He finally did it!

Happy Friday - thank farque we have them :o)

From Within

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Feeling lost. Wanting to remain strong but buckling from within. Tired, used up and worn out. Feeling the age beyond my years, and wanting so desperately to find the energy that I need to push forward.

Reaching out and missing my mark, touching air, thick and sticky beneath my fingertips. It chokes my nose and throat with its depressive smear, blinding my eyes. It is dense, and screams with volatility. The cry is deafening. Mine would be too if I could but cry, but Im too scared to. How can I see through it when I don’t know what is on the other side? How can I aim for the light when I don’t know if it is the light I want?
Where is my stewardess? Waving her perfectly manicured hands to show me the neon lights that glow along the path to my exit. I can’t see the path, it is no longer where it once was. But it seems that everyone else can... Because they’ve already gone.
Why do they know how to exit? Why can they see through the mist? No, no wait. The smog. The all encompassing and noxious smog. It poisons me and as the days pass it tears small pieces from me, and I’m buckling from within.

Tired.
Used Up.
Worn Out.

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In response to Heidy...

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Because, sweetheart, Blogger wont allow me to comment on your blog. It keeps freezing :o(

Connex states that the airconditioning on the melbourne train system is not designed to operate when the day gets hotter than 35 degrees. Stupidest thing Ive ever heard... its like saying that a boat wont run when the water is too wet.
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It could be worse

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trying desperately to see the positive side of my shitty shitty day.

seriously lacking creativity and motivation. trying hard not to cry.
doing my best to get over it and just do this mundane and exhausting crud ive been presented with...

After all... it could be worse...

Resilience

Resilience is a slippery term and is used in different ways by different people. Sometimes it is defined as an outcome, as in Fonagy’s frequently quoted definition: ‘normal development under difficult conditions’(1994). This definition, of course, begs a number of questions, not least what is ‘normal’.

Gilligan (1997) gives a definition that begins to address resilience as a process:
'... qualities which cushion a vulnerable child from the worst effects of adversity in whatever form it takes and which may help a child or young person to cope, survive and even thrive in the face of great hurt and disadvantage’. (Gilligan, 1997, p.l2)

For residential child care staff and social workers, the key word in this definition is ‘thrive’. It provides practitioners with the aim of aspiring to assist young people to achieve their full potential despite their circumstances.

Masten et al. (1990) focus on resilience as ‘the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances’. Here it is an adaptive quality that is highlighted, as Schofield (2001) suggests, resilient people have both an internal and external adaptive quality. For example if a young person has a failure at school he or she can reflect upon that internally and see it as a temporary set-back and can also seek external support, for example by asking a teacher for help with the next essay. It is this adaptive quality that appears to be an essential aspect of resilience. Resilient people, therefore, are those whose mental well-being is far better than might have been predicted given the adversities that they have encountered.

Resilience is not simply an absence of psychological symptoms despite having experienced adversity, it is the possession of a positive adaptive ability that enables a person to feel competent despite risky living conditions (Sagy and Dotan, 2001).

In summary, therefore, as stated in a recent comprehensive review of resilience as a concept for practice:
‘Resilient children are better equipped to resist stress and adversity, cope with change and uncertainty, and to recover faster and more completely from traumatic events or episodes’. (Newman and Blackburn, 2002, p. 12)

Resilience is the ability to know where, how and when to use your energies to improve things for yourself and how to recruit help in that endeavour.


BRIGID DANIEL
Daniel, B. The Value of Resilience as a Concept for Practice in Residential Settings. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, February/March 2003
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Whine Less : Breathe More

Sometimes I get bogged down with the superficial. I stress about money, about my job, about my worth to others... things that don’t matter when youre dead.
I get anxious about my future and it manifests quickly in lack of sleep, irritability, disorientation, lack of focus and searing pains in my shoulders and back. I multitask too much, I get distracted, everything was due YESTERDAY and sometimes I get so busy.... I do nothing but shut down.

I have one goal for February... BE POSITIVE. My one aim for this month is to see the good in every situation. Every negative thought will come with a positive and annoying little pip-squeak sidekick that will simply not go away! :o) That sidekick is called faith, hope, happiness, resolve, perseverance, and love.

“Fear less, hope
more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love
more, and all good things will be yours”

“The positive thinker sees the
invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the
impossible.”

Look at the bright side!

I still have a job.
I enjoy the company of those I work with
Im still making more money than I ever have before (even with the across-company paycut)
Im healthy
My family are all safe
Im about to move into a house with my boyfriend
Im in love
Ive been entrusted with more responsibility at work
I have a new car that cost me nothing and I can explore my state even more
I have the truest friends
The weather is beautiful
Im performing better at school because Im passionate about it
My little sister is arriving very soon to spend time with me.
I have so many demons locked away that taught me the greatest life lessons
....and who I don’t have to battle anymore.

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Amazing... "You at 50"

At a meeting of the AARP they showed this video that was submitted in a film contest by a 20 year old woman.
The contest was entitled...You at 50.
This video won second place in the film contest.
When it was previewed at the AARP meeting, the room broke into spontaneous applause by the conclusion.

The film is so simple yet so brilliant.




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