Confused

I am confused about something. I am not afraid to shout my opinion out at the world concerning mental illness, addiction, and alcoholism. I am not afraid to tell people about these three subjects. My purpose in doing so is to help the mental health community. Another purpose is to educate society about mental illness with the purpose of stamping out that awful stigma that society has towards those with a mental illness. When it comes to this I am totally fearless and courageous.

Another thing that I am not afraid to shout out at the world is my political opinions. I am not afraid to tell people who I am voting for and try to persuade others to vote for the same party. It is election time in Nova Scotia again and I have been putting entries on my blog about who I vote for and why my readers should vote for the same party. In fact Kim and I have a sign on our front yard for Jim Morton and the NDP. When it comes to political things I am fearless and courageous concerning shouting out my political opinions at the world.

The thing that I am confused about is this: Why am I afraid and a coward when it comes to shouting out my opinions at the world concerning my religious beliefs? For some reason I am afraid and a coward when it comes to sharing what I believe concerning the gospel of Christ and the Christian faith. I don't know why. I believe what I believe and I should be fearless and courageous in sharing it with the rest of the world. I am when it comes to everything else I believe in strongly. I personally believe that God has saved my soul and has given me eternal life and I should be willing to shout it out at the world. The apostle Paul stated in the Bible: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Why am I afraid? Don't know.

I just wanted to share this with my readers. I am not afraid and a coward when it comes to sharing what I believe concerning mental illness, addiction, alcoholism, and politics but I am afraid and a coward when it comes to sharing my religious beliefs. I truly do not know why. I am hoping that some day God will remove my fear and cowardliness and make me fearless and courageous in shouting out at the world what I personally believe about the Christian faith.

A Good Time

Kim and I had a wonderful time yesterday. First of all I went to work at CMHA at 9:30 am. I spent a couple hours doing research for a future article. Kim and our support worker picked me up when I was finished.

Then at 12:30 we went to Canning for a retirement party for one of the members of CAPRE. We had a great time there. They served food and drink. They had a few musicians there. There was someone playing the violin, recorder, and a guitar. The music was great. At 4:00 we called a cab and went home.

At 5:30 we called up a cab and went to Swiss Chalet for a meal. I forget what the meal was called but it was delicious. It had chicken, green, yellow, and red peppers in it. There were other veggies on it too. It was wrapped up in flour tortilla bread. We also had poutine with it. We just took our time and enjoyed the meal.

After the meal was over we went to Tim Horton's at the mall. We sat there for about an hour. Then we went to the Kim Mitchell concert. There were two bands that opened for him. They were pretty good. I enjoyed their music. Finally Kim Mitchell came on stage. Did he ever have the place rockin. The music was awesome.

Kim calls up the local radio station quite often. She talks to Kate and Collin. Kim got to meet them last night at the concert. She was glad to meet them. They were glad to meet her. Both of them really liked her in person. Kim liked them in person too.

While I was there at the concert my heart was filled with thanksgiving and gratefulness. Everyone around me was drinking. Here I was at this concert watching everyone drink clean and sober. I was there without using actually enjoying the music. I can enjoy the music better clean and sober than I can when stoned and drunk. I was so pleased about the situation I cannot put it into words.

While there though Kim started taking sick. Her allergies were acting up. So we had to leave the concert and hour early. We went to Boston Pizza and called a cab. We had to wait a while for the cab. They were really busy because this week is Apple Blossom. There are a lot of festivities going on for Apple Blossom. That is why Kim Mitchell was playing here.

Finally we made it home. I had a coffee, took my meds, then went to bed. We got up around 11:00 am this morning. I was able to get up this morning without a hang over. That is a great feeling to wake up this way. Today Kim and I are going to bake some cookies and blueberry muffins. After that is done I am going to do some research today. I will also probably play my computer war game today sometime.

It is great to be clean and sober, recovering from my schizophrenia, and my OCD. I can actually enjoy life and have a good time in life. I just love life and love being alive. I can live a life of meaning and purpose. I am a productive member of society. All in all I am just living a wonderful life. I don't know if things can get any better.

For my readers who are consumers I wish you a great and successful recovery.

Bye for now.

