ARISE TO A POSITIVE 2018!
Hey!
How are you? As I write this, it’s the tenth day of January 2018 and it feels like mid-year for me. I’m finally getting some ‘me time’- my children resumed school on Monday, January 8th – and so I have more time to think about I Dare To Blossom (the blog), BLOOM MEDIA, think about the 2018 predominant thoughts on my mind and put my thoughts in writing. Officially, this is my Happy New Year post to you. I hope you had a memorable holiday? By memorable, I mean, a positively, inspiring and memorable holiday.
One thing about being a person who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder is that, sometimes, words good or bad can have an effect on your emotions and influence how you feel, and ultimately the decisions you make. This can be a disability if a person is often triggered by words into a state of depression resulting in a lack of motivation to do anything. On the other hand, this can be an advantage if that person is surrounded by positive minded people and resources. The positivity becomes contagious and rubs off!
What has this got to do with my Happy New Year Post? Right?
Everything. I ended 2017 in a very high mood. With lots of laughter amidst family, friends, loved ones, good food, and lots of rest from work (if you ask me, too much rest from work!)
Then, January 1st came and went and I started to feel a pressure to start running. The only problem was that;
1) this pressure came from the thoughts I formed as I read some of the good motivational and inspirational posts about how to set goals and achieve goals, change and acquire new lifestyle habits…and much more to have a purposeful 2018.
2) I had no template to run with. This one really got me upset and moody! I mean, most purposeful people I know already had 2018 mapped out by December, they began in October to plan for the new year. But wait a second, was I living the life of most people? Isn’t my name Precious Avwunuma Emodmaori and not ‘Most Purposeful People’? So why the comparison and undue pressure? What was meant to be a challenge and an inspiration became a pressure? Why? Wrong mindsets and perspectives!
Why do we put ourselves under pressure by putting unrealistic expectations on ourselves as a result of what we see or think other people are doing?
In 2018, please make up your mind to run your own Race. Ensure that your sense of purpose and passion for the things you love is not determined by someone else. Take charge of your life.
Words will always be spoken, written, and circulated. They are the way human beings communicate. So please make up your mind to see and choose positivity from everything you read and hear. Don’t accept an inferiority mindset because you are not Inferior. You are intelligent, beautiful/handsome, creative, energetic and hardworking. You are More. There’s more to you than meets the eyes! OOOpps! Yea!
If you life with Bipolar, you would understand why I choose these adjectives.
A few things to remember as you navigate 2018.
1. Get an understanding of what God wants you to do in 2018. It may just be in that dominant thought you have had for some time now. That thought that has ‘good’, ‘excellence’ loaded in it, that has the capacity to make our world a better place to live in.
2. I stopped doing New Year resolutions a long time ago because I found out that they don’t work for me. A few weeks into the year I find out that the passion with which I wrote the ‘new year resolutions’ are gone and I’m struck with a bad feeling of guilt. So, please go at your pace. You can write down a few things you would like to do better and attach a time frame and a plan to each item. Please don’t fill your list with things that don’t really matter to you. Be intentional.
3. Get a Word for your year. I like this. It reminds me of my focus and of what God has said to you at the beginning of the year. If you are a believer, you would agree that God speaks. He speaks in seemingly little things that make a big statement. To hear from God, you have to have a conversation. Just like talking to your friend and expecting a response. It’s something like that.
4. Make up your mind to let HOPE fill your heart. The absence of hope is the presence of fear. And fear is good sometimes, (e.g, the fear of danger can keep us out of harm’s way) but most times we fear in a wrong way and became anxious, harming our mental health in the process. This year, please give hope a chance. Let Hope fill your heart.
5. Avoid Regret. Recognise that each day comes with its own burst of joy, laughter, sadness, worries, opportunities, rewards, lessons…ensure that you take what you need from each day. Leave the regrets, pain, worries, negativity,… behind. You need to be mindful of this.
Dear Bipolar Warrior, ask God for the grace to arise and rise above the limitations that held you last year. Make up your mind to do the things that are unique to you and be excellent at them. Exercise your goodwill, and put your energy into purposeful use. Together, we can Make 2018 memories precious, one intentional step at a time.
Cheers!
Till the next post where I will share about my 2018 plan forward session with my coach, Bidemi Mark-Mordi and how we can be intentional in little things to see profitable results…
My Name is Precious, I was Bipolar, and I will a Full life.