Right before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder I went to China during a hypomanic episode. I left everything in Seattle inluding my parter Ivan who had been through a terrible year with his bipolar disorder- I left my family and the few friends I had not alientated with my behavior- and just got on a plane!
I studied Mandarin in the five weeks I was in China- and because I was slightly manic, I learned it quickly.
My mom followed me to China because she was worried about me and when we finally reached Hong Kong I knew I was very sick. To make a long and very interesting story short, I was diagnosed and started meds the week I got back to the states.
That was in 1995. Since then, I have talked about studying Mandarin again. In fact, I have started classes and never finished them. After my trip to Florida last month- I realized that if I want to live my dreams, I have to take action instead of just talking about the past!
I signed up for a Chinese class and started last night. My goal is to be fluent in Chinese by 2014 so that I can go to China with my nephew who is in a Chinese emersion program at school.
Enough of my talkin- it’s time to start walkin! I am going to reach my goal of finishing what I started in China.
Julie
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Julie,
Good luck with your commitment to learn Mandarin!:) I love to learn “foreign languages!”
I have found I have started so very many goals/projects over the years… it is a bit overwhelming to think of it all!
I have finished a few goals/projects to an “acceptable level,” and I can either take them further or not. With yet other projects/goals, I have not finished and would have some difficulty with in simply trying to identify just where I had “dropped the ball.”
I am at least recognizing this now and am trying to make my goals/projects much fewer and more “focused,” allowing for better concentration and for a greater potential for enjoying better self-esteem… for having actually “finished” more often!:)
Thanks for the gentle reminder to “get back on the horse!” (Now I hope to keep my commitment to trying to handle only the number of goals/projects easily manageable for me– at any given time.)
I also often become overly committed and forget to enjoy “the journey” of any single goal, due to my tendency to “overcommit.” I hope to learn to enjoy the “journey” itself!
Good luck! I hope you also thoroughly enjoy “the journey” of attaining your goals!:)
Thanks Again!:)
Love your website Julie. I am a child of a bipolar mom (I’m 45 yo). Mom is a very loving person until she gets triggered. What’s sad is my mother is still untreated. Her moods are fierce. She gets angry and fights with her family on the telephone. She blames everyone else for her unhappiness, and is very mean to the family because she believes the family is unkind to her. I have only recently come to realize this is not normal behavior. Although she’s acted like this for as long as I can remember. Its tearing the family apart, especially my father and me who are the target of most of her anger. I hope your tools can help our family. She refuses to acknowledge she has a problem.
Julie, Congratulations on going to Chinese language school! I also love languages. I speak German and some Russian and Serbo-Croatian and hope to learn Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia. I also have some language study goals including reading the German-language books (novels) I have around my house, and starting a computer course in Amharic that an Ethiopian-American who is studying the language gave me. My daughter is Ethiopian and my goal is to learn more of the Amharic language to be more versed in it when we bring a second child home, since we may adopt a slightly older child the next time. I have several years to work on this goal. I am determined to stick with it.
I’ve found that sometimes the projects I enjoy the most can be the most difficult to start, because I am the most invested in them. I.e., I am afraid they will turn out “less than perfect” (of course, no one and nothing is perfect!) so I go into avoidance and procrastination, even with those things that should captivate/challenge/excite me the most. Anyone face this? Anyone have any advice? It doesn’t just happen when I am depressed, although I do try to apply some of the strategies, Julie, in your “Getting It Done…” book regardless of my mood.
Julie, I have been to China several times, lived there for three years, and am wishing to go back and become truly fluent someday. But I’m so afraid the major jetlag will put me into mania! (I hadn’t been diagnosed last time I went). Is it really possible to travel over so many time zones safely?