Busy

I am going to be a busy man. Once our store gets started up I will be working long hours. I will probably be working the store 10 hours a day. I am not going to give up my writing jobs either. I will have to find time for my writing jobs. I will also have to find time to continue writing for my blogs I have on the net. I also need to find time to continue with my research. I do a lot of research on schizophrenia, addiction, alcoholism, and Christianity. I have the passion to get knowledge. There is a saying, "knowledge is power." Especially if it is the right kind of knowledge. I am a intellectual type person. I would rather do research on the afore mentioned topics than read a novel. I personally believe that reading novels is a waste of time. Reading up on schizophrenia, addiction, alcoholism, and Christianity is not a waste of time. Getting knowledge is very important to me. If it was practical I would go to university and stay there long enough to get my PHD. It is not practical though. It would take me over 12 years to get my PHD. By the time I graduate it will be to late for me to acquire work in my field of study. I would also owe the government thousands of dollars. I would have to get student loans to pay for my education. So, I have decided to get knowledge on my own. Being self taught is just as good as being taught by a professor. In fact I could probably learn more on my own than I could in university. I get to study what I want to study not what my professors want me to study. I can pick my own works to study. I can study what I personally feel is the most important thing to study. In other words being self taught is the best way to go. I also have enough self-esteem to believe that I am capable of learning just as much as someone getting their PHD. There was a time when my self-esteem was zero. I am on the journey to recovery and I am grateful and thankful unto God that I am recovering. I am only recovering because of God's Divine Providence and Intervention. I owe my whole recovery to God. He did through medicine, psychology, and spiritual interventions. I am so grateful and thankful that I am not able to put it into words.

Bye for now.

Good luck in your own recovery.

Things Are Happening

Things are happening for Kim and I. If everything goes according to plan Kim and I will have our own retail store by the end of October this year. The store will be located on Commercial Street in New Minas. This is the main drag. We have chosen this street because we believe that we would get more customers in our store than if the business was located off the beaten path.

We will be selling the scarves, blankets, and cat toys that Kim makes herself. We will be also selling items that other people make as well on consignment. We will be selling other products as well such as craft supplies, Christmas ornaments, all year round ornaments, crystal ornaments, Disney products, bird houses, bird feeders, cook books, homemade quilts, ball caps, homemade phone book covers, homemade dish cloths, and many other products.

Kim and I have changed the name of our business. It was "Kims Crafts." Now it is "Kim Tony and Company." The reason for the name change is because we have decided to sell other products besides crafts.

We have been receiving help from the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network and CAPRE. Both of these organizations help people with disabilities start up and maintain a business. Both have been a great help to us. They are teaching us all the necessary skills we need to start up and maintain our business.

Kim and I are really excited about the whole thing. We are aware of and know that this endeavor is going to take a lot of hard work. Despite that we are looking forward to having a ball with this project. By having our own business we will be our own bosses. We can buy and sell what we want to. We will have control over who works for us. Most of all Kim and I both love working with people and helping people. Having our own business will give us the opportunity to do this.

Here is the link to our business blog

http://kimscrafts-kim.blogspot.com/

Here is the link to the EDN website.

http://www.ednns.ca/ab_mission.php

Video Interveiw With Jim Morton, NDP Candidate Kings North

Hello Everyone. Here is the link to a video interview with NDP Candidate Jim Morton for Kings North.

novanewsnow.com > County of Kings > Candidate Profile, 2009 Provincial Election

NDP - Jim Morton - Meet Your Candidate

It's election time again. Here is the web page for Jim Morton our local candidate for Kings North.

NDP - Jim Morton - Meet Your Candidate

NDP - Darrell Dexter - A Better Deal

It's election time again. Here is the link to the NDP web site.

NDP - Darrell Dexter - A Better Deal

Election Time Again

It is election time again in Nova Scotia. We are voting to see who is going to be our Premier. I am voting for the NDP. I personally feel that they are in politics for the people and will do their best to do what is beneficial for the people. Most politicians do what benefits them the most not what benefits the people. I personally believe that the NDP will do their very best to do what's in the best interest for society. Not just certain parts of society but all society. They will try to solve the economic situation we are in at the present moment. They will try to alleviate poverty in our Province. They will try to improve the health care system and cut down on waiting times. They will try to create jobs and keep the young people in Nova Scotia. At the present moment a lot of young people have to move away just to find a half decent job. They will also do what they can to improve the environment. Overall I believe that everyone should vote NDP. In the past the Liberals or the PC's haven't done much to improve the quality of life for all society. Including the poor. We need a change. That change is the NDP.

