Tag Archive for hurt

We Must Earn Our Right to Complain

October 15, 2018 Comments Off on We Must Earn Our Right to Complain

You should be in decision-making mode right now, as vote-by-mail ballots arrive and voting day approaches very soon.  Here’s something to consider.

Lots of us are upset with laws that are being passed or how our elected officials are representing us. Many people are angry at new laws on the ballot that that will hurt specific economic, ethnic, or age groups, or that further endanger people who are already at-risk, or that fund projects that are clearly designed to benefit a small group at the expense of and little benefit to the rest of us.

Oddly enough, many who complain don’t exercise a basic American right that empowers the average person. They forget that one tiny individual voice added to all the other tiny voices equals a shout heard in the halls of all the legislatures.

Remember: you don’t have to vote on every issue and office. Vote on the ones you feel you understand and will have a positive impact on your state and country. BE that one vote added to another added to another that, together, DO make a difference.

This election, earn your right to complain: vote.

 

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Help Your Friend with Mental Health Issues

May 14, 2018 Comments Off on Help Your Friend with Mental Health Issues

During this month of May, which is Mental Health Awareness month, I think about people struggling with depression or who are bipolar or have other conditions–friends with mental illnesses they try to hide, and friends with a mental illness that is very apparent.  You probably do, too, since one in four people experience it within any given year.   Sometimes, dealing with them isn’t easy.  Because I care for them, I want to support them; I want to make their lives more livable.  But I’m not a professional, and I don’t want to do or say something that would be harmful to them.

I’d like to share with you a short yet helpful article.  I’ll give you its five recommendations here.  For an explanation of each, read “How to Help a Friend with Mental Illness.”

  1. Listen to what they are saying.
  2. Validate what they are saying.
  3. Ask what they need.
  4. Educate yourself about their experience.
  5. Keep being a friend.

I’m trying to apply these steps to my friends.  I hope others will apply them to me when I need them.

 

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How to Help a Friend with Mental Illness

March 21, 2016 Comments Off on How to Help a Friend with Mental Illness

I know people struggling with depression or who are bipolar or have other conditions–friends with mental illnesses they try to hide, and friends with a mental illness that is very apparent.  You probably do, too, since one in four people experience it within any given year.   Sometimes, dealing with them isn’t easy.  Because I care for them, I want to support them; I want to make their lives more livable.  But I’m not a professional, and I don’t want to do or say something that would be harmful to them.

Recently I found a short yet helpful article I’d like to share with you.  I’ll give you the five recommendations here.  For an explanation of each, read “How to Help a Friend with Mental Illness.”

  1. Listen to what they are saying.
  2. Validate what they are saying.
  3. Ask what they need.
  4. Educate yourself about their experience.
  5. Keep being a friend.

I’m trying to apply these steps to my friends.  I hope others will apply them to me when I need them.

 

 

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