Its been a funny day and one that followed a strange weekend of ups and downs. I wrote about the weekend in my post “The Smallest of Things.”
Once again I didn’t sleep well and once again I awoke early. But I did at least do so with the resolve that today I would achieve some things despite how I was feeling.
After getting up, washing and dressing I made my customary cup of coffee and then started answering my emails and blog comments wishing to finish all of these in order to get them off of my mind so that I could concentrate on other things.
I was determined to look at my bedroom television which had broken over the weekend and see if I could fix that and also to attend to the broken light in my lounge.
Additionally I thought I would clear up (since it was daylight and I could see better) the smashed glass and coke that I had spilled on Saturday evening and since I would be mopping that floor I thought I would also mop all of my floors.
Sadly the TV was beyond my repair and will need to be replaced. Since I spend a great deal of time in bed with my illnesses it is quite a well used piece of equipment.
Unable to fix the television I turned my attention to the light in my lounge and after having limbed up on stools and coffee tables several times I finally gave in. I am not very mobile and m,y standing on stalls and coffee tables is like a hippo riding a unicycle on a tightrope.
But no matter how hard or often I tried the light was not going to be fixed and that darned lightbulb was not going to be budged. Finally I saw sense and given the precariousness of my balancing act decided to give up and ring my son for help.
On a more positive note I did manage to move the furniture, get all the shards of glass and spilled coke cleaned up and even mop that floor but what with every thing else I was too tired and too weak to mop the rest of my floors.
Thanks to the kindness and thoughtfulness of a very dear friend, I even managed to get a new Television ordered for my bedroom and my son is kindly taking me to pick it up tomorrow.
My son also came and looked at the light for me and actually managed to remove the old bulb but since the bulb had melted into the light fitting (not a good sign I know) he wants to get an electrician friend of his to come and take a look at the light fitting and get it fixed for me. In the mean time he has sorted out a decent lamp for me to use in that room.
As for the rest of the day, well it was pretty much a mixture of sleeping and resting. Either I was in the bd sleeping or in the bed just reading and resting. But that is all part of the physical illnesses and conditions which are often just as up and down as my mental health.
And that is the thing about Bipolar Disorder isn’t? It is those constant up and downs that we experience.
This evening my family in the states and I had another of our family bible studies, thanks to the benefits of Skype and this really blessed me. But during it I was thinking about the ups and the downs that we all experience in life and which often, for those suffering with poor mental health and especially Bipolar Disorder, are often so much more intense or severe.
As I reflected on this a song from the Muppets came to my mind – Hence the post’s title – and I thought I would share it with you.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn’t any other stair quite like it.
I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.
Halfway up the stairs isn’t up and isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery, it isn’t in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts run round my head.
It isn’t really anywhere, it’s somewhere else instead.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn’t any other stair quite like it.
I’m not at the bottom, I’m not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.
And as I reflected on it I thought – what would it be like if we changed the lyrics slightly? So, since I couldn’t sleep I knocked up this very simple short Bipolar Disorder Version and have uploaded it to my Youtube Channel in the hope that folk who see it might just stop and think about Mental Health.
Here are the adapted lyrics. I hope you like it.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I’d sit.
There isn’t any other stair quite like it.
I’d not be at the bottom, I’d not be at the top.
So this is the stair where I’d like to stop.
Halfway up the stairs isn’t up and isn’t down.
It isn’t in the mania, it isn’t in the frown.
And all sorts of funny thoughts run round my head.
It isn’t really anywhere, it’s somewhere else instead.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I’d sit.