One of the most valuable accomplishments in our life is establishing self-organization. It enables us to organize our thoughts to control emotions …
Importance of Self Organization
Category: Mental Health
Being Different Series
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is all about the new page that I have made for my Being Different blog series!Similar to how we have updated both the Alzheimer’s Acceptance and Alzheimer’s Avoidance series, the Being Different series has now had a big update to it! I much prefer the new page to what it used to be in the Blogapedia, let me know what you think!
I am slowly making my way through every series in the Blogapedia and giving them all their own pages! The transition process does take a while for me to do so I do apologize for the time that it takes to amend and update. As the Being Different series was the second series that I ever did on the page, I have needed to make some amendments to the page to make it more coherent with the rest of my work. The blogs are now all a bit longer and contain a lot more content that they used too! I hope you all enjoy the newly updated blogs!
To find the new page is simple. You can either find it by pressing the link above or you can go over to the Blogs drop-down list, hover over Blogapedia and you can find it there. Alternatively you can go straight to the Blogapedia page and find it there. All of the series that I write on the page are on the Blogapedia so if you are looking for something new to read, check it out!
Blogapedia is available here.
So what is the Being Different Series?
The Being Different series was the second series that I every wrote for the page and is all about why Being Different is something to be proud of, not ashamed of. The series focuses on the positive side of Being Different whilst also bringing in what Being Different actually means and the affect that it can have on your life.
I have edited a few of the blogs again recently to make sure that they are a lot more relevant and have a lot more content in them that they already had. Although they have been edited the original message that I wanted to portray through the series still stands and the actual purpose of each blog hasn’t changed at all.
The first blog in the series acts as an introduction to the series, talking about what we hope to cover through the series. The second blog goes into detail about what being different is and compares Oxford Dictionaries definition of what being different is to one that I made myself. The third blog in the series takes a look at the positive side of being different and how difference is a good thing and is something that we should embrace.
The fourth blog in the series takes a different approach and talks about how you can see yourself change though the years through a mirror. In this blog we talk about even though the way you see the world may change, the person that you are inside does not need to change. The fifth blog is the last blog in the series and acts as a series summary, talking about everything we covered in the series.
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! I hope you have all enjoyed! What do you think? Are you going to read the Being Different series? Should I bring the series back? Are you enjoying the new pages coming to Sweeney’s Blogs? What page would you like to see next? Let me know what you think of these questions and any other comments you have either in the comments below or via our Facebook page!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!
Sweeney’s Blog
Any money donated here is greatly appreciated and will be directly reinvested into the page!
£5.00
James Sweeney
Alzheimer’s Avoidance Series
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s post is all about the new page that I have created for my Alzheimer’s Avoidance series! Similar to yesterday’s blog about the Alzheimer’s Acceptance series being updated, I have now managed to update the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series as well! I think the page looks great and would love to hear what you think of the new addition to the Sweeney’s Blogs page!
This new page marks the second change for my Blogapedia page. I am going to continue making new pages for each series that I have written for the page and each time I make a new page I will also update the Blogapedia. Instead of having a link to every blog in each series, the Blogapedia will now provide a link to each blog series’s page on the site and will give a short description about the series and will give an inkling into what I cover throughout each series on the page. A more in-depth blog about the changes will be coming in the future, so keep an eye out!
To find the new page you have to go under the Blogs drop-down list and then you can find it under the Blogapedia drop-down. This is where all of the series pages are going to go once I have finished them.
So, What is the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series?
The Alzheimer’s Avoidance series is designed to discuss different methods and techniques to reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. In the series we take a look at techniques such as solving puzzle games, doing regular exercise, having a good social life and so many more to see firstly what they are and secondly how they reduce your chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
A point that I emphasize throughout the series is that although these techniques have been said to lower your chance of getting Alzheimer’s, they cannot guarantee that you will not get it. I would love to use a magic wand to get rid of illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia but sadly I cannot. So instead I provide a range of things that we can try and do in our daily life to help reduce the risk of getting such horrible illnesses.
When you read through all of the techniques and methods you will find that they are very good for your health in general, not just for Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Things like regular exercise and learning a new language can work wonders for both your Physical and Mental Health and you may find that they help reduce your risk of getting other illnesses too.
That’s all I wanted to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you think of the new page? Are you enjoying all of the blogs recently? What sort of content do you want to see on the page? Are you going to check out our new Alzheimer’s Avoidance page? Let me know what you think of these questions as well as any other thoughts or queries you may have in the comments below or through our Facebook page.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day,
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here is greatly appreciated and will be put directly back into the page!
