my team, not only did they grow and become a great team, good players, confident girls, but also the nicest team in the season. YAY! Being a role model is so much more than what people think. Children are so impressionable no matter what age. Not being a parent to a child and being a role model to them, is a crazy responsibility as well, yet nobody really sees that if they aren't a parent. I am not a parent and would never tell a parent how to raise their children; however, I am a role model for them whether I realize it or not.  I have nieces, a nephew, and plenty of friends who have kids which lives I am a part of. Kids are sponges, we all know that, but as a non-parent we don't realize how much w...

One of my best friend's daughter calls me her Fairy Godmother. I wish that was really the case. I wish I was a Fairy Godmother; I could just magic away the help that is needed by so many others. I don't struggle every day with my mental illnesses but some days are way worse than others. Unfortunately there are so many people that struggle every day. To top that off, some of those people can't even afford the medicines that they truly need to help them.  This pains me to think about. I can't imagine not having the meds that I need on a daily basis. Now that I am in therapy as well, I can't imagine not seeing my therapist either. Yet some many people can't afford either.  With the inspiration from my husband, friends, and my Fairy Goddaughter, I have decided that I want to start a company (a non-profit), where I can be the Fairy Godmother to others; granting them the gift of money to pay for the mental health care that they need. I will need lost of supp...

It's so easy to speak out and tell others to make sure that you are taking some "me time", but following through with it myself is not so easy. I need to practice what I preach, so to speak LOL. It turns out it can be really hard to take time out for myself.        Every morning I am trying to get up 30 minutes earlier for "me time" on my back patio. I sit there and drink my coffee, water my veggie garden, and watch the pups run and play in the backyard. This is a nice time every morning to just relax before starting my day off.  This is typically all I can do for myself every day. For me cleaning typically is a relaxing thing to do. Yet at this time, I don't even enjoy that and I can't say that is relaxing like normal. So I actually have to set time aside every day, in sessions throughout the day, so I can make sure that I can "try" to relax and think about me. I am the person that will always be there if I am needed or asked to help. ...

This past week started out fairly rough then Tuesday I decided to put in PTO request to take Thursday and Friday so I had 5 days off in a row. In the description for my PTO request I actually entered Mental Health Day. I wanted to be honest with my manager. I don't think she is aware of my mental health issues. I have mentioned it only in casual conversation that I have OCD; however, so many people use OCD so lightly, like when they like things organized. That my friend is NOT OCD, that is just being organized and picky about things, which is totally okay to be like that, but it isn't having OCD.  I needs these days off from time to time to regroup. I still have crippling anxiety off and on every day, and my OCD is still in control. But I have gotta better with controlling my OCD at times. I am lucky to have a job where I can take paid time off if needed. I am also lucky to have insurance coverage that covers for my prescriptions and therapy. I was thinking about this over ...

OMG! I have totally forgotten how to relax. Yesterday I tried to relax and just chill in my hammock under a tree in my yard, and I just couldn't relax. How can one forget to relax? Maybe I just can't relax not that I don't know how or maybe I don't even know what it feels like to relax. Sad isn't it?  The realization of this is heartbreaking to me. I had a really hard dealing with the acceptance of this yesterday. I guess this is something that I really need to work on, on a daily basis. I need to make sure I get up and go for a walk or a run and get out of my head at least every other day if I can't every day.                            I did try yesterday, but the entire time I was was thinking, JUST RELAX! Come on how hard is it to relax? Surprisingly it is extremely difficult for me. I was mentally exhausted from the day as it was but the fact I couldn't relax just exhausted me on a whole other level...

Today was just one of those days. Every little thing upset me, I couldn't get rid of my anxiety and I couldn't focus on anything. And to top it off, I didn't want to touch anything and yet I did anyway.  I also didn't feel like I was good enough. Why? I know I am more than just good enough. Yet I feel myself going down a dark alley but I can't turn around. I hate when this happens.  I have done so good lately and I have made some extremely good accomplishments recently. However, it has mentally exhausted me. So much that I struggle doing things for myself and not things that I have to do to make myself comfortable, but me time. I need some me time pretty bad. My therapist had to point that out to me today which was a shock to me. Today it hit me, I don't like doing anything again. I don't have motivation to do anything for myself. I DO have motivation to do anything for my little pups and my hubby. They are my life. Honestly if it weren't for the pu...

It's been a week since I posted because I have had my mom and aunt in town visiting from Michigan. It was a wonderful week with them and I they had a great time while they were here. My mom and aunt both know about my daily struggles and are aware it has gotten worse since the last time I saw family back in MI. But they haven't seen how controlled by my OCD I am before this visit. I was really good though and very proud of myself. I am mentally exhausted, but nothing that they did. They were great. I honestly think that my mom got more upset about things that upset me than I actually did. LOL! If something that bothers me happens, I just explain that it upsets me and do what I need to do to feel better about the situation.  I feel it was harder on them than it was on me for them to be visiting. I know that I asked a lot of them and I am sorry. It isn't that I didn't want them in my house at all. Just the opposite. Them being here actually was a huge help. I know...