I want to season everything I do with good cheer to inspire others to dare to dream of having a better life.

A pinch of hope and a dash of belief in yourself is all a person needs to add to her life for the recipe of success.

I recently talked with a retired social worker who told me she went to lunch with other social workers. The woman started telling them about how people can recover. The other social workers looked at her like she was out of her mind. “A person can recover?” they asked her because they didn’t think it was possible.

Since the start of my days as a blogger I have always railed against providers who reinforce to their patients that there’s not much we can do or hope for. A friend met with a psychiatrist because he needed to get a new doctor. He told the MD “I was the CEO of corporations.” The shrink told him, “Don’t invent a story to make yourself feel better about having schizophrenia.” In reality, my friend WAS a CEO.

Circa 2015 providers still think no one can recover from schizophrenia.

I’m here to tell readers of this blog that you can recover. More often than not, most people can recover from schizophrenia and go on to have normal lives. The myth of chronic illness is just that: a myth linked to the fact that people who do not get the right treatment right away often develop an ongoing disability. So these are the people that loom large in everyone’s mind instead of the people who are doing well.

I don’t recommend indiscriminate disclosure of your diagnosis. Heck, I don’t recommend any kind of disclosure unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Enjoy your holiday if you celebrate a holiday. 2015 will soon be here and with it the ability to write the story of our lives on a fresh slate.

Have the faith that you can recover. Then go out and take action to make your own version of well happen.

Well: it’s something to strive for.