… ‘why am I so depressed,’ ‘why am I so angry with my children,’ angry with my partner…why am I depressed, or over the top?”
Denying the problem can only cause more problems, Lewis says, adding that self-medication, such as when she started drinking heavily while attending college, is a byproduct of the uncontrollable emotions bipolar people suffer.
But the now 60-years-young actress has her daily routine to keep herself out of the darkness.
“All it takes is an extra few minutes each day,” explains Lewis to BlackDoctor.org. “When you are depressed, you don’t want to see people. You don’t want to see light. Now, when I wake up I purposely put a smile on my face, open up the curtains and blinds to let light in. To be the light, you have to see the light. That’s why I am healthy.
“It shouldn’t have to take a disease or something to get you to get right. I almost died of the flu. Try not to let unhealthiness get too far to get you to change. Complacency is a thing that keeps us down. Whenever I can, I take the stairs instead of the elevator.”
“Make an EXTRA effort, for yourself.”
So, when asked what’s next for the decorated, award-winning actress and singer, she answered with a smile on her face and said,
“I’ve learned to live in the moment. You should never say, ‘I’ll be happy when ___.’ Spend your time saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘what is it you would like.’ If in fact, you can imagine it, you already have it.”
“Whatever I’m going to be doing in 5, 10, 25 years, I want to be happy. As long as I’m connected to it. Evolving creatively, healthy, happy and free.”