I Finally Use The S-Word On Here (Not the 4 letter one)

This quote was recently in an Ensign article about infertility. A woman facing that challenge in her life remembers hearing a bishopric member during Sunday School say:

“When someone has an ailment or an illness and they are healed as the result of a blessing, their faith is being strengthened. But for those who aren’t healed but continue faithful, their faith is being perfected. The first is a faith-promoting experience. The second is faith-perfecting.”

I obviously don't have the challenge of infertility in my life. For all of the complaining that I do during my pregnancies about the difficulties I face during them, I am truly grateful that I haven't been faced with this challenge. However, anyone who's followed my blog for any amount of time knows that I am have been diagnosed with Type II Bipolar Disorder and have struggled for the past few years with trying to hold on to my sanity (even at times when there was barely enough left to hold on to) and being suicidal. WOAH! I finally used the s-word on here. I'm sure I've alluded to it, but I haven't come right out and said it. Yeah, it has been a HUGE, almost daily, struggle for the past 2 years or so. Anyway, a blogger that I follow had this quote on her post and it really spoke to me because it doesn't just apply to infertility. It applies to all ailments and illnesses, a category which bipolar certainly falls into. So when things are a struggle for me, I will do my best to remember this quote. Maybe I'll find some way to display it in my new bedroom when we move, since I'll be losing my beloved vinyl of "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured".

All of this being said, I found out recently (because I specifically went looking for it, actually) that May is Mental Health Month. So instead of posting a status about it on my Facebook for an hour and trying to convince people to put it as their status as well, I'm going to issue a challenge to them and on here as well. Please, please, PLEASE find someone during the month of May who suffers from any kind of mental illness and do something nice for them that will help make their life a little brighter. Suffering from mental illness royally sucks and it's so easy to feel alone. When someone does something nice to show me that they care, it makes my day (possibly even my week or month *ahem, Alana and the cheeseburgers*). It means so much. So please do something to let someone who will struggle for sanity for the rest of their life know that you care about them. It could make a HUGE difference.