Have you ever tried mood tracking? I have used apps for this like Bearable which I found was great, but since September I bought a mini-calendar/agenda and have been tracking it there. Each day I write little jot notes about what I got up to that day and a little emoji to rate overall how the day was.

In the last three months, we had Covid, I ended up visiting the hospital (not bipolar or covid related), and then this month we had a death in the family. It’s been a lot. And yet, I find despite those setbacks, I have a lot of smiley faces in my calendar. It’s amazing how being grateful can shape your view on things.

Although the start to January began with much sadness in our family with the loss of our loved one (she was 99!), I felt a momentum to do better and be better because of what I had learned from her. I started doing more of what I love and investing in the people who are important to me, and working on prioritizing my health.

What did this look like? I picked up where I left off on the novel I began writing in September (which I am so excited about!) and got it going again. I finally decided on a bed time that works for me, and have become so much more gentle and patient with my children. I love just sitting with them, listening, as they share their worlds with me. My littlest read a Bible story with me for the first time (the three letter words and smaller) and he was SO proud of himself. I was over the moon. It was his first time and I got to be part of it. “How exciting!!” (as he often will say).

I got back on the Fly Lady Plus App and just moving around attending to vigorous housework in manageable chunks (and with breaks). I took up intermittent fasting, starting at 7:30pm and committed to 3 meals and two snacks a day. I lost 6 lbs in almost 2 weeks just from this change in diet and exercise. I also decided it was time to stop fighting wearing my glasses and now I actually enjoy wearing them.

This is the good stuff. There has been bad stuff too, stuff too personal to write on my blog. I like keeping this space upbeat as much as possible. It’s encouraging to me to write about the happy things in life but I also find it therapeutic to delve into the deep waters of Bipolar from time to time. Not pessimistic, just realistic

Dealing with some of the things I’ve come across in the last few months can be quite an upset for the brain to handle. I’ve tried to create a safe space for processing and distracting at times, but I have my sad times and anger sometimes surfaces. My hope is that I can take the bad that is thrown at me and spin it for good. It’s in line with my faith and who I am as a person. There’s a time to be upset and then there’s a time to press forward. Sometimes you do one for a little bit, then you do another, and then you go back and forth. The goal is to go a little bit further every time I press forward and not go as far back every time I get discouraged.

With the mood tracker, sometimes, I will take a look at the sad emojis (or angry ones) and look to see if there is a common factor that I can take out of my routine or do differently. One of these things for me was my bedtime and so there’s the reasoning for the new bed time. It just makes sense. Other things are going to be in your life no matter what and there is no way around them so it’s a matter of adding something positive to the thing that makes you upset so that that thing is bearable.

Side tracked for a minute… I actually stopped using the Bearable app but I’ve written the word twice now.. maybe it’s a sign I should check it out again?? haha Anyway, that is why I am adding all these things that make me happy to my life, there are things I can’t avoid but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t have things to look forward to. We all need something that makes us get out of bed and smile. Another one of those things is this blog. Honestly when I see that someone subscribed or liked something I wrote, it’s such a mood booster because I know I reached another person and that makes it worth while. I don’t care how many people are reading this blog, if it impacts just one person, then that is amazing. In my case, sometimes just writing a post gives me an idea!

Mood tracking has helped me stay on top of my moods and develop some healthy habits while ridding myself of bad ones. If you want to be honest with yourself and see what’s going on in your life, give it a shot! Maybe you don’t process your life very much and just do day after day trudging along. I’m betting you will find some patterns that will open your eyes and give you a new perspective on how to improve your life. I know it did for me! Thanks for letting me share on here and reading. I truly appreciate each one of you.

Have a beautiful day!

Lindsey