Balancing Life

I think one of the most important things a woman can do is say NO. I think so many times we feel like we have to be able to do it all. We have to work 40-60 hour weeks, be a full time mom or wife/partner, be the 'maid/cook/taxi', take a full semester load, so on and so forth. Basically, we have to be 'wonder woman'.

I think the first step in finding that balance that we need in our lives is learning to say no. The world isn't going to stop turning just because we tell our boss or spouse or family 'sorry I won't be able to do that'; even though we think it is. My mom is the classic example of believing that she has to do it all, without any help. She worked 60 hour weeks and worked towards her PhD and took care of the 'household'. She never complained but she never got to enjoy life. Ben Franklin said, "One today is worth two tomorrows"; I think it's unfortunate that so many women (men too) miss out on so much because we're always worried about tomorrow. We're worried about failing whether it's in our professional life or as a student/mom/partner/wife/sister/daughter etc. When we are able to say no and we take time for ourselves, that's when I think we see the most success.

Shame with mental illness

I think one of the most important things is support. People who are struggling with a mental disorder need to be surrounded with compassion; they need people who will stand beside them and say I am here to help anyway I can but I don't understand what you're going through. Bi-polar runs in my family and though I'm not effected by it I do struggle with depression. One thing that I hate the most when it comes to talking about what I go through is when a person tries to "understand" when they really can't understand.
Another thing that I think needs to be done is reducing the red tape for receiving mental health benefits. Granted some caution needs to be exercised but health insurance companies make it so difficult; I know when I received approval for my mental health benefits, my doctor and I had to jump through the hoops. I had to call and answer a little questionnaire, my doctor had to fill out forms then I had to fill out some forms, the list goes on and on. When you have to go through that it really makes you feel like... well, I'm not really sure how to describe the feeling.
I also think the media plays a large role in how our society views the mentally ill.

Living For The Future

When I first read the blog topic, I found myself agreeing that we need to be concerned with the future and preparing ourselves for what lies ahead. Yet sometime later I found myself disagreeing with statement.

Ben Franklin said, "One today is worth two tomorrows." I couldn't agree more. If we're always living for the future and worrying about what happens next, we miss today. On one hand there's a long list of things that could go wrong with my health (cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, etc) and I should be concerned but on the other hand I could die in car crash on my way to school. There are no guarantees and every day should be lived as it's your last and everyone your meet throughout your day should be treated as if it's their last.

I suppose my point is that nobody lives forever and if you're so caught up in worrying about the future, you miss what's important. Today. Live in the moment: carpe diem (enjoy the present day, seize the opportunity)!