After falling asleep between three and four in the morning, I was able to get about three and a half hours of sleep last night. That is a bit more than I have been getting, so maybe I'm getting used to not being on two antipsychotic medications.

Hopefully I won't be too tired today, as I'm meeting a friend this afternoon. I think we are going to do lunch, but I'm not quite sure as we didn't set any hard plans. Although I've been acquainted with her for about five years, we have never spent time together socially. I think we'll have an enjoyable time.

It seems odd to me, but everything is coming together in my life. My social life is growing, and my professional life is too. I never would have thought that my life could ever have become as good as it is right now. To be truthful, I never understood what people meant by recovery, but now I do.

With physical illnesses, recovery means the ailment has healed (or been cured), and the patient is back to his or her old self. With mental illnesses (especially the more serious ones), recovery means something much different. Mental illnesses can be partially treated, but they cannot presently be cured. And since the illnesses change ones thoughts and behavior, the patient will never be back to his or her old self. That sits hard in the hearts of many people with mental illness, as it did mine. But I have now learned that recovery is the acceptance of the new, mentally ill self and the adaptation to a new way of life. I suppose a psychologist would say recovery has to do with the formation of a new and stable ego. Regardless of the terms involved, the point is that better days are possible for those struggling with mental illness—it just takes a lot of time and an incredible amount of hope.