Tag: friendship

#BellLetsTalk – Jan 25, 2017

On By thestampsinmypassportIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

If you are a fan of Grey’s Anatomy you are familiar with the lead character Meredith Grey. I know this is a TV show but the people writing for her are real. Her situations, albeit extreme for most, are real. She has battled mental illness her whole life.

She refers to her closest friends when she is worried about going into her dark and twisty place. I am sure even if you have never watched one hour of the show you can understand about the feelings of being in a dark and twisty place. I know I have.

In the past month or so, more than one person in my life has either called, emailed or texted apologizing for not being around. Not calling. All of them have said the same thing, I am just in my own space right now. Not really in the mood to talk to other people. Not in the mood for socializing. I get it. I am there as well.

I told all of them that I get it. I have been there as well. In December I like to blame it on the end of the year. Mental health issues are high all the time, but the holidays and the end of year is an increased time for many. For some, getting out and being very social is the answer for them. For others it is the opposite. There are only so many times you can answer the same questions or even want to answer the questions.

With the darkness does come the light. It sounds trite but you have to keep saying that to get you through. I woke up the other morning around 7 and it was already getting light. That is a win for me, it means that the days are getting longer and that light is coming.

The concept of #BellLetsTalk day is a special one. It isn’t just one day. We need to be aware of the people around us and those who may be in their own dark and twisty place, as well as our own dark and twisty place. We all go there. Some more than others and some for longer than others. We can’t just snap out of it. It is not that easy. There are medical reasons why we can’t, external reasons why we can’t or maybe we just aren’t ready.

I encourage you to send a message, call, text, whatever your mode of communication to at least one person today that you haven’t spoken to in a while. I just called to say hello and that I am thinking about you. One call to one person. If we all did that, imagine how many people we can reach today.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for coming on my journey with me. I appreciate it.

Live your best life,

Lisa

 

Caption this challenge day one: The waterslide

On By thestampsinmypassportIn Uncategorized1 Comment

water

People are different on vacation. Everything about your day to day life changes. It is a wonderful thing. I never take that for granted. I know that I enjoy sleeping in, eating when I and whatever I want, chatting with new people and more importantly, having experiences that take me out of my comfort zone and help me grow.

I had once such moment on my cruise this past October. It wasn’t exactly my shining moment in the sun, which also made me tell my friends that this experience will never leave the ship. Well, guess what, it has and it will today in this post. It was mortifying while it was happening, almost brought me to tears (who am I kidding did bring me to tears) but now I am over it and it is hilariously funny.

I don’t remember ever going down a water slide. I mean, not just recently, but ever. I have always been a bigger person and the thought of not being able to get all the way down the slide was something I would never want to attempt.

There was a slide on the cruise I was on. It wasn’t a big slide by any stretch, but for the first few days I watched my friends go down and they had a great time. They kept asking me and I kept saying no thank you.

I must have had a few too many mango margaritas but I finally said yes. There we were, four grown adults waiting on the stairs mixed in with a whole bunch of much younger little kids. Up to the top I went, waiting and froze. I had no idea what to do. Sit down, give a push and go. Seemed simple enough. Held on to the bar and pushed and away I went.

I had no idea what to do. I was sitting up and that wasn’t really working so I laid down on my back. The water was rushing down my face and it was so relaxing. Yes, until I realized that the slide was not that big and why was it taking so long to get to the bottom. Well….you had to BE MOVING to get to the bottom.

Yes, there I was in the middle of the slide enjoying the water rushing down my face, but that was about it. I sat up and all my friends were yelling at me from the top. Mortified – hell yes! Not at the bottom but somewhere in the middle of this not very big slide.

Somehow got to the bottom and then my friends followed. Laughing hysterically at my situation. I, on the other hand, didn’t see the humour in the experience. It was my nightmare coming to reality. After I told my friends we will never discuss this again, I thought to myself that I shouldn’t be embarrassed I should be proud of myself for doing something that scared me.

Lessons learned:

  1. I will probably never go on a water slide again. Been there, done that, check.
  2. Being with your friends and people you trust makes it okay. You are safe.
  3. It is okay to try something and not like it.
  4. Your comfort zone does have boundaries, but it is okay to step outside of the lines. You may even enjoy it, or not, but either way you will be just fine.

I wonder what I will attempt on my next adventure. Stay tuned to find out.

Live your best life,

Lisa

Harmony of the Seas
Harmony of the Seas
The Perfect Storm

 

Today is #BellLetsTalk, so let’s do that

On By thestampsinmypassportIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Today is #BellLetsTalk day. It is a day to bring awareness on Mental Health issues. I don’t know about you and the friends that you have, but with a lot of different people in my life this is an ongoing topic of conversation. We are having #bellletstalk daily.

Life is challenging. Not all people think that they have mental health issues, but I think more do than they realize. Have you ever just felt like not getting out of your pajamas or taking a shower? How about not wanting to go out with your friends or talk on the phone? How about crying for would appear to be no apparent reason? How about feeling like every one you know is moving and you are standing still? Well guess what, those are mental health issues.

We all have bruises. Some are visible but others are not. Sometimes it manifests itself outwardly like passive aggressive behaviours on social media. Maybe you have done it and not even realized your comment was exactly that. Sometimes what you don’t say is almost as important as what you do say. Passive aggressive comments on facebook are more often than not written for a reaction, a “like” or a comment. Your friends will give you the “rah rah” cheer of approval. Others may look at it and know that it is more than that.

One of the things that happens sometimes is that people get pushed away. While it is true that everyone has their problems, everyone’s are their own and different. There is a saying that if everyone put all their problems in one big pile you would be guaranteed to take yours back. That may very well be true.

Reaching out is hard. While you are going through whatever it is you are going through, you may not really want to hear about your friend’s issues, whatever they may be. You need to keep trying. Friends often tell you what you want to hear, not necessarily what you need to hear. Tough love isn’t easy to give or receive. Everyone is responsible for their own actions and reactions. Sometimes you even get unfriended on Facebook or stop calling or your phone stops ringing.

I am trying to say a lot of things, without being too specific. It is hard. Ellen Degeneres ends her show every day ‘be kind to one another’. I would also say not to give up on your friends that may have dropped off the grid for a while. Since today is #BellLetsTalk day, reach out and send a message to just one person. If everyone reached out to one of their friends today, think about the impact of that.

Live your best life,

Lisa