£5.00
James Sweeney
Alzheimer’s Acceptance Series
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Have you all seen our new Alzheimer’s Acceptance page? If not then go and check it out! The page is all about the Alzheimer’s Acceptance series which was one of the first blog series I wrote on the page. The Alzheimer’s Acceptance page can be found under the Blogapedia drop-down list, which can be found under the Blogs drop-down!
The Alzheimer’s Acceptance page marks the start of the long list of changes that are going to be coming to the Blogapedia page on my site. I have always wanted to change the Blogapedia page but was never really sure what to do until now. There will be a more in-depth blog on this in the next few days but to cut a long story short each blog series that I have written on the page will be getting it’s own separate page on the site.
If you do what to see what the newer page looks like please click the link above. The Alzheimer’s Acceptance is still in the Blogapedia page too so take a look at the new design using the link below. It will be happening to every series in the Blogapedia when I get a chance!
So, what exactly is the Alzheimer’s Acceptance series?
The Alzheimer’s Acceptance series is the first series that I ever created on the page and as you can imagine from the name is all about helping people to accept what Alzheimer’s is, the effect it can have on the person with the condition as well as the effect it can have on that persons friends and family.
The series mixes both informative blogs as well as personal stories to give a real view on how Alzheimer’s can affect you and your loved ones. I share a story about the first time my grandmother forgot who I was to show, even though it hurts a lot, Accepting Alzheimer’s is something that we all need to try and do in life. Accepting the condition allows us to process it and plan how we are going to adapt and help the person suffering.
As well as the little story that I write, I do go through how I learned to accept Alzheimer’s in the fourth blog in the series. It was quite hard to write at the time for me as I found it a very emotional topic to discuss but I kept on going as I felt like the message was a really important one to portray and show people.
That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Do you like the new Alzheimer’s Acceptance series? Are there any changes that you want to see come to my page? What do you think of Alzheimer’s Acceptance? Have you had to accept that someone has Alzheimer’s before? How did you do it? Did you find it difficult? Let me know what you think either in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a great day!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated is here is greatly appreciated and will be put back into the page!
£5.00
Thanks,
James Sweeney
Isolation… Lockdown… Make mental health as important as physical health — Depression Survivor
So many of us have become great at hand washing, social distancing, and isolating. But as our isolation continues, how many of us are being as deliberate and mindful with caring for our mental health? As we navigate this truly bizarre time, anxiety, depression, fear, and helplessness are all around us. There’s so much that […]
Isolation… Lockdown… Make mental health as important as physical health — Depression Survivor
What Colour Do You Feel Today? — Middle-aged, Free and Single
How do you feel? I mean, how do you really feel? Happy? Or depressed? Or?? It seems to me that we’ve started to think that if we’re not feeling happy then we must be feeling sad. And if we’re feeling sad we must be suffering from depression. And if we’re suffering from depression we need […]
What Colour Do You Feel Today? — Middle-aged, Free and Single
What do we mean by Success? – Blog 2: Your Job?
You often hear the word success being mentioned when a lot of people talk about their work life/job. You hear people say that a person was successful in getting a particular position/role or that they were not successful in a job that they went for. The question that I like to ask is what do you mean by success in this instance?
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is the second blog in the “What do we mean by Success?” series and is going to discuss if our job is what makes us successful, if it is only a small part of what we define as success or if it doesn’t matter at all when thinking of successful. Success is a term that has many different contributing factors in for many and these factors are valued differently from one person to the next. Whether or not our job role plays a part in whether we can say we are successful or not is the main objective of this blog.
Jobs come in many different shapes and sizes, ranging from being CEO of a multi-billion pound empire to working in a local corner shop. Of course these jobs all have differing salaries, workloads, responsibilities and entry qualifications. The question that I like to think of when thinking of this is, can you say that the CEO of this multi-billion pound company is more successful than lets say someone who is working in their local village shop?
The answer to the question will be very different based off of who you ask the question too. Some people, who value jobs as the breaking point in determining success or not, would say of course the CEO is more successful than the person working in the shop, whereas other people may see the question differently. The reason that I ask this question is because I personally love to see the range of answers that I get from it.
It is one of the questions that I like to use to see how a person thinks and how they interpret questions that are asked to them. For the question there is no right or wrong answer, it is down to how you see the question and, of course, what you see as successful or not.
