Social Media – Friend or Foe
The internet is incredible. Mr google can answer all our questions and show us where to get everything we need. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram keep us connected to all our friends and we can share how perfect our lives are!
I was walking my dog this morning and a young mother and her child, in a buggy, passed by me. I smiled to myself as I heard the little girl singing away to herself. Her mother was absorbed on her phone and totally oblivious to the little girl’s song. I felt sad for the mother and the child who were missing out on an opportunity to connect to each other.
Before the miracle of the internet and social media, a time like this would have been a perfect bonding time, where the mother and child could connect. Maybe singing along together or the mother telling her little girl how lovely her song was. Being able to point out to the child things that they came across on their walk.
Finding the right counsellor for you….
Making the decision to start seeing a counsellor is an important step in taking control of what is happening or holding you back in your life.
I know it can be scary and daunting going to see a counsellor for the first time.
When we are used to hiding our feelings, it makes it even harder to open up. This is why it is so important that you find the right counsellor for you.
Are you bottling up your feelings?
Are you in emotional pain? Do you avoid that pain at all costs? How do you manage that pain? Do you find that the issues keep coming up time and time again? Are you “bottling up” your feelings?
Things happen to us in life that can be very hurtful and emotionally painful. We can suffer traumatic experiences that we do not want to talk about and want to bury in the hope that we can forget them. We can even bottle up feelings when we lose a loved one, which can cause a lot of problems. Grief, following a bereavement is a natural process that cannot and should not be suppressed.
I have a metaphor that I use and I would like to share it with you:
Finding your Inner Best Friend
Following up from my last article. "The Bully in your head". How do we develop our inner best friend? How do we start to be kinder to ourselves?
After years of being our own inner bully it can be difficult to silence that voice. In order to start to challenge the bully you firstly have to be aware that you are doing it. Sadly, most of us do not know we are bullying ourselves. The bully is on automatic pilot and out of our awareness. So, what steps can we take to change this?
The Bully in your head
What is self-esteem? Self-esteem is the way a person thinks and feels about themselves. When our self-esteem is low we tend to think very negatively about ourselves, how we look, what we can achieve etc. This is like having a “Bully” with you everywhere you go. This can lead to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. The “Bully” holds you back from living your life the way you want to.
The DEMON we call ANXIETY
Anxiety can be debilitating. It can take all the joy out of life and leave us feeling miserable. It can leave us stuck with thoughts going around and around in our heads. This is how anxiety affects many people and they feel like they have no control over this demon that can just turn up without any notice and make us feel physically and emotionally out of control.
