All things move towards their end.   It’s a truism.   You can’t get away from it.

And today, the end has come for me on Flipswitch. For the last couple of years, I’ve been your friendly neighborhood podcast host trying, along with my many amazing cohosts, to inform you about the ups and downs of living with a mood disorder, usually bipolar disorder and depression.  I’ve tried to stress that information is everywhere on how to deal well with a mood disorder, but that it’s the questions that are hard to answer that are all too often the proverbial stone in the shoe.

Today, I’m moving on to greener pastures.  At least I think they’re greener.  Come to think of it, the promised me jet packs and flying cars as well.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I should think more about this. Oh well, what can ya do?

Regardless of my leaving, remember that the The Balanced Mind Foundation will be around to provide you with information, support groups and more all to help you in your own struggles with a mood disorder, whatever it may be.  Bpkids.org on the web.  It changed my life and I’ll bet that it can change yours too.

So, as I’m leaving, I have to think hard on my parting advice to all of you.   And the only thing I keep coming back to is this:  You’re in charge.  You can do and feel better.  Just keep moving forward in a positive way, and things will get better.   

Sounds simple enough, right.   But life is rarely so simple.  I personally believe that there is a sort of physics to life; that if you do the right things, regardless of what setbacks you have, generally you’ll come out doing better than if you do the wrong things.   And those “things” are really pretty typical stuff you learned in school and church and from mom and dad.  Don’t cheat, steal, lie.  Don’t hide when life gets scary.  Be good to other people.  Always try to be better than you were the day before.  And above all, believe that change for the better is possible.  Again, sounds simple, but think how often in a given day you yourself might shy away from some of these principles. 

A guy cuts you off in traffic. “Bad stuff always happens to me.”  Not really.  You feel lonely.  “I’ll always be lonely.”  I don’t want to deal with that person.  “So, I’ll tell a little lie to get out of talking to them.”   And the biggest lie of all, “It’s no use.”   

It’s amazing that anyone ever gets anything done with all the ways we opt out of living a good life.  

Now, I’m not saying, be a good person and you’ll never have problems.  You’ll always have problems.  That’s a given.  Everyone does.  If you figure out how to avoid them, call me and tell me your secret.  What I am saying though is that you must be brave and believe that YOU are in charge of your life.  That YOU can do better.  And that YOU can seek the help you need.  And if you do those things, and accept that you have control over your life and trying to better it, you’ll notice that “being a good person” just starts to come naturally after a while.  

But the moment you start believing that there’s nothing you can do to better, the moment you start saying, “I have no choice,” the moment you start saying, “What do any of those people know.”  The moment you think nothing really matters, that same phsyiscs that leads to a peaceful mind and soul will go in reverse and you’ll find yourself in the worse and worser shape.  

Think about the people that thrive in spite of their handicaps and set backs.  Do any of them seem like they simply accept that they’re done for by their problems?   Do any of them seem like they’re out to destroy a world that has been so cruel to them?  

No, they’ve kept moving forward and learning from the brutal realities of life.  They’ve tried to learn from their mistakes.  And above all else, they believed that they could make a difference sooner or later in their life.   

You can make a difference in your own life as well as the lives of others too. 

Repeat it like a  mantra if you have to:  I’m in charge,  I can do and feel better.   If I keep moving forward in a positive way,  things will get better.    

 It’s the only truth I’ve found out there that cuts to the heart of matters.  If you need to take medication, so be it.  Don’t hide from it. YOu’re facing down your problems.  If your relationship with your therapist isn’t working after a long while, you’re the boss, and you can find someone that you feel comfortable and safe with.  If you’ve made some horrible mistakes that people hold against you because you were manic or because you were so sad you didn’t think anytihng mattered, apologize and accept that others have the right to feel hurt.  It’s not about being a good person as much as believing that you’re in charge of your own life.   Anything else is just a lie and will ultimately lead you to feeling much worse about everything.

 I”m in charge.  I can do and feel better.  If I keep moving forward in a positive way, things will get better. 

As I leave you, ladies and gentlemen, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to the entire The Balanced Mind Foundation staff;  Shira, Susan, Nanci, Liz, Dennisse and the host of volunteers.  They have meant more to me than I can ever express.  And you people that have devoted some of your time listening to our show and thinking about these issues, I can’t thank you enough.  It all means so much to me.  I’ll miss each and every one of you. 

And as I leave, as things look so scary in front of me without The Balanced Mind Foundation, even I have to remember:  I’m in charge.   I can do and feel better.  If I keep moving forward in a positive way, things will get better.   I can..................