In my opinion, our job roles are a part of what success means to me, but so are a lot of other things. There are tonnes of different factors which we can look at which define success for many such as, our home life, the goals we set, the good we do in the world and so many more. I personally always strive to do the best I can in life which in turn should hopefully result in me getting a good job down the line. While I will think that a good job is a good factor to have when determining success, it is worth saying that there are other factors that I value more and there are factors that I value less.
Again, similar to the CEO and shop worker question, this scenario/mindset has no right or wrong answer, it is down to your own interpretation. This blog is just meant to open your eyes to these questions and then leave you to think of how you would go about answering them. The same goes with the majority of posts on my page, I do not like to force a message to people, more suggest a new/alternative meaning to a statement and see what they think of it.
If you feel like you have a different view on this issue or would like to have a debate or something similar, get in touch and I will more than happily have one. As I say all of these views are simply my views, you may see something completely different to me and I always love broadening my horizons and learning new things.
Of course, setting a goal or an aim to get a job is something that I highly encourage in life. I will be covering goal setting in a future blog in this series but thought it would be nice to touch on it now. If we set reasonable goals that we can hit then it can be a great motivator for us in life and hitting it is something we can add to what we may see as success!
That is all I would like to talk about in today’s blog! What do you all think? Do you like this new series? What do you define as success? Does your job role play a part in your version of success? What other factor would you like to see covered in this series? Is there a particularly successful person that you want to see me talk about? Let me know your thoughts on these questions, either in the comments on this post or on our Facebook page and I will see what I can do!
Thank you all for reading, I hope everybody is doing alright in the crisis we are going through at the minute and I hope you have a great day!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be greatly appreciated and will be put back into the business.
£5.00
James
Are You a Good Friend to Yourself? — Dr. Eric Perry, PhD
Written by Dr. Eric Perry, PhD Image Credit: Pixabay “A friend is a gift you give yourself.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson What kind of friend are you? Are you attentive, kind and compassionate or, are you neglectful, uncaring and critical? Scrolling through quotes on the internet, I was reminded of the immense value we place on […]
Are You a Good Friend to Yourself? — Dr. Eric Perry, PhD
What do we mean by Success? – Blog 1: Introduction
Success – A small word that many people see very differently. You hear people use the word success from time to time but the question that I always seem to have is what do we mean by success? That is what we are going to be looking at in this series, what success is, what makes us successful and how we can change our mind-sets to see that we are all successful in ways me may not have even considered!
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is going to be the 1st blog in the new “What do we mean by Success?” series! This series is designed to tackle what we see as success and to try and transform how we think to see that we are all successful in our own ways. It is far too easy to get swept up in a competition with others and feel like a failure when in reality you are successful, just in a way that you may not have thought of.
Success is a term that I often undervalue in life and after reflecting on it I found that a lot of people also undervalue their own successes in life. It is not a criticism in any way , however, I strongly believe that if people understand the great things that they have achieved and the great skills that they possess then it will be a great mood booster and will make everyone ultimately feel better about themselves.
Whether you have climbed a mountain or simply learned how to spell a new word, success comes in many different shapes and sizes. That’s not to say that climbing a mountain can be compared in any way to learning how to spell a new word, but they both are achievements in their own right, just on a different scale, they still make us successful!
That is all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you think of today’s blog? Are you looking forward to the new series? How do you value success? Do you think that we need to change what we see as success? Is success impacted by your surrounding environment? Let me know what you think of these questions and any other comments you have about my page either below or on our Facebook page!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be greatly appreciated and will be put back into the page!
£5.00
Let It Be…. — Mind Over Matter Blog
Research has shown that music releases dopamine, the feel good chemical in our brains. I enjoy singing. When i’m feeling low, I find singing and music very therapeutic and a way of releasing my emotions and changing my mindset. It gives me a focus and a means of expressing myself. I know many people who […]
Let It Be…. — Mind Over Matter Blog
Time to Talk – Blog 2: The Reality of Grief – Kyra Fehrman
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is the secong blog in our Time to Talk series and is all about The Reality of Grief. The idea for the blog and the blog itself came from a new guest writer on the page Kyra Fehrman. It is Kyra’s first blog on the page so let us know what you think and if you want to see more from Kyra! Hope you all enjoy the blog and learn something new about grief!
January only has 31 days, however, for me, it felt more like 100. January was a long and arduous time, certainly one you wouldn’t qualify as the best start to 2020. We all have days where everything seems to go wrong, where the world seems to be fighting against you, creating misery and chaos wherever you go and in whatever you do. For me the battle seemed to last the whole month with my grandmother going into hospital on the 1st and then finally succumbing to pneumonia and end stage COPD on the 9th January and her funeral was the 28th January.
