These last few days have been a challenge for me with jump-starting my marketing plan for the recent release of my book, "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By an African-American Bipolar Woman" (ISBN 13 0-978-9754612-0-4) which is available for purchase on my website,
www.levineoliverpublisher.com through Paypal or at
www.amazon.com. The challenge has turned out to be a two-part challenge. The first part occurred back in late 2005 and early 2006. What happened was that I was involved in some sort of writing project when God spoke to me about my manuscript that was basically sitting around collecting dust. God asked me to reveal that I had a brain disorder. Well, that was easy because that is what the book was about. However, God needed to send someone boldly into the world of mental illnesses and I was blessed to be that person.
Of course, I allowed flesh to prevail and I hid from my own diagnosis of Bipolar because I still needed to deal with the shame of the brain disorder.
I also thought about how my children would feel if everyone knew their mother had this ugly stigma of being crazy. It was a lot of spiritual wrestling in my soul as well because the idea just made me uncomfortable. There are a lot of people who simply judge you by labels and we are all familiar with that especially being African-American.
However, God is a loving God who has already prepared our destiny. One day I realized that I acted boldly all the time when it came to my disabled son. By boldly I mean that if it was necessary to speak to the President of the United States to get supplies, I did it because that is what my son needed. It did not bother me that people may have tried to brush me off because I was persistent.
In my meditating, I discovered it was the God in me that made me love my son so much that I would stop at nothing to get him his needed supplies. It was God who created that tough energy in me to love my son enough to go the distance to get him what was needed. Couldn't I be just as bold for God?
Well, the shame that engulfed me when I realized that I was already equipped with the tough armor to go out for God in a major way, but was prideful, was unrelenting. I did not see anything I was going through as a trial or punishment by God, but I began seeing those trials as more preparation to go boldly into advocating for people who were more like me. Idid not even realize that I had surrendered my will to God until a few weeks later when my Editor asked me if I wanted to leave the word "Bipolar" in the title.
I was immediately offended, too. Of course, I am Bipolar so why not leave it in the title. I had my ephiphany of where God was leading me into. I would be entering a world where many people will be subjecting me to a level of scrutiny I had found comfort in hiding from. Even the advocates I was in association with for individuals with special needs did not know I was a person with special needs, too. That is because my special needs were not physical. They were mental.
Right after I gave my Editor my manuscript, I attended an intensive training program on weekends. This was how my close associates got to see me up close and personal with a brain disorder. There were things I could not do at that particular time because my motor skills were very much affected by the brain disorder. I needed someone to help me take notes from the workshop sessions. I needed to take medications throughout the day that had me very, very drowsey. My speech was also impaired slightly as if my tongue was glued to one side of my mouth. One of the side affects frequently caused my arms to jerk involuntarily and I had that glass-stare look seeming like I was "high."
I had to trust God and reveal to one or two people what was going on with me. It was a very humbling experience for me because no family was around. They responded with kindness and immediately became my guardian angels. When I finally received my manuscript back from my Editor, we talked for hours about Bipolar. He revealed how my book helped him understand his relative. I felt a burst of joy. Joy! Deep, deep down in my soul there was joy about being crazy. God does not make any mistakes when He asks us to do something, there is a blessing in being obedient.
The biggest blessing for me at that time was that doors began to open for me with information and resources to help make "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" (ISBN 13 0-978-9754612-0-4) the serious, beautiful collection it is to help people accept people with mental illnesses and not shun them or humiliate them or embarrass them or laugh at them or whatever. After reading "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman," (ISBN 0-978-9754612-0-4) you will recognize us and treat us with the dignity we deserve.
So, although I struggled with sharing my own mental health issue to protect my pride, I found a bigger joy in sharing my story and educating readers to fulfill my purpose and destiny.
This Collection of Work tells my story of becoming diagnosed with Bipolar and learning to cope and manage the brain disorder. The information contained in the book is easily understood by people with Bipolar or family or friends of a person with Bipolar. By joining in the effort to raise awareness about Bipolar, we are really each answering God's call.
As Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:26, (NIV) "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it."
This Scripture becomes evident with how untreated mental illness devastates our US economy . If each of us reaches out to better understand a friend or family member with a mental illness and commit to helping them seek mental healthcare treatment and take medications on a regular basis, the US will save 100 billion dollars a year from the adverse affects of untreated mental illnesses such as Bipolar. These savings will be from the criminal justice system that must deal with offenders with untreated mental illness, high unemployment rates because people with untreatd mental illness often cannot keep jobs, premature deaths due to suicides or criminal behavior, lack of global marketing ability due to high-school drop out rate by teens with an untreated mental illness, and the list goes on.
However, the joy in 1 Corinthian 12:26 (NIV) is also the truth that "If one part is honored (treated), every part rejoices with it."
I am rejoicing that I surrendered my will to God's will and I have taken great care to bring you information to honor the whole body of Christ!
"Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" (ISBN 13 0-978-9754612-0-4) includes a handy list of resources for a personal journey to wellness. It will encourage everyone to end needless suffering and rejoice in the whole body of Christ! The collection of poetic prophecy is complete with Scripture references and is ideal for Women's ministries.
Please purchase your personal today copy at
www.levineoliverpublisher.com or Amazon at
www.amazon.com.
Posted By: agnes levine
Monday, April 6th 2009 at 6:37PM
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