The 20 Things I Base My Life On

by Tom Doucette, Assistant Executive Director H.E.A.R.T.S. Peer Support Center in Nashua NH and an Advanced Level Facilitator

Five of the things I base my life on are hope, personal responsibility, education, self-advocacy and support. I had Hope when I was first diagnosed some fifteen years ago and my life made sense. When I read Kay Redfield-Jamison's book “An Unquiet Mind” I had more Hope. 

At the beginning of my journey I thought, well I have this thing that I could lay all of my worst deeds that I had done on it, wow how great this is! Then this thing that had found me popped up and said hey what about Personal Responsibility? It changed my entire way of looking at the things that I had done and all of a sudden I was a better person.
 
Now I was told all of these things about myself and without exception I would always nod my head yes and wonder how he knew all that about me. So I began to wonder if he really was right? Am I all these things? That's when I started to Educate myself and it was through Education that I truly learned about myself and realized that I was not all of these things that I had been told.
 
Now with all of this new found knowledge I was able to Advocate for myself. I asked questions, I made sure that the answers were explained to me in a way that I understood. I made sure that I got answers to my questions such as why I was taking this medication or any others and what were the side effects and was I willing to accept the side effects based on the good that they were giving me? It was a great feeling.
 
Now I am finding all these new found ways of bettering my life, but I felt that there was something missing. I felt a little weak. It was then that I figured out what was missing from all this new found knowledge - Support. Until that time I was going it alone which was working, but I was getting tired. I finally figured out that I did not have to go it alone there were many out there that I could talk with that were on the same journey that I was and that we could go it together and not each alone. I realized for the first time in my life what the words “there are strength in numbers” meant, there is also Support in numbers.
 
Now I have talked about only five of my twenty things those that I base my life on. If I told you about the other fifteen it would take a couple more pages not that I wouldn't mind doing it. The other fifteen of my twenty are “The Value and Ethics.”  All of these twenty things have not only given me a more full life, but they have also made me a better human being.