Bipolar: Accepting Imperfections
Published: Tue, 08/27/13
Hi ,
How are things going for you today?
I hope you're having a great day.
I want to tell you about a woman I read about
recently.
This woman was so obsessed with perfection that
she literally made herself sick.
The problem was, in her eyes, that her body was
fat.
Every time she looked in the mirror, she saw herself
as fat.
Now, that didn't make it true, it's just the way she
saw herself.
She would read magazines and want to be as thin and
perfect as the models in the magazines.
She wanted a perfect body.
So she practically starved herself to get one.
There is such a thing as losing too much weight, however,
and/or losing it in the wrong way.
Instead of simply eating a healthy diet and losing weight
slowly like she should have, she just stopped eating almost
altogether.
She did drink water, however, and lots of it.
The water only flushed out needed nutrients, though.
The next thing she knew, she was in the hospital with an
almost fatal blood pressure and loss of electrolytes in
her body.
She was down to 95 pounds.
But she still thought she was fat.
In the hospital, they had to give her several bags of fluids
to get her blood pressure back up.
She was very weak, and very sick.
The problem was not in her body, though -
It was in her mind.
She wanted to be perfect, and almost died in the
process.
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Imperfection is a fact of life.
It's hard to accept our own imperfections, much less
someone else's.
This woman became obsessed with having a perfect
body.
You know I work out a lot, and I see men all the time
who are trying to do the same thing.
Instead of just accepting that they aren't Superman, they
try and try to "buff up" not for healthy reasons, but for
personal reasons.
Like this woman, they are unhappy with their bodies.
They think that if they just work out enough, they will
have "six-pack abs" and all the rest, and then their life
will be perfect.
That's the wrong way to approach it, though.
It's one thing to try to improve yourself.
It's quite another thing if your motivation is to be
perfect.
Sometimes it's hard for a supporter of a loved one with
bipolar disorder to accept their own limitations.
They want to be the perfect supporter.
In my courses/systems, I talk about what makes a good
supporter.
But never do I say that you have to be perfect at it.
SUPPORTING AN ADULT WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarsupporter.com/report11
SUPPORTING A CHILD/TEEN WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.bipolarparenting.com
HAVE BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Visit:
http://www.survivebipolar.net
All you can do is be the best supporter you can be, and
accept that you're not going to be perfect.
No one is.
If you're looking for the magic formula that tells you how
to be the perfect supporter, you won't find one.
But if you can accept your own imperfections, it will be
easier to accept your loved one's imperfections.
No matter how much they try or what they do, your loved
one will never be the perfect bipolar survivor, either.
There's an expression that says:
"It's ok to strive for perfection, as long as you accept that you
will never arrive there."
If you accept your loved one as they are, understanding that
they are trying their best to recover, things will be much
easier for you.
Just don't expect them to be perfect.
And don't expect yourself to be perfect, either.
What do you think?
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Well, I have to go!
Your Friend,
Dave
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