I don't there's many of us who haven't at least seen a yo-yo. We've watched it go up and down and up and down. Some of us have even tried it. There are those who could barely get it to go up and down. Then there were those who could do amazing tricks with them.
A yo-yo is a good analogy for daily
life. There are ups and downs, some days we can barely make it, and
others are amazing and we feel awesome. The thing about a yo-yo is
you don't always have control over if it goes up or down. People do
have some control over that. My N post goes over this so I'm not
going to get into it here. But remember that we have some control
over what makes us feel bad.
Another thing that a yo-yo can be an
analogy for is the mood swings of someone suffering from mental
illness. One day they're fine, happy, and as normal as life gets for
them. The next they can be depressed, violent, self harming
themselves, suffer hallucinations, etc.
No one can know when a mood swing will
happen. There are certain things that could trigger them. A bad day,
a harsh word, reading something that upsets them. Or there isn't
anything that you can see that sends them off into their low mood.
There are days where we don't know the reason why we hit that low.
With medication, meditation, exercise,
hospitalization, and/or counseling, there is a way for us to bounce
back up. We aren't as quick as a yo-yo but it does happen. Just like
people who don't have a mental illness. We aren't that different from
those around us. We just have a chemical issue that requires further
assistance before we can reach something we can consider normal.
Then there are the awesome days, the
ones where it's easy to have a good day. Things go smoothly for us.
There's something to excite us, or we're rewarded for something. Our
favorite song plays on the radio. We get a day off and do something
fun – just define what fun is for you. Those awesome days are also
part of a yo-yo life.
Life is like a yo-yo. Be patient and it
will always go back up. It may take time. But it will.
