Working or not working - BE PROUD!

Kudos and love go to all you brave BP'ers out there who have stuck it out in the human world and scaled insurmountable odds. You dragged your ass out of bed in the morning when you would have rather put a gun to your head because you had kids to feed. You put your pain and fear and stress and heartache on hold so you could be there for the ones you love. You stayed in the workforce and toughed it out day to day, hiding, fibbing, scheming, doing incredible feats of wheeling and dealing with fate and accumulated leave time as you had to (and cringing inside as you wrestled with the conflicts between your conscience and the demands of survival upon you because of this disorder), so your employers would not discriminate against you for your mental health issues. You did it the hard way because you didn't think you should ask for assistance when others out there were far worse off than you. You deserve a BIG HUG, you made some TOUGH CHOICES and you SURVIVED.

LIKEWISE, kudos and love to all you brave BP'ers out there who have been beaten down by this illness, who have lost careers to it, who have degrees sitting on the shelf they cannot use, who are struggling and hurting and crying out for help, but you're doing the work. You're seeing your docs. You're taking your meds. You're working out your issues and working on your issues. Right now you need help. You paid your fair share into the system while you worked and now you need some of that back to keep yourselves going. Fatcats out there are raising prices out the roof on everything -- housing, utilities, clothing, food, gasoline -- you need help, and help costs money too. Doctors, treatment, therapy & medication don't come cheap and not everyone can find an angel with a Ph.D. or M.D. at the free clinic these days. So give yourselves a BIG HUG for making the DIFFICULT decision to SEEK MONETARY ASSISTANCE. It's NOT easy to admit when you can't juggle all the balls by yourself. It can feel like failure, feel like shame. It threatens our sense of self-sufficiency. But you have NO need to feel bad about needing that help any more than you have to feel bad about needing a therapist or a pill. You are brave, strong warriors against this PARASITE infecting our brains and you deserve cheers and encouragements too! You've made some TOUGH CHOICES and you are SURVIVING.

We're all fighting, we all face hard decisions, and we make them in the ways we see fit to do with the best of what we've got. Let's love, honor, and support one another as we fight together for our dignity, our self-respect, and the reclamation of our lives, shall we?

Hugs to all,
Fire of Unknown Origin
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