Fresh Hope Blog
Christmas Lessons When We Are Depressed At Christmas
Good News…you don’t have to have a perfect Christmas. Christmas lights burn out. Your cat attacks the tree. The turkey doesn’t thaw in time or
Category: Fresh Hope Resources
Mental Health Life Hacks for the Holidays
I trim the Christmas tree but also trim my schedule. Some time ago I learned what is called the Pareto Principle which states that 80% of your reward comes from 20% of your effort. While the percentages may be argued I have learned that about 20% of what I do bring 80% of my satisfaction.
Fresh Hope for Mental Health
Biblical Gratitude: Rethinking How We Give Thanks
In today’s world, the standard question I hear is, “What do I have to be thankful for?” While that might be a valid question it’s really unrelated to the topic of Biblical gratitude. Scripture doesn’t tell us to make a list of what we are thankful “for” but instead that we need to be thankful “in” everything give thanks. There’s a big difference between the two.
Music for Your Soul When You Are Going Through Difficulties
This edition of Fresh Hope for Mental Health is for anyone who is going through a difficult time in their life whether they have a mental health issue or not. So, this is one podcast that you are going to want to share with any of your friends or family who are in a valley of challenges right now.
Fresh Hope Blog
Bi-Polar? Life Hacks For The Holidays
As a child every Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday I would become sick. Don’t misunderstand. Mine was a “Leave It To Beaver” childhood. It was an idyllic 1950’s
Fresh Hope Blog
Do It Again
This is a wonderful song by Elevation Worship. When anxiety or depression sticks it ugly head out, I cling to this song. It reminds me
Perfection Versus Imperfect Progress
gain, this “journey of wellness” is not one of perfection. It is a journey of imperfect progress. To make this journey you and I must be willing to accept the fact that we are never going to be perfect. No one is perfect. Recovery, which I define as taking back one’s life in a new way, is built upon failures in which we learn from them, get back up and continue to move forward. Shaming ourselves and believing that a failure constitutes us as complete failures simply is a lie straight from the pits of hell! Everybody fails. Everyone falls short of the mark. What makes the difference between those who decide to give up and believe the lie that they are total failures versus those who succeed? It’s simple; understanding that moving forward is one of imperfect progress versus perfection.
When Living Well is in Jeopardy
So, I do this every day. If my ability to live well in spite of having bipolar disorder feels at jeopardy and I feel as though I’m not doing emotionally well (stable), I ask myself the following questions which help me answer why I’m not doing well.
Real Hope Has Gotten Me Through My Hopelessness
Probably one of the most peculiar things about hope and hopelessness is that they can co-exist in life. When I reflect on the greatest difficulties and deepest depression that caused extreme despair in my life, it was hope that got me through the hopelessness. But it was not the “wishful-thinking” kind of hope that life would get better that got me through the hopelessness. That kind of “hope” is nothing more than wishful thinking that things may or may not get better. And that kind of hope was not enough for me. Hoping that things might get better could not even bring about the smallest of cracks within my despair.
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