Prelude

I sat and watched Christmas come and go, with as much quietude and open mindedness as I could conceive. I heard not very much of a Merry Christmas coming or going as a greeting or departing note, and smiles were not as tinsel or lights upon a tree. The children where I lived were somewhat quiet and as Christmas grew closer, so the silence grew.
I was reminded that my own life had changed that I had changed for the better, new job, quaint apartment, new acquaintances, and my life was different. I was curious and looked into myself, the struggle I had with drug addiction and alcohol, the kinds of people I associated with who were no different than my old self, the late hours and on-going days spent on the streets following shadows into dismal places, and the love lost of family and once ago true friends. I saw that it was Christmas, and I saw time unfolding into the New Year and I beheld the new challenges in my life, of facing fears and letting go of the olden dreams and the fearful nightmares of failure and loneliness.
When you enter into Recovery, your world slowly changes. The hallucinations are images as fearsome as the words which painted them, yet you stand before them and eventually you diminish them as reading a book and a clear pane of glass appears. You lift yourself up from the bent over crouch of carrying such a heavy load that weighted every footstep and thought and notice the load has become lighter, you have written the words in the sky and seen what to set aside and leave behind as painful reminders in the new world you are searching, never again wanting to touch the nest of wasp in the dark sheaves hidden among the rafters.
You wonder and smile in the mirror and it’s all good, self esteem and respect have a new acquaintance, and it’s you, happy to know a gift can be priceless as believing in oneself or others who have chosen to overcome the first step of Mental Disability and continue the traveling into their sobriety not matter how long the journey.
Written by,
Donald Sammons
December 26, 2009

Freedom

Recovery: Choice: Freedom
In the year 2004 there was founded a “Freedom Commission on Mental Health”. Their final report was about Recovery, being the “common, recognized outcome of Mental Health Services”. There were topics and reports written on subjects of Recovery such as, Recovery in Different Cultural Aspects, the differences of Mental Health and Addictions recovery and topics pursuing the individual in Recovery, the family, community, organizations as well as providers.
It was stated during this commission that, “Mental Health Recovery is a journey of healing, a transformation for a person with a Mental Health illness to able to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve potential.
Recovery is: Self Direction
Empowerment
Strengths Based
Peer Support
Self Esteem
Responsibility
Hope

Self management and control over one’s recovery is a part of recovery which is a part of the experience. Responsibility is a rung in Recovery of the consumer, in making decisions and maintaining attitude when making adjustments in one’s life. When it comes to submitting yourself to medication, to help gain control of the self and adhering to the principals set forth by you the consumer, the doctors and staff help gain control over the illness which interferes with your health you have made a step to becoming refined without the discord of abandon.
Recovery is not easy, it is choice which leads to freedom from the barriers of mental instability and helps gain the strength to move on into other stable realms of life, through Hope, building self-esteem and sobriety.
By Donald Sammons

Health

I wrote about meditation and exercise. The third one I will cover today is health. That is very big with those that have mental health issues. The research says those that are mentally distressed live 25 years less than the rest of the population. We do not die earlier because of mental distress, but rather from heart disease or complications of diabetes. To top that off, how many watched channel 4 news? Dr. Dave Hnida said that certain medications like blood pressure; beta blockers, etc. cause weight gain. If you take atypical medication, you lose either way. If they do not cause weight gain other medications will. I know I have a long way to go to fight for my health. Although I have taken certain steps to eating healthier, I eat oatmeal or honey nut cheerios for breakfast to get a good percentage of my grains. I switched from white bread for lunch to all grain bread. I am going to start bringing a meal for lunch, because processed meat is not good either. I also switched from cooking with vegetable, or canola oil, to olive oil. These items are more expensive, but can you put a price on your health? I eat bananas and pears for snacks, until the other fruits such as cherries, hits the super market from Chile. I eat salads after my meal like the Japanese unless at a restaurant, then before which makes you fuller faster. I also snack on nuts with sea salt, until I find quantities without salt.
I drink mostly water or Coke Zero, which does not have the artificial sugar, or corn fructose syrup, which is a real culprit of weight gain. I would really like your tips and comments on better ways to be healthier.

Serendipity

Serendipity
Reality before Christmas
Reality in Recovery
Reality in Drug Addiction
Reality of Mental Disability
Reality of the New Year


Serendipity: the seeming gift of finding something good, it is luck, or good fortune in finding something of worth.

How do we keep our promises? How do we survive, the torn, worn and weary of mind and the diseased of body, degenerating and wanting to live. We find we have a long way to go, those of us whom have strayed and have literally destroyed our minds, others who have become punished, through war, at home, through dereliction, find seeking solace a mere impossibility.

Take the time to look into the future of those seeking recovery, the storm has begun to quiet the realm of the destitute. Where there was fear, there becomes hope through caring hands and minds. Sometimes there is laughter, sometimes defeat, yet we can rise through learning a new way to react to the outside world and strengthen ourselves by knowing our old behaviors and those of others. We can rid ourselves of our fears, by believing in someone one who believes.

Trusting is the reason we give others a chance, because we care to strip away the barriers which cause our hearts and minds to become clouded over. For with the promises others bequeath we may become failures without understanding, with trust, there is always a tomorrow.
By Donald Sammons
P.S. Check out our new Outcomes pages.