Research, Study and Writing

I have decided to advance further in my writing career. I want to become a successful, paid, published, free lance writer. I have been giving a lot of serious thought as to what field I want to research, study, and write about.

I have been seriously considering becoming a science writer. In school I never got past grade nine. As a result of this I never got training in the basic science concepts of high school. So I am thinking about researching and studying the basics I missed in high school. Once I master the basics then I will advance my studies further. I've decided to specialize in scientific research being done on mental illness, addiction, and alcoholism. Once I develop a real good working knowledge on these topics then I will start writing on them and seek to get my works published. I will start finding scientists to interview for my stories.

I have a keen interest in science and mathematics. These were my favorite subjects in school and I made my best marks in these subjects. The decision I made concerning what to write about is based on my passion for math and science. Even though I have no formal training in math and science I am quite capable of teaching myself on these topics. I believe that I can learn just as much as a university student. I will just be teaching myself instead of being taught by a professor.

Before I actually start writing for publication I want to do much research and study first. I believe that a writer needs a real good working knowledge on their subject before they start writing. The editors can tell if you know your subject or not. If the editors think that you don't know your subject very well they will not publish your work. I am going to give myself a year or two before I start submitting works to be published. I am going to start a science blog though and write for that for practice and to develop my science writing skills. I have never written anything on science so I will need to develop the necessary skills to write about this topic. I just thrive on challenges. I am looking forward to mastering this new challenge.

It will take a lot of time before I will start becoming successful as a science writer. There is lots of time. I am not going to a fire. I will just take things slowly and take things one step at a time. Eventually I will reach my destination. There is a lot of hard work ahead of me but I feel that I am up to it. I am looking forward to my journey. I am going to seek to enjoy the journey and eventually arrive at my destination.

Wish me luck.

Hobbies

I personally believe that hobbies are very beneficial to ones mental health. Especially if one isn't working. We need to find things to do that will occupy our time. We do not want to be just sitting around doing nothing. That just gives us opportunity to dwell on our problems. We need to get away from our thoughts and be occupied with something.

A person needs to sit down and figure out what sort of things that they enjoy doing. Maybe even experimenting with different activities just to find out what we do like. There are myriads of choices out there. For example. Reading, listening to music, painting, drawing, knitting, playing a musical instrument, writing, and playing computer games. These are things that someone can do individually.

There are other things one can do that involves other people. For example. Playing hockey, soccer, tennis, baseball, playing board games, playing card games, playing floor hockey, volley ball, playing chess, engaging in track and field, skiing, snowshoeing with others, and many other activities as well.

A person can engage in activities such as bird watching, hiking, canoeing, fishing, camping, nature watching, back packing, whale watching, winter camping, and deep sea fishing. The list is endless.

All these activities are very beneficial to a persons mental health. Doing things that don't involve other people are great for just spending time with yourself. A person needs time out from all the other activities and hassles of life. Engaging in individual activities help you get focused on what you are doing and just have fun. It teaches you to be successful at your activity. It helps you develop good self-esteem. It teaches you to believe in yourself. It shows you that you can do things and be successful at what you are doing. It is just beneficial to you psychologically and emotionally. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. It gives you something to do to give you meaning and purpose in life. A person does not have to work to find meaning and purpose in life. You can find it in your hobbies. Overall it is just great for you mental health.

What about engaging in activities that involve other people? This is very beneficial to your mental health as well. It helps you get out and be with other people. You don't have to sit around where you live and be alone all of the time. Consumers have a habit of sticking to themselves and not getting out to socialize. It's a pretty lonely life. If we get out and engage in activities with others we are not so alone in life. It teaches us how to conduct oneself appropriately when engaging in social activities. It teaches us how to communicate with others. It teaches us what team work is all about. Very simply engaging in social activities brings much joy and happiness in life.

