Welcome to Dymphna's Diary

Although I am not Catholic, I find it interesting that "Dymphna" is the patron saint of those who suffer from clinical depression and other mental illnesses. Considering the purpose of this site is to offer inspiration and spiritual guidance to my readers, I felt it was only right I chose her namesake for the title.

In 2010, this site was set up to pass along personal information about how depression has affected my life and the lives of my family. Since then, it has EVOLVED. In 2011, I attempted to present posts that were INSPIRATIONAL to you, my readers. In 2012, I went even deeper with personal stories from people across the United States via touching videos, songs, and interviews. My hope was to show each of you that even when you feel that you are in a situation that no one else could understand, you are not alone. Through it all, my comments have remained to be my personal opinions and spiritual reflections. I will continue to occasionally post information that I feel is beneficial in removing the stigma of mental illness, but regardless I feel blessed to have been given this platform to spread God's love and compassion for ALL people. I wouldn't be where I am today without the strength I receive daily from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My hope is that this blog will help you find some comfort in your life. It most certainly is helping me find comfort in mine.

I want to make it perfectly clear, though, that when I make generalizations regarding mental illness, I am NOT giving advice to anyone. I'm just passing along information that I have found helpful in my life. I'm writing about MY PERSONAL experiences and thoughts. Mental illness affects everyone differently and your situation may not be reflective of mine.


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Nosy Neighbor

The last couple of weeks I’ve noticed a lot of what’s been WRONG in the lives of my friends…. and in each case, I’ve WANTED to step up and do my Christian Duty to help them with their problems (by offering my expertise in each instance, of course). I mean, I’m sure they would welcome my point of view of what I think needs to be done to fix their problems… Don’tcha think?

Isn’t it funny that we can so easily see the flaws in others and ignore them in ourselves? Plus, I can almost immediately find a solution to someone else’s predicaments but when it comes to my problems, I can lie awake in bed for hours at night worrying over them and I never find an answer to straighten things out. Also, it sometimes drives me crazy when somebody can’t make a decision about something that seems so clear to me but often times I can’t even decide what color to paint my own toenails.

Why is it we can be so intolerant of others? Why do we have the capability of being so judgmental? And why does it never seem to astound us that others carry those same traits?

I try very hard to live my life by Jesus’ two Great Commandments found in Luke 10:27: He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " (It seems I tend to frequently come up short on the neighbor point…. But, I recognize that I’m only human and I continue to try to do my best.)

I don’t know, maybe it makes people feel better to know that their life may be a mess BUT it’s not such a mess as “so and so’s” life. Kinda like the reverse of “Keeping up with the Jones”! In any case, I’ve always written about “accepting a person with Mental Illness” and “spreading the word to release the taboo”…. I figured today I’d write about something a little broader like…. How ‘bout we just accept everybody, period.
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