SuccessStory

So today I am actually feeling proud of myself & able to accept some praise. At age 36, 18 years after graduating HS, & 13 years after earning my AA, I FINALLY received my Bachelors degree. Growing up I was the perfect student who had my “perfect plan” of exactly how my life was going to go. Since toddlerhood all I ever wanted was to be an elementary school teacher. I thought I would have achieved my goal by age 22, max. — In this happy moment, I do not want to go into all the gory details of how mental illness & substance abuse have slowed down & hindered my goals, but my life has been chaotic at the best moments, & an absolute nightmare at others due to untreated mental illnesses until age 30. So my goals were extremely hard to obtain, & at one point (in 2016), I even attempted suicide to try to forsake all my goals completely.

Today I am so unimaginably happy & grateful I survived my suicide. Sometimes I don’t even know how I achieved all I have, but I am proud & plan to keep going. I am nervous about what comes next, but not scared. I truly look forward to the future. #SuccessStory #Bipolar1Disorder #BipolarDisorder #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #EatingDisorders #ADHD #Fibromyalgia

Letting go of visions and dreams unachieved is very hard for me. I can often feel like a failure, or that I let people down, or that I’m weak and haven’t reached my potential and these thoughts have weighed me down in the past …but instead of beating myself up I always try to live in the moment…. I’m proud of the journeys I’ve been on, of the things I have accomplished, and sometimes I just have to simply remind myself that I’m a survivor in many ways…so I write about the story I ‘m actually living with pride and a sense of accomplishment… #Depression #Anxiety #BipolarDepression #BipolarDisorder #MentalHealth #PTSD #Addiction #HIVAIDS #positive #Disability #accomplishment #positivethoughts #DisabilityPride #SuccessStory #SOBER #Joy #StoryTellingSavesLives #happyconfidentme #thankful #Gratitude