I'm tired of scowering the internet for 'how to have a normal life with bipolar' and my only results being basically - go touch some grass or just give up. 

For those of you who feel as though you are mostly functioning:

1. Do the meds make you stable? (Not asking which ones, I know medicine is a case by case basis... Just whatever ones work for you, how well do they work?)
2. How long did it take you to get to a point where you were content with your ability to function?
3. What did you do outside of meds and therapy that you feel helped you? (Does touching grass *really* work?)
4. Just general advice on how to function?

I'm feeling really discouraged. 

All I want is to be able to work a job to support myself, to foster healthy relationships and get to a place where I can survive. I don't want to depend on my partner - not financially, nor emotionally (to the extent that I am now). I don't want to live in fear of my partner leaving me for how much I put him through and most importantly - I want to feel like I can survive on my own instead of having no options. I want to be me. Not my diagnosis. Not my shortcomings. *Just* me.