I think you need a balance between hope and acceptance or at least I do. I found I needed acceptance first. I fought for a long time how sick I really was and resisted some offers of help, and I kept going around in circles. Then I kind of finally surrendered and said "ok, if all the Dr's are telling me I'm really sick, maybe I should listen and accept the help." That got me all sorts of great help, a case manager, free one-on-one counselling with a psychologist, and into some great recovery programs. And I noticed I was slowly getting better and feeling better. That and one program in particular, the "Wellness Recovery Action Plan" started to give me hope that I could really turn my life around. And slowly I am. I'm moving out of the sober living residence this Dec. with a friend. I'm going back to school in January. I have the contact for a job search program for people with disabilities for when school finishes. I'm starting to feel confident about my ability to find a job when I graduate. And most importantly, I'm starting to feel happy again. Not all the time, but enough of the time for me to feel hopeful.

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