Brother Jeff Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I posted this to Facebook this morning. Sometimes I envy my sister her normal life, but I was surprised to learn that she envies me too sometimes... I posted not too long ago about envying my sister her normal life. She isn't mentally ill and she never got caught up in extreme religious belief the way I did (I still can't believe that happened to me, but I was young and mentally ill and dumb...) But you know what? I found out yesterday that my sister is envious of my life too. She wishes she could go on hikes in beautiful locations in the middle of the day instead of working a job and educating her children. My sister's life has been much more "normal" than mine, but we each can find something to envy in the other's life... My adult life has been a struggle with serious mental illness marked by lots of substance abuse and many dead-end, low-paying jobs. For many years, my life was absolutely miserable. Meanwhile, while I was struggling just to survive, my sister got an education, got married, and had kids. Much more "normal" life... But you know what? I would say now that both of our lives have turned out pretty awesome. Most of my struggles with mental illness are behind me (hopefully, ha!) and so are most of my struggles with substance abuse. I drink occasionally, but not much because it usually just makes me feel like crap. I will have my education soon and I'll be moving back to Texas to start my health coaching business. I'll get to be a part of life there again, which I am really excited about! So life has actually worked out great. I have a family who loves me and supports me and I have friends who accept me for who I am even if they don't always agree with my liberal ex-Christian atheist views... (ha ha...) So... life is good now and I love living it! I would like to amend the part about me being dumb when I was young just a bit. I think it's more a case of being ignorant (which is different from being dumb!) and being impressionable. My friend Mike did an excellent job of getting me into the Christian faith and when I saw the Jesus Film that sealed the deal. I knew that I wanted what this Jesus had to offer. I simply didn't know at the time that it was just ancient mythology with no actual basis in reality, and I didn't know a damn thing about the Bible or what was in it or how it came to be or ANYTHING... I was told that it was the Word of God and I firmly believed that for many years... What a terrible error in judgment that was... but you live and learn and now I am FREE! Glory! 2
FreeThinkerNZ Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I too experienced years of mental illness (depression) and was sucked in by xianity for a long time. I have often envied my sister's "normal" life. So I can really relate to your post. I'm learning that my sister has had her struggles too and she envies me at times. I'm so glad to hear your life is better than it was before. Tell me more about this health coaching thing...
Brother Jeff Posted April 26, 2014 Author Posted April 26, 2014 I too experienced years of mental illness (depression) and was sucked in by xianity for a long time. I have often envied my sister's "normal" life. So I can really relate to your post. I'm learning that my sister has had her struggles too and she envies me at times. I'm so glad to hear your life is better than it was before. Tell me more about this health coaching thing... I'm going to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is based in New York City. It's an online school, so I can do the classes anywhere, which is nice. I'll get my certificate as a Health Coach in July, so graduation is getting close! I will finally be finishing something! My goal as a health coach will be to help people get from where they are to where they want to be in terms of their health. So I'll be offering and supporting healthy choices and lifestyle changes. Once I get my certificate, I can charge $125/hr (or more!) for my services, so I'm really looking forward to that kind of income. But of course it will take time and a lot of planning and effort to build a profitable business. But I am really looking forward to it. Once I move back to Texas in a couple of months or so, I will have Houston and Austin reasonably close by and millions of people as potential clients.
amateur Posted April 26, 2014 Posted April 26, 2014 ^^Awesome plan! One thing I've learned as I've gone through life is that there is not one simple "right" way to live. Living our lives, surviving things, trying things, failing, getting up and starting over -- it's just all part of life, OUR lives, and our experiences. In the end, it's all generally good. Everyone has a story in their lives. Everyone has something to envy. Life isn't a race with one specific prize for the big winners. It's just a long, rambling, interesting, sometimes exciting journey for everybody. 2
FreeThinkerNZ Posted April 26, 2014 Posted April 26, 2014 I too experienced years of mental illness (depression) and was sucked in by xianity for a long time. I have often envied my sister's "normal" life. So I can really relate to your post. I'm learning that my sister has had her struggles too and she envies me at times. I'm so glad to hear your life is better than it was before. Tell me more about this health coaching thing... I'm going to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is based in New York City. It's an online school, so I can do the classes anywhere, which is nice. I'll get my certificate as a Health Coach in July, so graduation is getting close! I will finally be finishing something! My goal as a health coach will be to help people get from where they are to where they want to be in terms of their health. So I'll be offering and supporting healthy choices and lifestyle changes. Once I get my certificate, I can charge $125/hr (or more!) for my services, so I'm really looking forward to that kind of income. But of course it will take time and a lot of planning and effort to build a profitable business. But I am really looking forward to it. Once I move back to Texas in a couple of months or so, I will have Houston and Austin reasonably close by and millions of people as potential clients. What a fantastic plan, I can't think of a more satisfying and enjoyable way to earn a living. 1
FreeThinkerNZ Posted April 26, 2014 Posted April 26, 2014 I just watched this Dusty Smith video about healthy lifestyles, love it: 2
Brother Jeff Posted April 26, 2014 Author Posted April 26, 2014 I just watched this Dusty Smith video about healthy lifestyles, love it: I loved it too, Sister! Thanks! Glory!
RipVanWinkle Posted April 26, 2014 Posted April 26, 2014 While not exactly on point, my adult daughter told me that I had had a good life. In effect she was saying that I have no reason to complain. She knew that I had suffered from depression for a number of years wanted to comfort me. I am not a chronic complainer, but she knew enough to know I was not always very happy. I told her that you can never know whether someone, even someone close to you, has been happy or sad or someplace in between simply because you know him or her well. Contentment (a better word for it than happiness) is determined by how you react internally to good and bad occurrences. It cannot be analyzed by knowing what the person has experienced so much as how experiences are perceived and handled internally. I've read books by people who were captives of the Holocaust and nevertheless were able to lead happy lives after they were freed. I'm not saying that a person can necessarily be taught to handle horrendous things in life without damage. That may be possible with some folks, but with most, I don't think it can be taught. So the only person that really knows how her life has gone is the person who lived it. Of course there are many people who "act out" that give themselves away. But for the most part it is a secret. And for the most part people (unless very special) don't want to hear about it. That's one reason this site is so good. We can vent and people will listen. Ir helps. bill
Akheia Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 That was sweet to read. You're so right. Sometimes I've envied my own sister her normal-seeming life; she has two kids, a marriage that's lasted like 25 years, a house in the suburbs, and all that. But she's told me she kinda envies my life too. I can sleep in on weekends, have sex whenever I want (with consent of course from Mr. Akheia), go out if I can afford it without arranging sitters and whatnot, and my life is not an endless parade of laundry, dog cleanup, and extracurricular activities. You never know what someone else sees in your own life. This health coaching thing sounds very exciting to me too. Good luck with it As more and more people get out of unhealthy lifestyles and start moving toward better decisions and paths, they're going to need help, I bet. Austin sounds like a great place to do that--Houston too for that matter. Very very much know you're supported in this endeavor. GLAW-RY!
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