Seven reasons I am ready for the New Year

I am sure I will make a New Year’s resolution or two.

But I won’t need to go far to find them. My resolutions or plan for the new year is the same today as it was yesterday.

And it is encompassed in SMART and WRAP training. Without the tools, ideas and support of these organizations, I am sure my recovery would look very different.

Facing the New year is exciting, not frightening.

READ: Is it possible to be recovered, and not always in recovery?

I know what to expect and am also ready for everything that will happen that I do not expect. And this is when my tools come in handy, for I may not be able to control what happens next year, but I can surely control my attitude towards it.

Here is my list of reasons why I am ready:

• The future will come whether we are ready or not, so I choose to be ready.

• My own personal Wellness recovery action plan written is written out and addresses stages of relapse, giving me resources that work to help me understand my feelings and emotions and keep them from controlling me.

• My toolbox includes CBA, or the Cost-Benefit Analysis tool to help me understand how my choices will change the future, so I can make the best decision possible. SMART has many tools I am using every day to make better decisions and move towards a more balanced life.

• I have learned to recognize unhelpful thinking and have a series of questions I can ask to challenge the thought as it pops into my mind.

• My medication is performing as planned, allowing me to be more alert to the present. It has also kept me from spiraling into relapse and has kept me away from the abyss of despair and hopelessness.

• I have not experienced any of “those thoughts” in a while. And when suicidal thoughts have appeared, I can see them floating on a leaf and heading on downstream, around the bend, out of sight. Then I move on, without engaging the idea.

• After 43+ years of not facing or even acknowledging I have depression, I fully accept the diagnosis and choose to look it straight in the eye and say, “I have Depression, Depression does not have me.” Keeping depression out in the open where I can see it and see what it is up to has been the best way to keep it at bay, and to forge a new balanced life. Remember, “Depression is Not my Boss.”

Here’s one more reason I am ready for the future.

• I have a marvelous support group. There are so many people to thank for me being where I am today. Having Peer Advocates, all the On Our Own staff and members, my therapist, my psychiatrist, my General Practioner, family and close friends all have helped in immeasurable ways to keep me on track and heading towards a more balanced life.

READ: Depression is sneakier than I thought

So, I will spend a few minutes time traveling into the future, imagining what the year ahead will look like as I apply the tools and lessons I have learned. Then it is back to living in the moment.

Recently, I have had several conversations where I was “just there in the moment.”

I did not have an agenda, I wasn’t waiting for the other person to pause so I could jam in my opinion, I was just enjoying being in the moment and sharing the conversation. I really appreciated how positive and warm that made me feel. And the other person felt heard and validated. What a cool thing.

Slowing down and being in the moment is what I want for the New Year.

What will you resolve to do?