I think that I have found a couple of keys to happiness.  I believe that you must take good care of your body and your mind, eating right, getting enough sleep etc. I believe that you must truly love yourself.  I believe that you must keep busy doing the things that you love.   And you must have healthy relationships in your life.
      These have all been challenges for me.  I eat one good meal a day, the rest of the time I have to force myself to consume more than just coffee.  I crave sugar and I am Diabetic.  I didn't always sleep well, insomnia and nightmares haunted my nights.   At times, I would party to excess, because I could not bear to feel my own emotions, or my anxiety level was extremely high and it seemed that only alcohol would bring it down.
     I have a hard time loving myself.  I have anger towards myself at times, because I hate being mentally ill, I detest what my own brain does to me.  And there have been people in my life who have belittled me because I was "different", and people who have shunned me when they heard about my Schizoaffective Disorder.  But over time, thanks to the great people in my life, I am discovering that I am a brave, kind, smart, loving, wonderful person.  And I thank God for making me this way despite the rough road that I have been travelling on.
     I have a hard time keeping myself busy, but I am learning new things like cooking, crocheting, painting and writing in my blog.  What do you think so far?  When I am depressed however, I don't do anything interesting, I just don't have the will for it.   But even simple activities like coloring in a coloring book will take your mind away from the pain.
     I had to throw some friends and family members away, like my father.   These relationships were toxic and abusive towards me.  It was extremely hard to do this, but I had no choice.  Learning to form new relationships with people has been hard, because deep down inside I am non-trusting.  I'm afraid that people will hurt me or throw me away when they learn that I am mentally ill.  But over the past year, I have been able to reach out to friendship with new friends and many from the past, thanks to Facebook.  And it has been so wonderful.
     Do you know any other keys to happiness, and would you share them with me?