It hasn't been an easy year - far from it. Health wise I have embarked on a new treatment regime which has as always had its ups an downs and affected both my physical and mental health. In terms of work I have never worked so hard and given so much of myself before. Family wise my boys continue to grow and there is the little part inside me that aches every day with the pain of knowing that there will never be another little one in our family courtesy of my fertility being taken from me by illness.
However - a very strange thing has occurred. Regardless of all of the above I can honestly say hand on heart that this is the first year in at least 10 years that I have not had a significant downturn in my mental health.
This year has been different and reflecting back I understand why. This year I have 100% put my WRAP to work, but more than that I have truly embraced what is known as the "assets based approach" to life. In simple terms - focusing on what's right not what's wrong.
Looking back I think that this seed was planted when I first encountered WRAP. WRAP very much encourages you to focus on what you can do - not what you can't. It has been a seed that has taken time to grow, but it has slowly blossomed and it now feels like its strong and rooted.
I didn't waken up one day and BOOM life had miraculously changed, I worked on change. I worked on really trying hard to see the positives in each situation rather than the negatives.
I really started to self advocate with regards to my health & treatment options and this has led to positive change. I entered my new treatment regime with an optimistic but realistic view - that things were going to be rocky but I had the tools and support to deal with it. And I did deal with it (and still am). My knowledge of both myself and my treatment options have aided this process greatly - without them I would still be stumbling around in the dark.
I literally took the bull by the horns and decided that if I wanted my life to change then I needed to change it. I needed a new challenge and wanted to make a real difference for others who are living with long term health conditions that affect their mental health. But I needed support to do it. So I asked for help - simple! And before I knew where I was I had registered a charity and secured funding for a new project, The Hope Café. It was as much of a shock to me as it was to my long suffering and ever so patient husband who simply said "you've done WHAT???"
And that is the biggie in all of this - the little but large thing called HOPE. The very first key concept that underpins the WRAP programme. With it you have everything - without it you have nothing. Hope has been the fuel to my fire in 2014 and I carry it forward into 2015 in abundance. Hope is unique to each individual - but what's important is that you have it. In 2014 I found it in abundance from the people who surrounded me, supported me and believed in me. There were times where things went wrong, times when things didn't work out quite as planned but having hope and a belief that things would and could get better absolutely carried me through what has turned out to be a fantastic year.
So below are a few of the little sayings that struck a cord with me and helped me in 2014 - I hope they help you. And if you would like to learn more about WRAP and The Hope Café Self-management Peer Support project why not come along to our information session on 20th January and say hi - details here http://hopecafelanarkshire.org.uk/news/want-find-out-more-about-hope-cafe-come-chat-us-January
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