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It is a part of human nature that people require sources of fulfillment. Most people in the U.S. are taught that we need to go to school, get a good career, own a house, marry a sweetheart and produce offspring…(modern day addendum; and then get divorced, then remarried.)  

And if we can't do those things, our lives seemingly get off track.  

Of course, there are other possible life paths. There are some who decide to live in a monastery, whether this is a Buddhist, Christian or some other order of religious practitioners. Others would like to go into politics. There are still others who wish to be a famous country music singer, a famous rapper, or a famous "real housewife." There are limitless possibilities, but the common thread is you want something and you go after it.  

When someone has a disability, whether this is physical, psychiatric, or other, it can halt an individual in his or her quest to be happy. In some instances of psychiatric illness, the onset of this illness could have been triggered partly through a lack of getting a perceived need fulfilled. This is not to say it is always this way.  

As I progress in life, I learn that I don't need all of the things I once thought I needed. I need to have the basics covered, such as housing, food, clothing, medical and psychiatric treatment, a peaceful environment, and transportation; I need to do something that interests me, and I need to be okay with myself. Beyond those things, I am in the zone of wants rather than needs.  

Many persons with psychiatric illnesses lack an adequate source of fulfillment because we often do not have great careers, great sex lives, piles of money, or enough of interest to do with our time. We may see others getting great things in life, and we may feel left out. Further, the medications we are often forced to take can block the experience of pleasure. This lack of "the good life" as well as the lack of enjoyment in general can lead to drug abuse, suicide, or noncompliance (in the mistaken, ill-fated hope that without medication, things would somehow be better).  

Many persons with mental illness are denied the emotional pleasure of liking ourselves adequately.  

Self-acceptance is key to getting well. If you can learn to like yourself regardless of what others think, what they say about you, and, regardless of having a disability, you have a much stronger chance of doing well despite having a life-changing diagnosis.  

Yet, once we are in recovery, we still need a reason to get out of bed every morning. Society will not hand this to us, and if it did, it wouldn't be truly ours and therefore would turn out to be a disservice in the long run, regardless of good intentions.  

In order to accomplish anything, a peaceful environment is a must. I encourage journaling. A weekend afternoon of journaling one's thoughts along with a legal refreshment of choice is an afternoon well spent. Figure out what you want, to begin with by temporarily throwing realism out the window. From there, you could decide what is achievable and what isn't. For some people, a large goal isn't needed or even wanted. You could live for the little things.  

There is nothing wrong with living for the now, if you can enjoy a few things. The journaling I described could be an end in itself. Or perhaps an afternoon of reading a book. It doesn’t cost very much to purchase a used novel at a thrift store, and this can furnish numerous hours of enjoyment.  

(This is not to say that all mentally ill people are unemployable and living in restriction and poverty. Many persons with mental illness do just as well as, or better than I. I am middle aged, medicated and unemployable, but many persons with mental illness are in a better situation.)  

Recovery from mental illness as the only goal is akin to wanting to lose a hundred pounds and then you can dance around and be happy like the person in the Weight Watchers television ad. Some source of fulfillment, and it doesn't have to necessarily involve making money, being famous, or having social status, might come before recovery and not after.