What is truth? Is it how we see ourselves? How others see us? Or is it a combination of the two? Our realities and perceptions are the biggest truths we have. What we believe and percieve to be true in our minds is the truth. It's the truth we want to believe. Whether it's real or not, it's our own truth... our own reality. Can we change this? Most definately... but we have to want to. Mental illnesses, no matter what label, skew our views and beliefs about ourselves and others. Take depression for example. It wants to make us believe that we are worthless and that nobody cares for us nor would they want to. But is that true? Not even a little. For every person in this ENTIRE world, there's at least one other that cares for them and usually if sufferer would just open their eyes would see this. It's hard to do. Believe me, I know. So how can we feel good about ourselves when we're plagued by something so negative? By stepping outside our bodies and looking at ourselves from someone else's point of view. And not someone that we want to believe dislikes us. Someone like a dear friend or a parent. How do they see us? As someone wonderful and worthy of love and affection. My point is this... you chose your truth to a certain extent. IMHO, suffering from mental illness is almost a choice. We can either wallow in it or do something about it. I'm bipolar. So what. Is it going to ruin my life? Only if I let it. What's the answer? I really don't know. For me it was therapy, meds, soul searching, and getting back into the activities I used to enjoy that I thought I had lost. Make no mistake, I'm not saying I'm some kind of self esteem God. I have my bad days like everyone else. I choose to believe there's something better out there for me than wallowing in this mental illness. Any comments?

Ry