Focus On Building the New One Brick at a Time
How to start building your future today
Hi there!
In the early days of my bipolar journey, my life was a disaster. I couldn't work and could barely feed or bathe myself most days. Many days, I didn't leave the house or interact with people.
Most of my relationships, friends and romantic partners, went up in flames. It felt like bipolar was taking everything from me.
For two years, I endured a traumatic period of trial and error with 30 medication changes before I found stability. When the world started to come into focus again, I felt like a war survivor sitting in the burned ruins of a destroyed city.
When I woke up from my long hibernation, I got to work. My determination was to make my world what I want it to be and not what bipolar left behind. It was time to write my next chapter, one where I controlled bipolar rather than it controlling me.
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
- Socrates
Scott Ninneman publishes two newsletters each week. The Sunday All Things Bipolar Newsletter features the newest content about bipolar life. The Speaking Bipolar Positivity Club Newsletter shares inspirational stories three times a week to help you maintain a positive mindset.
Guidance through therapy
I focused every ounce of energy on getting better. I started therapy sessions and put thought into my treatment plan. I knew my treatment plan needed to be more than what meds to take when. My blueprint had to include a way back to the life I wanted.
I worked on developing healthy habits like exercising regularly and eating a well-balanced diet. Even when things felt hopeless, I pulled myself up and kept going. Each positive choice was a brick in the foundation of the world I wanted.
Bit by bit, my life began to change. My therapist taught me coping skills and helped me work through my darkest memories. I got a job that would work with my mental health, moved into a fresh apartment, and started looking for love again.
In a perfect world, I could stop here and say I lived happily ever after. I was managing bipolar, but I was far from cured.
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Endurance and bad days
Even when I was doing everything right, I had bad days. Depression still shook my life from time to time, showing up when I was least prepared for it.
While my medications kept me from sliding into full-blown mania, hypomania showed up often like an evil jack-in-the-box. Some days, I cleaned every inch of my home, and at times, dishes sat in my kitchen sink for a month before I washed them.
Gray days came, and weeks passed without me adding any bricks to my goal. But the worst days always pass, and every time, I came out of the storm and got back to work.
With every dark episode, I learned a vital lesson. I might always have bipolar disorder, but I could keep it from hurting me.
Trusting my journal
I started a journal in November 1983. Journaling was a regular part of my life, but I had never used it to monitor my mental health. As the cycles came and went like the ocean tide, I carefully took notes.
In time, I saw trends of which events affected me in positive or negative ways. Like the pages were glowing, I could see some people were destructive to my mental health. I had to cut them out to keep growing.
My journal also helped me process horrible memories, keep up with my medications, and gave me a jumping off point to start each therapy session. I was building a brick palace, and each new skill added a brick to that wall.
Still building
Some days are still hard, but I never give up because I know that change is possible. If you focus on building for the future, one brick at a time, anything is possible.
If you feel today like bipolar has taken everything from you, don't give up. Instead, focus on building the life you want. Work on creating a world that is truly yours and one you want to stay in.
Mental illness might be a challenge, but it's not unbeatable. You can build your new life one day and one brick at a time.
With every step forward, I am reminded that I am stronger than bipolar and will always prevail. I can see the victories from my past, and the pride I feel gives me energy to keep building.
So keep going, focus on building the new, and know that you are capable of anything. The future is yours for the taking.
Journal Prompt: What can you do today to start building the new? Where do you want to be this time next year?
Creative Writing Prompt: You’ve been given limitless funds to build something to serve as your legacy. What would you build? Write a story about how the world would react to your finished product.
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
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