My life has been both beautiful and a disaster. Most of my life has been impacted and effected by severe mental illness. This has stolen so much from me, traumatised me and broken my heart. Still there has been so much joy, great experiences and deep connection with people and the world around me. So far, at 40, I have achieved little but I have hope I will be more productive from now. Just this week I started grieving my past but I see this as a stepping stone to a positive future. I have learnt so much and I intend to do all I can to live a wonderful life.