When your mood decides to go on a swing!

If God took His time to decorate and colour this bird, why do we find it difficult to believe that He can colour the dark spots of our lives and decorate us with His love?
Wikipedia.org affirms that, “a mood swing is an extreme or rapid change in mood. Such mood swings can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning. However, when mood swings are so strong that they are disruptive, they may be the main part of a bipolar disorder.”

I opened my eyes to the dark room and gradually adjusted my sight to the darkness, turning my head to gaze at the clock behind me. It was 4:30am. I laid down there fully awake but not motivated to get out of bed. Of course I had a number of things to do before setting out for work, but I just laid there, motionless and my heart razing like wild fire. Soon, I summoned the courage to ask myself, “what’s wrong?”, “Where is your joy?”

There and then, I knew the reason I felt the way I felt. Doctors and health workers who specialise in neurology would say, I was experiencing a mood swing. They would go further to explain that, the reason why it is called bipolar is that the moods and feelings of persons dealing with bipolar are usually on two poles. The extremely, over elated, hyper mood and the low bits which is popularly called depression. This is the reason why bipolar patients are encouraged to take their medication and avoid stress, especially mental stress. Somehow, this helps to bridge the gap between to hyper mood pole and the depressed mood pole.

I know from experience that taking your medication without any conscious effort on your part to protect your heart from the negative impact of an unpleasant situation, will make your hormones work over time in trying to ensure that your mood is balanced. So aside from taking your prescribed medication, which is key, what other measures can be deployed to secure our mood?
  1. Understand yourself: If you read this blog often, you will observe that I make a lot of reference to, ‘I asked myself’, ‘Why do I feel this way?’, ‘feelings’, etc. In thinking like this I have come to understand that, you can train yourself to identify swiftly when a worrisome thought gains access to your heart. For me, this is important, because I believe what Proverbs 17: 22 says about the state of the heart.“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”So what’s the state of your heart today? Is it cheerful or stressful? Is it fearful or courageous? Are you happy, excited or just indifferent? Are you enthusiastic about your itinerary for today? Are you passionate or just tired? Honestly, I can understand that, it’s not every time your heart will be cheerful, but the benefit of understanding yourself is that it gives you a self confidence and a healthy self-esteem irrespective of the issues around you. If you rely on only what people understand about you, or how they interpret your motives or actions, which in most scenario may not be accurate, you may be signing up for worrisome thoughts which in turn affects how our mood turns out.
  2. Take it to God in Prayer. Before you pick up your phone to call you best friend and chat away the painful thoughts in your heart, make it a habit to first of all call on God. I like the way the English Standard Version puts it in Jeremiah 33: 3,“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”Many times, what bothers us the most about a situation is the fear of the unknown. The scripture above indicates that God is will to tell us great and hidden things that we have not known! Wow! What other encouragement do you need to ring God up? He is always available, he doesn’t sleep or slumber, he does go on sabbatical leave, He’s available to all of us at the points of our need, in where we are. When you talk to God, whether outwardly, or in your heart like Hannah in the bible, please be sincere with Him, because He knows how you feel and He can fix that worrisome situation.“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
  3. Commit to well doing. Don’t allow the wickedness or hostility around prevent you from doing good where appropriate. Don’t repay evil for evil. Find a way to do something good despite the uncomfortable situation around you. This has a way of enhance a feeling of fulfilment and improving your mental health. Caution must be applied when you decide to do commit to acts of kindness. You must guard your activates with moderation and you must have someone who has your interest in heart and who hold you accountable. This is to avoid a situation whereby in the name of doing good, an individual becomes prey for unplanned ‘predators ‘. Permit my adjective, I lack a better word to describe this, but I hope you understand what I mean? *Smiling
  4. Learn to create a fence around your heart with God’s word: One thing we deal with every day, consciously or unconscious are words. Some words are kind, endearing and motivating. Others simply pull down and tear down. Whether we like it or not we hear all sort of words, while you cannot dictate what word come your way, you can actually decide how much you will take to heart. Philippians 4: 8 gives us ample example of the kinds of words we should take to heart. When you relate with people, always remember, that they are responsible for what they say, not how what they say make your feel.How you feel is your responsibility, and you have to learn to deal with it. This sounds tough right?
  5. Focus on the things that matter: Like your family, your loved ones, people who look up to you! You should draw inspiration from them, rather than allow yourself sink into depression. Sometimes, when I find myself overwhelmed or under pressure, I just think of home! I picture my family in my mind, my sisters, my friends, my dear husband, I remember all the relationships that add value to me, and I strengthen my resolve not to disappoint them and I am motivated to see beyond my moods!
  6. Try to write out how you feel: Sounds funny right? But this is helpful. When you write you, depending on your values, you gain perspective. You obviously would not be proud to write things that make no meaning to you. Most times, when am done writing a blog post, I feel so relieved if I was worried, because I am encouraged by what have been written. When you write you give your thoughts an opportunity to be shaped.
  7. Don’t take yourself too serious! Live your life on God’s principles, forgive promptly. Don’t expect too much from people, lookout for avenues to add more value, do something tangible each day to enhance the lives around you. Notice the brightness of the day, notice the flowers, give a good compliment, and choose to be happy…


My name is Precious, I was Bipolar and I live a full life

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful I have a friend and father like you! Give me the wisdom to always call on you irrespective of my situation. Give me the grace to maintain a cheerful state of mind irrespective of my situation, 
because you are able to colour the dark spots of my life.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_swing
Proverbs 17: 22 – New Living Translation
Jeremiah 33: 3 – English Standard Version
Hannah – I Samuel 1: 12-13
Hebrews 4: 15-16 – King James Version

Philippians 4: 8 – King James Version

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