This week I celebrate having been in remission from SZ for 25 years–out of the hospital and having had ZERO symptoms for 25 years.
In 1987 when I got out of the hospital the first time I went shopping at the local Macy’s in the Mall. There’s a grain of truth to the expression: “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.”
What I bought: a black suede zebra-print embossed pocketbook; a light gray sweatshirt with black tipping on the bottom, neckline, and sleeves; and an interesting sterling silver necklace that I’ve kept all these years.
Most of what I bought is gone yet won’t ever be forgotten, just like I remember nearly every significant item of clothing I bought and wore in the late 1980s and 1990s.
I think striving to be in remission is a noble goal to achieve. It certainly makes things easier when you’re not burdened with permanent symptoms the rest of your life.
Yet I will always stress this above all else: you can hold a job and be successful in life even though you might still have symptoms.
I know people who have jobs and still hear voices occasionally.
In my life I’m grateful to be in remission, a status I don’t take lightly.
I got here because I take a dose of medication, yet as a professional told me: “You recovered more so because of the actions you took.”
Which proves the premise of the Rachel Roy book I reviewed in the last blog entry.
Ten years ago when I first started blogging I wrote too:
“It’s not the enormity or severity of your challenge that determines your fate, but how you respond to it.”
So back then I had stated in my own words what Rachel Roy also told readers: the choice is yours how you want to live your life.
I chose in 2002 to become a mental health advocate.
Years later I consider myself simply to be an Activist because I’ve branched out into a focus on fitness, which encompasses fitness of mind, body, spirit, careers, finances, and relationships.
As well as helping keep our planet fit and free from environmental destruction.
My goal is to be the change I want to see in the world.
To that end I’ve been focused on getting a second non-fiction book edited that I hope to publish within three years.
I hold this above all else to be true and will go to my grave championing this:
That getting the right treatment right away can enable you to have a better life.
It might include taking medication or it might not.
Yet when you’re in emotional pain, when you’re suffering from mental distress, you really shouldn’t wait it out and allow your hardship to progress so that it becomes a permanent disability.
If any of my readers fit this scenario, I urge you to get professional help right now.
Yes–I’ve been in remission for 25 years.
I hope to live at least 25 years more to continue to uplift and inspire everyone I meet.
My message is clear and simple:
Now more than ever it’s possible to have a full and robust life living in recovery–with or without symptoms.
Left of the Dial 