Espejo

One of the hardest things to accept when you are diagnosed with a mental illness (especially at a young age) is accepting the changes you must make to your lifestyle. Yes, being mentally ill pushes us to change to a healthier lifestyle; there's no point in fighting it. These lifestyle posts will talk about these changes, sometimes with baby but very brave steps.  Exercise Oh, yes, the many many benefits of working out; the XXI-century-media-obsession with being skinny and fit. Exercise is wonderful: Improved sleep Increased sex drive Stress relief Increased energy and stamina Weight reduction Increase mental alertness Improved cardiovascular fitness Improved physical endurance Resilience Reduced cholesterol (Sharma, 2006) But, there's a whole list of excuses I found online as to why people don't work out: The naggy ones: "I hate sweating","I hate sore muscles", "I hate being out of breath", "I hate people in the gym...

More. We always want more. More money, more friends, be more, do more. But we forget something very important. Every more is a less. Easy to explain: More of some priority equals less of another. So we must choose wisely. What do we truly want more of? "2018 will be my bitch." And I filled my schedule with things I needed to get done. More exercise, healthier eating, more water, more love, more authenticity, to be bolder, more organization, more clarity... Yes, all that. And more, but I also want less. I actually want less money. Fewer people around me. Less noise and fewer distractions. I want less partying. This year, I want clarity. The thing is, to achieve it, to have it. I must give up so many things. Some will hurt. Some won't. And some will just confuse me. In the midst of giving up these things, hoping for something better to come along, I'm assuming I won't feel anything like clarity. I'm guessing it'll be like stepping into the thicke...

Addiction is a mental illness.  It has all the characteristics of a mental illness along with being a tabu subject, and therefore a hidden conversation between families and friends. These posts regarding addiction urge to raise awareness and understanding of the process of AA, common behaviors and personality traits of addicts.  STEP ONE I got into rehab at 18 and to my surprise, I wasn't the youngest there. Age and addiction was a repeated pattern made in many conversations. Older addicts, even therapists believed that young addicts weren't going to rehabilitate as easy as a grown up, coming for the first time. It was either "they just haven't hit rock bottom, they haven't lost enough" or "they still have a lot of partying to do". At the moment this seemed bizarre, I had no actual way to relate. To me, yes, I had partied enough and I had lost plenty. But, I hadn't felt many of the things these people were saying. Sure, I've felt pa...

"Boldness implies the willingness to get things done despite risks." I've decided to make BOLD my anthem for 2018, and honestly, I keep seeing the same signs on and on: when people say it in movies or tv, I find it on social media or someone talks about it around me. FREEDOM LIES IN BEING BOLD -  Robert Frost Being bold is the end result of working through many personal issues. I compare being bold to keep the fire inside your soul lit. You have to go through every step in the AA program, starting for the very first one: admit surrender. Recognise rock bottom. There's nothing compared to meeting someone who has lived hell and made their way back. They have unique awareness, strength, and appreciation for all things in life. It's kind of falling to the end of a pool and pushing yourself once you've touched the ground. Today I was reading a book on Mexico's cultural, social and technological evolvement (México Rifado from Gabriela de la Riva) and I...

Addiction is a mental illness.  It has all the characteristics of a mental illness along with being a tabu subject, and therefore a hidden conversation between families and friends. These posts regarding addiction urge to raise awareness and understanding of the process of AA, common behaviors and personality traits of addicts.  STEP ONE "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or whatever poison you chose)- that our lives had become unmanageable" As any bibble, in any religion,  AA literature has been misconstructed into just uttering the words "hey, I'm an addict", as if just nodding to the problem was enough. For now let's stay in the first step which, surprise, my friends: this is way deeper, that's why it's the hardest one. You must admit complete defeat and surrender. Compared to admitting bankruptcy, you have to look in the mirror and say "I don't have more power, more will. I've lost all self-sufficiency and stre...