Overall hobbies are a great thing to have in ones life. The benefits are endless. I have just scratched the surface. There many many other benefits to engaging in hobbies as well. If you are just sitting around not doing anything with your time try to pick something that you might enjoy doing and give it a try. You will be surprised at the outcome. If you have to experiment with different activities until you find one that best suits your personality, and that you love to do. I engage in hobbies when I am not working at my jobs that I have. I get great pleasure out of doing this. I get the same benefits from it that I have been discussing in this article. Give it a try. You will not be disappointed.

My Computer

My computer is my sanity. I spend 99% of my spare time on my computer.

I use it for my research. I have several blogs on the net that I write for. I use my computer for my writing for my two writing jobs. I also play computer games on it as well.

I do a lot of research on the net. I research Christianity, schizophrenia, concurrent disorders, addiction, and alcoholism. I also do some research on Church History. I also do research on the scientific aspects to mental illness, concurrent disorders, addiction, and alcoholism. Especially scientific research on these topics. I am an intellectual type person. I get great pleasure out of doing research. I would rather do research on these topics than read a novel. To me personally reading novels is just a waste of time. I am a knowledge seeker. I want to get knowledge. There is a saying, "knowledge is power." Especially if it's the right type of knowledge.

Concerning my blogs I am having a ball. I just love writing. I love the very act of writing. I love sharing my knowledge with others through the medium of writing. I also love to share my experience, strength, and hope with others. I love writing about my personal experiences. I love to use my writing skills to help others. I love to tell others that there is hope. Recovery is truly possible.

I presently have two writing jobs. I write for the "A Mental Health Perspective" newsletter. This newsletter is published by the Kings County Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. It is an excellent newsletter. It has quite a wide distribution. It is distributed all over Nova Scotia, even as far as Australia. I love writing for this newsletter. It gives me the opportunity to help the mental health community. I can also help reduce that awful stigma out there in society. One way to reduce stigma is to educate the public about mental illness. I also write for the "Schizophrenia Newsletter" published by the Kings County Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of NS. This newsletter comes out every four months. It contains a lot of good articles pertaining to schizophrenia. It covers a variety of subject matter on schizophrenia. It is the perfect medium to get the word out there. I just love writing for this newsletter.

When I need to get away from it all I play computer games. I just love playing war games. I play with infantry men, tanks, half tracks, war planes, and other types of war machines. I can play my games for hours even without a smoke break. I do this just for fun and relaxation. It gets my mind off the everyday hassles of life. It gets me away from my problems for awhile. It is just time out for myself.

Overall computers are a very important component in my life. I use them both for work and for fun. I get much pleasure and satisfaction out of using computers. I am grateful and thankful that man has invented computers. Without my computer I would be like a little lost sheep in the wilderness. Thank God for computers.

The Benefits of Working

There are a lot of benefits to working. I am going to share how working is beneficial to me personally.

Working helps me psychologically. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I accomplish something every time I put in a days work. It makes me feel that I am a productive member of society. I work to help support myself and I also pay income tax. It gives me an opportunity to socialize with other members of society. Going to work everyday gives me meaning and purpose in life which I never had when I wasn't working. I have something to look forward to everyday. I get the sense that I am living a normal lifestyle because working is essential component of life. I am doing what the rest of society is doing. I personally feel that I am part of the community I live in because everyone else is working as well. I do not feel like an outcast of society any more. I am one with society. Even though I work I still receive some assistance from social services. I do not make enough income to completely support myself but I feel good because I am doing all that I can to support myself and bring in some income even though it is not enough to completely go off of social assistance.

Of course, I benefit financially. If I was not working I would not be able to afford my internet. I am able to afford my tobacco which I would not be able to buy if I wasn't working. After these two things are taking care of I have extra money for other things. I spend some money on my wife. I just love to be able to buy things for Kim. I also have some money to spend on myself as well. Sometimes things crop up and I have the money to take care of these things as well.

Overall working benefits me psychologically, emotionally, and financially. I am just so grateful and thankful that I am able to work. There was a time when I wasn't able to work as a result of my mental illness's, addiction, and alcoholism. I was unemployed for a period of roughly 20 to 25 years. Now, I have been working since August 2001 in the regular work force like the rest of society. I feel good about the whole thing. Recovery is truly possible. There is hope.

