It’s a lot easier to forget than it is to remember. But it’s a lot more important to remember than it is to forget.
At least it is for me.
I have a kind of manic-depression (bi-polar, which is a stupid name, frankly) that’s called rapid cycling. That means the time spent wallowing in the valley or shouting on the mountaintop is a lot briefer than it is for most people with the “garden variety” of manic-depression. I usually spend just a few days in either place, maybe a couple weeks, though sometimes the depression can last a month or so.
But it never fails that when I’m in the valley, it seems like the sun has never shone. I beg for prayers. I lie, weeping, on my bed; or numb. Mostly numb.
Then the clouds part, and the sun comes out and everything is just the Best. Thing. Ever.
Oh, you wouldn’t believe the happy in our house this morning. And it’s only going to get better.
For a few days.
Then I’ll be back in the tar pits.
That’s why It’s important for me to remember: as regularly as night follows day, I’m going to get depressed again. And just as regularly, I’ll return to happy. Remembering gives me a chance to prepare for the bad times (cooking ahead, doing laundry, getting some fun time in away from home), and, honestly, keeps me from wanting to carry through with the evil plans I think will relieve my darkness.
Thank God for remembering. Even when I forget.
*****
What’s Five Minute Friday?
A blog-prompt project dreamt up by LisaJo Baker, which you can read about here. The basic idea is that you spend five minutes of writing, generally unedited (I correct typos, WAY too OCD not to do that), on a prompt that she provides just after midnight via a tweet, then spread the word, and link up. Interested? Join up. Enjoy a delightful assortment by clicking on the picture to the right.
Today’s Five Minute Friday selection is also here!
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry . . . 