I can’t begin to express how different I feel today!  Nor can I begin to express how pleased I am about this.

I did manage to get some sleep last night.  Not a great deal and not continuous sleep but hey I am grateful for what I did get.

Yesterday I could almost sense the fog lifting and my mind settling.  Additionally the voices and thoughts appear to have settled and let up on me and it couldn’t have happened at a more needed time as I am not sure how much more of that I could have taken.

So today I start catching up on things that have slipped a little over the past week or so.  It is all part of the cycle  – my mental or physical health worsens and so filing, writing, editing and housework all have to go by the wayside for a while and then my health (mental or physical) improves and I play catch up.

But as I have said many a time and will no doubt say time and time again, there are plenty of folk out there who are far worse off or who have it far worse than I do and so I am just grateful that this last spell is over.

It meant, of course, a very quiet Christmas and New Year but that didn’t matter much as I was very much looking forward to a quiet Christmas and even though it was quiet I still very much enjoyed it.

The highlights for me, other than spending time with my kids, were the Christmas Eve that I spent with my dear Sister from church and her family, the fact that I got to see and spend time with two dear friends from my old church and the fact that I got to chat with my cousin from England.

Anyone who read my Christmas Tree posting and other postings may well by now  have noticed how important family is to me.  Some time back I started tracing my family tree and as a result of this  have discovered some new relatives.  New Year’s eve one of those new relatives – a cousin telephoned me and it was wonderful to get to chat with her.

For me, this is part of a fundamental necessity for those of us who suffer from poor mental health – recognizing and acknowledging those things in life for which we can be grateful.  Despite all the difficulties I face with my mental and physical health I am extremely blessed to have so many things to be grateful for.

Of course now I have the ability to be bold (I mean that in context of the Irish expression meaning naughty or impish) but I am sure I won’t be too bold and won’t overdo things too much. lol

The road ahead in respect of my mental health will no doubt be just as bumpy and unsure as the road behind me but the good news is that at least I still have that road and that thanks to my faith, my family and my friends – including all of you – I don’t travel it alone.