Trust is the glue of life. It is the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It is the foundational principle that holds all relationships.  I have spent decades trying to understand the nature of my two major disabilities, to learn how to cope with and hopefully accept them as integral parts of my life. Over…

Surrender your fear. Something will come that is greater than what the fear is trying to protect. – Mooji  Initially, I was afraid of bipolar disorder primarily because I did not know what it was or what it entailed; it represented Uncertainty. The same was true of cerebellitis, another monumental Uncertainty. Uncertainty means not knowing.…

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. – Mahatma Gandhi  After the shock of bipolar disorder diagnosis slowly began to dissipate, it was followed four years later with…

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. – St. Augustine  Bipolar disorder shook the foundations of my world. Cerebellitis turned my world upside down. After being diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder, and understanding that most likely it would be a permanent part of my life, I religiously…

Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.    Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You. – St. Brendan  After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I spent the next four years trying, and struggling, to follow the advice of Dr. Kafissen: taking my medication every…

Although the life of a person is in a land of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God. – Pope Francis  At the end of this month, I will celebrate my sixty-ninth birthday. Thirty-three years ago, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.…

Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish. – Barbara Smith  I was born with a trusting nature. I believed that trust was an inherent part of every human being’s character: a gift…

Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope. – Pope Francis  I often think of things I have done or said, or failed to do and say, that were cruel, inhumane, or unkind and wounded another in some way. I…

Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us. – Charlotte Bronte  When I was thirty-six-years-old, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder; four years later, cerebellitis was added to my medical history. Either illness, standing alone,…

Life is a long lesson in humility. – J.M. Barrie  Life continues to teach me that humility is not weakness; rather, it is strength. It grounds me; it helps me avoid iron-willed self-determination. It reminds me, often not gently, that the events, circumstances, and outcomes of my life are not mine alone to dictate or…