Eight hours on a plane recently gave me a lot of time to think about my life, and as I reflected on my thoughts and attitudes I realized something.

Whenever I feel energetic and motivated, I assume that I'm getting manic, that the positive state is pathological, and that the drive to get things done won't last because bipolar is a cyclical illness.

Whenever I feel depressed, I'm convinced that the pain will last forever.

When I'm neither manic nor depressed, I think my life is awful because it is just a matter of time before the next depression hits.

How ridiculous is that?! I'm going to try now to flip my perspective. When I'm depressed, I need to see it as a time-limited state that does not reflect reality, and when I'm hypomanic I need to celebrate the energy I have. When I'm "stable" I need to think that I have a great life, because it is only a matter of time before I get energetic again.