Thanks for the wonderful and wise advice, fern. In particular, I love what you said about drowning in fear of relapse and letting it steal my life and dreams. Over the last year, I've let fear win more often than not. I think mostly due to the shock of the mania, my behaviors during that time, and my hospitalization. It has taken quite some time to accept what has happened, and to learn from it rather than live in the past and remain frozen by the fear of it happening again in the future. My hope is that this self-doubt will continue to diminish as my coping skills grow stronger. Thank you again for your beautiful, encouraging words.