Overcoming Mental illness Archives

Watch & Share!

Dear One – Please Watch and share… There is a WAY OUT of depression, anxiety, grief & despair. In this poignant, funny Limitless video, I act out how I went to rock bottom and learned HOW to come back. Removing layers of shame, silence, fears, false beliefs is possible, and Your Journey of You is uniquely your own road to joy.
Sunday, I learned that a friend’s son had committed suicide. Yes, another one. But now I know – and I will NEVER be silent until the whole world knows…

Suicide is an act of despair based on LIES we believe about ourselves. Depression is a life of needless suffering.
I will call out to my friends from the blogosphere. As quickly as possible, I will teach what I am learning on YourJourneyOfYou.com. Local friends, please invite me to speak with your group of youth or adults. For those of you who live far away, I will post videos ASAP on HOW to remove those layers. I invite you all to submit questions or topics of high priority to you.

The Scarf of Silence must come off!
Because Silence Kills. Silence is our Enemy. Silence is the jailer that locks us inside our prison of shame and pain. To end the pain and suffering, we MUST end the Silence.

Please share with those at risk. We all know people that live in shadows… in fear of divorce, illness or terrible stress, thinking “I can’t do it anymore!” Please let them know. THERE IS A WAY to change. It can start in a moment. For it is not our life, but our BELIEFS about ourselves, that causes suffering. Too often, that suffering ends in pain and death.

People need to know.
It takes a Village to save lives from shame. It takes LOVE that never quits, never gives up, believes in each other… that says, No matter what happened, I will ALWAYS love you. The YOU underneath all the layers of shame, silence and fear. Come out of hiding! You are safe in my love.

I learned skills at Limitless that I did not have before. And I will use them. But Light, Truth & skills belong to all people, worldwide, in every language and nation.
Today, you know enough to begin where you are, and lift where you stand. You ARE enough.

The way out of depression and despair is to end the SILENCE… Together.
I pledge my life to sharing this message… Let us END this epidemic of lies and pain. Even though you walk through deep darkness, fear not! You have a bright future. And guess what? The depth of your grief and sorrow? That’s how much joy you can receive.

I earned the right to share this message. I have crawled for years through the valley of depression and suicide, on my hands and knees. I know the countryside. And with all my heart, I promise, Your Journey of You = your JOY.
Love,
Felicia
2 December 2016 Post #14

Dark Closets

Our minds have dark closets, with scary, sad moments locked inside. We can huddle outside the door, afraid to open up. We can tell ourselves we “can’t go there” because we are Afraid of the Dark, and the pain, and the monsters lurking inside. We can find people that agree with us. “Oh NO! We can’t go THERE! It is too dark!”

But here is Good News! When we OPEN the door to a dark closet, we can just TURN ON the LIGHT! Darkness is banished where light is shining. Try it and see. Light always wins. We don’t FIGHT darkness. We just turn on light. Pretty simple stuff.

The same is true of panic, depression & mental illness. It is exhausting to FIGHT depression. It is much easier to let in a little light. Then more and more light.
Yes, we can choose struggle, and believe “I’m not READY to see what is inside.” But why suffer?

Because when the light comes on, we see clearly – NO Monsters! Just a bunch of stuff. Beliefs. Stories we tell ourselves. Some good, some not.

WE CHOOSE. Sort it out.
KEEP the good stuff – good memories, useful beliefs, helpful thoughts.
TOSS out the worn out stuff, ragged, too small… Old limiting beliefs we wore when we were three years old, or picked up as a teenager. If it doesn’t fit, isn’t useful, or isn’t true, Let it Go!
Look for the old scary/sad stories we used to tell ourselves. That we were too little. And all alone. That no one cared. That nothing can change… We all have MANY old stories.

Today, with the light ON, we can look at our stories and CHOOSE.
KEEP the Truth – how strong we are, how much we have learned, that we are deeply loved, and our future is so bright.

And let’s bag up the worn out beliefs, and get rid of them. They have no place in our minds anymore.

Joy Principle: This is MY mind. I shine Light in all my dark places, and choose my thoughts. I keep only true, loving, useful thoughts that bring me peace & Joy.

Love,
Felicia
Post #13 Nov 28, 2016

Surprise

Your Journey of You is like Archeology. You don’t use a bulldozer to rip up your life and uncover your true self. You patiently brush off the layers of NOT YOU. And then, sure enough, sooner or later, there you are! Like a diamond in the dirt.

But what happens if you get surprised by what you find? That happened to me yesterday. I uncovered a part of me that I didn’t expect. It was scary at first… like my whole identity fell off. Who I knew myself to be was NOT ME. The person I THOUGHT was me is just another layer – a very crusted stuck-on layer of dirt.
And the ME underneath? My real self is very much like my Dad.

Let me explain. In my old story, to “be like my Dad” was a horrible curse. I left home at age 18, thinking that my folks were all nuts, and I sure didn’t want to be like them! I spent the rest of my life being as UNLIKE my family as I possibly could. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. But I lost myself in the process.

Then I went on a Journey to remember who I am.

I began to suspect last year that I was (shudder) “like my Dad.” The very thought shook me like a rumbling earthquake. The summer evening I first had the thought, I was awake most of the night. I went for a walk in at midnight, and started singing out loud every song I remembered my Dad used to sing. I laughed and cried as I remembered his JOY of living, his generous heart, his Good Samaritan acts of kindness, funny stories, how much I love him.

As the buried memories came pouring out. I thought, “Wow, I am like that amazing man, Vinnie Lategano.” That night, a funny, happy me started waking up and peeking out.