Treating The Whole Person

At the present moment the psychiatric profession treats schizophrenia in two ways. The bedrock of treatment is medication of course. We need medication to get the positive and negative symptoms under control. Once the medication takes hold and gets the symptoms under control then consumers receive psycho-social treatments which are based on the concepts of psychology.

What about the rest of the person? I personally believe that mankind has a spiritual side to them. When people talk about the medication and the psychological side to treatment everything is just fine. Once you start talking about treating the spiritual side everyone gets up in arms. Especially if one starts talking about religion. Particularly Christianity. Why is that? For me personally if it wasn't for my religious beliefs I would not be able to recover from my two mental illness's, addiction, and alcoholism. I just cannot recover just from medication and psycho-social treatments. I need the spiritual element in my treatment and recovery.

Sad to say one cannot receive the spiritual part of treatment from the mental health profession. One has to figure out that part of their treatment on their own. For many consumers that is a very difficult thing to do. Consumers need guidance for their psycho-social treatments. We all need human guides in life. What about spiritual guides. We need someone that would be able to guide us in the spiritual part of our treatment.

Unfortunately I don't have a spiritual guide. The church that I was involved in viewed my mental illness as demon possession. I was full of evil spirits. As a result of this I have not gone back to that church. I have never found someone to be my spiritual guide in life. I am left on my own to try to figure out the spiritual aspect to my recovery. I am thankful that I have been able to figure out what to believe and how to utilize those beliefs and apply them to the spiritual part of my recovery.

The purpose of my writing is to share my experience, strength, and hope with others to help them with their recovery. I personally feel that I cannot share the spiritual side of recovery on this blog for the reason being that my spiritual beliefs are fundamentalist in nature. If I started sharing my fundamentalist Christian beliefs it would offend a lot of people and people would stop reading my blog. People would think what does that have to do with recovery. Much every way. My religious beliefs are a major part of my recovery. If I am to recover I need to treat my whole person not just part of me. The spiritual part of me needs to be fulfilled if I am to enjoy a full and complete recovery. Up to this point I have been trying desperately to avoid the spiritual aspect to my recovery. I have touched on it briefly on a couple of my entries. I didn't go into much detail though.

I do mention my religious beliefs on other blogs but I haven't done so on this one. I have been trying to confine it to just the medical and psychological aspects of treatment. By doing this I have not been sharing my whole recovery with others. Like I said before the spiritual aspect is a major part of my recovery. I have been only telling half my story. Their is a lot more to my experience, strength, and hope concerning my recovery.

I am in a strait betwix two. I am between a rock and a hard place. I don't know what to do about this issue I have been discussing. Deep within my heart, mind, and soul I want to share my whole recovery with my fellow man. If I am to be honest with my readers I am too afraid and a coward to share my religious beliefs with others on this blog. I am afraid of stepping on people's toes and offending them. I am afraid that people will stop reading this blog.

Yet I am being dishonest with my readers by not sharing my whole and complete recovery. I have only been sharing half of my recovery. Not all of it. I just wanted to share these things with my readers. I just felt a need to share this with my faithful readers who read my blog.

Good luck in your own personal recovery.

Quality of Life Report

Quality of Life Report

Mental illness can be a devastating illness for anyone; however, it is especially difficult for young adults as it often disrupts their education, career plans and the raising of a young family. The symptoms of psychosis can confuse the mind, disorient perceptions, and unsettle important relationships with family and friends. But there is hope, schizophrenia and psychosis are treatable and recovery of quality of life is possible when people are able to find the right path to open up options for treatment, support and hope.

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada (SCC) recently commissioned a Canada-wide survey to learn how it can support people living with schizophrenia and their families to recover the best quality of life possible. Through a qualitative and quantitative survey and cross Canada focus groups, 1,086 people with mental health experience shared what quality of life means to them. The results revealed that people living with schizophrenia and their families share similar hopes and frustrations regarding their quality of life.

This article is from the Schizophrenia Society of Canada web site.

To read more on about this subject go to the SSC web site by clicking on the link below

Quality of Life Report