Helping People and Getting Help

I worked for the Air Force as a civilian doing computer science research for 17 years. Then I moved on to be a site reliability engineer for a private company, also a technical job. I love my current job and enjoy the challenge. One thing I’ve always envied is jobs where you help people. I never wanted to be a doctor or a nurse, but I know there are many other jobs out there where I’m helping people. I think such a job would be so satisfying, and bring me joy to my life. However, some jobs would be too much for me to handle emotionally such as a social worker. I easily become attached to people and emphasize with them. I also cry easily over both sad and happy things. I would be a blubbering mess, LOL! I think that’s why I take to motivational speaking so well. I can help people with less crying. I can’t wait to get in front of an audience and share what I’ve learned through the years. Especially as someone who has been living with bipolar disorder. I feel that my challenge to overcome bipolar disorder has positioned me into a unique situation where I had to learn many hard lessons. One of the many hard lessons I had to learn was admitting when I was wrong. When I become manic or depressed and my wife confronts me about it, I adamantly deny it. How could she know what was going on inside my head? But she was always right. She could sense something was wrong before I could. When that happens I would be embarrassed but knew it was time to talk to my doctor and get things straightened out. My doctor always knew when something was wrong when my wife would come to the appointments with me. If someone says, “Is there something wrong?” “You seem down.” “You are not your usual self.” Please listen to them. They are only trying to help. They are coming from a place of love and caring. Don’t automatically brush them off and say everything is fine. Chances are something is not fine. Our closest loved ones should know us well enough to notice a difference. So forget your pride, and admit to yourself that something may be wrong. As uncomfortable as it may seem you should seek help. Admit when you might be wrong.