Since then, I brushed off many layers of old beliefs, silence and shame. The Real Me began to show up. That’s the Me that is a Limitless Gladiator, dances ballet, makes funny videos and sings like Jimmy Durante.

But yesterday, another big chunk of NOT ME fell off. A layer of protection and defense and hiding cracked apart and fell off like old clay. And in that moment, I was STUNNED! For all these years, I thought I WAS organized, orderly, on time, detail oriented, efficient and precise.

Yesterday, I saw that “Organized Felicia” was my elaborate defense and very successful strategy. And underneath that is a mind that would be labeled ADHD, if I was in the school system today. My mind is bursting with a million ideas, and is so easily distracted that I would float away like a helium balloon without my lists, charts, schedules, and sticky notes to anchor me to earth.

I was truly shocked. And for a day I wondered, do I REALLY want to unleash the Real Me? What ELSE will I learn? Is it SAFE to let the Real Felicia loose?

Life with my family was chaotic, full of drama, cars breaking down, tears and fears, soaring highs and deadly lows, even mental illness, sorrow, hospitals… Do I want to risk THAT to find the Real Me? Can I do that?

The answer from my heart is YES. No matter what. I love and accept myself. I have gained the tools to live and to thrive. I have support. I am not alone anymore. This time, when I open the dark closets, I have NEW beliefs in place of the old beliefs about silence, shame and needing to hide.

Just in time, I decided to love and accept my family just as they are. I see the greatness in them. I see their magnificent capacity to love, their gifts and talents. My healing came just in time, as I now see that I never left my family after all. That I AM like them. And I can love myself.
Or perhaps it is the other way around. I could not see myself until I could love my family.

JOY Principle: I love and accept ALL people, and that includes me. The Real Me brings Joy to my life.

Love, Felicia

Post #11 23 Nov 2016

Let It Go!

Day 26 of 90 Gathering some stuff to donate to charity, I bagged up used clothing and household items that we don’t need anymore. I started thinking… It’s the same with limiting beliefs. There are a BUNCH of old limiting beliefs that I don’t need anymore. I’ve had them for years. They are all worn out. These beliefs don’t fit me anymore. Beliefs like “I’m not good enough… That’s too big for me. I can’t do it… It’s all their fault.” And my personal bugaboo, “I better shut up. If I say it, I might hurt someone’s FEELINGS!”

Well, it’s time for me to let those beliefs go, like worn out old clothes. Time to put on some new beliefs. “Yes, I can do hard things. I can speak up. I can be really ME, and stop hiding.”

Funny, I found that people LIKE me, when I actually show up and be me. It moves me to tears, sometimes. When I take a chance, and let people inside my wall, I found there is so much love, it takes my breath away. I walk into church, look at a Facebook post, or turn on Skype and see YOU – the people I love so much. Thank you for sharing the Journey of life with me.

Hey, what if we all rummaged around in our closets, found some old beliefs we don’t need anymore. We could bag them up and take them away. You know the ones. We could get some shiny new beliefs. Like “We are ALL different, and that’s FUN!” and “I love you!” Those are two of my favorites. 🙂 What are YOUR favorites?

Joy Principle: I remove old limiting beliefs from my mind, Let it Go, and WALK AWAY. I embrace new beliefs that work much better. Words of life, hope & love. Words that lift and heal. I choose JOY, every day. And it is so.

Day 22 of 90 FIRST VIDEO POST !

Day 22 of 90 FIRST VIDEO POST!

Holy smokes! Is THAT what I look like? Scary. And I felt so pretty inside! But Today’s Project is to Banish Perfectionism… So here goes…

ABOUT ME Hi! I’m Felicia Nagamatsu, and this is Your Journey of You. My road from Awful to JOY has been quite a trip! But I have Overcome and YOU can too. I will tell you my story, and we will have a good time. Life is really pretty funny.

I’m just beginning… taking off the Scarf of Silence to tell about my funny, scary, angry, poignant journey to JOY. It will take time to cover everything, but I’ll share how I overcame mental illness, including anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, depression, marriage, motherhood and 50 years of dieting. I’ll share HOW I overcame physical health problems – vision problems, HSV virus, pelvic prolapse, medication-induced memory loss, and am now reversing scoliosis and osteoporosis. I am completely free from ALL medications, after 25 years on anti-depressants.

I almost called it How an Italian girl from New York married a Japanese boy from California and lived… We’ve seen a lot together, survived culture shock, a mail order bead business, cub scouts, and becoming members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Of my 65 years on this planet, I spent 37 years suffering and the last 28 years learning to heal. On the way, I learned a lot of tips and shortcuts. What took 28 years for me, you can do in months.

The plan is to craft a DIY guide to a life free from suffering. Yes, Pain comes to everyone, but Suffering – that is optional. Don’t do it. I’ll show you how to trade in your suffering for JOY. Like trading in your beatup old car. Or your cell phone. YOU are eligible for an Upgrade!

APOLOGY – My current project is to Banish Perfectionism. Trying to be Perfect causes paralysis. I know! To break my pattern, I am blasting ahead without knowing what I am doing. You will find lots of bloopers. Laugh with me. Rejoice & know I’m breaking free. Because I have a Big Goal. I want to get this to you quickly… because people are suffering and NO ONE needs to suffer. Your Journey of You can be a delight.

I invite you to HELP ME create this blog with Your comments.
Please TELL ME which topics you want to learn & laugh about first, and I’ll put that at the top of the list.

And always know, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Many of you are my friends and family. I write to you personally.
Love and light,

Felicia