Grief is not fun I am sure no one needs to tell you that but what they don’t tell you is that the five stages of grief isn’t as easy as going from one to two to three etc. It is a stressful process, one minute you’re in shock, numb to the core unable to process the reality of your situation, next you jump to anger and you end up not knowing what is going on and what to do with yourself. You play the blame game take it out on those around you maybe after that you cry, sob your heart out over the loss.
What no one tells us is that you can be stuck in that vicious circle for a long time, my partner lost his mother almost ten years ago and he is still grieving, stuck in the numb phase unable to speak about it or face the reality of his loss. My point here is that you never stop grieving and it will have a major impact upon your mental health, before January I was a different person with a different mindset.
Now after losing my grandmother I am seeing the world in a different light, faced with my mortality and the idea of my loved ones dying eventually has forced me to appreciate all the time I have with them. It is hard to talk about these things and a lot of people may say to you to just “move on” that they are in a better place and while the sentiment is nice it invalidates your feelings. You have every right to grieve your loved one and regardless of if they are in a better place or not they are not here with you, they are gone and all those things you would want to tell them, the jokes, the memories you’d want to remind them of you can’t.
Mental Health is a major topic nowadays with a rise in suicides, people taking anti-depressants and antipsychotics, we are in a mental health crisis and this post aims to encourage people to speak up. No matter how silly it may seem there is always someone out there who is willing to listen. If you are grieving a loved one and think life is not worth it anymore just remember this, they loved you with every fibre of their being don’t give up because they don’t want you joining them any time soon.
It is paramount that you look after yourself during these difficult times, hard as that may be, it’s crucial to remember that life will always go on and no matter what you will survive. You are strong enough to endure this pain help and support is out there. A light can be shone in even the darkest of places. Below are numbers and websites for Mental Health organisations.
Thank you all for reading! We hope that you have enjoyed today’s blog and have learned something new about grief! What do you think of today’s blog? Would you like to see more of Kyra’s blogs on the page? Has grief ever impacted on your life? How did you manage it? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on our facebook page.
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here will be greatly appreciated and will be put back into the page!
£5.00
James
14 Reasons You Shouldn’t Give Up On That Unfinished Draft — Novelty Revisions
You’re not done telling this story yet.
14 Reasons You Shouldn’t Give Up On That Unfinished Draft — Novelty Revisions
Time to Talk Series Update
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today’s blog is going to be a shorter blog than usual talking about what I am planning on doing with the new Time to Talk series. I have wanted to do a series like the new Time to Talk one for quite a while now and wanted to run it a little bit different to how I usually run my series. The traditional way that I run my blog series is by doing a new blog for them each week, with the Time to Talk series, I am hoping to tackle it a little bit differently.
The wole purpose of the series is to share peoples stories regarding Stuttering, Stress and Mental Health. What I feel like would be best would be to post this a new blog in this series each time I get a new story through. In order to do this I am always looking for some new stories. If you have an experience or story you would like to share about when you have either seen or experienced anything to do with Stuttering, Stress or Mental Health then please get in touch with me!
All stories will be appreciated, no matter how big or small. It would actually be better to have some longer and some shorter stories as it diversifies the content even more, hopefully reaching out and helping more people! If you have an idea for a story and want some help writing it, please get in touch too, I am always happy to help write or even write the story based off of your idea, giving you the credit if you want it.
If you have a story and are worried about using your name going on it too we can sort that out. I am more than happy to make the writer anonymous, if that is what you wish. The important thin with the blog/story is thr message and lessons that can be learned from it. Even if you think that a story doesn’t have a lesson to it, there is always a way of finding one.
As stated previously there will most probably not be a new blog in this series every week. I will upload one when I have a story sent through and checked it through quickly. This series is all down to audience participation so if you think you have a good story, please share it. You can make a massive difference to somebody’s life!
Thanks for reading and I hope this has cleared up a few questions people have been asking!
James
Time to Talk – Blog 1: The Introduction
Time to Talk Day 2020 was on 06/02/2020 and in celebration of such an important event, I have decided to start this new Time to Talk series! This series is going to be a real eye opening series and is going to be on that I am really looking forward to starting!
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
This is the 1st blog in the new Time to Talk series that I am going to be launching. This series was inspired by Time to Talk Day which was on the 6th of February this year! This series is going to all be about people’s stories regarding Stuttering, Stress and Mental Health. The aim of this series is to share and tell the stories that help make us who we are and how we have got to where we are now.
Although the main concept for Time to Talk day is surrounding opening up about Mental Health problems, I feel like if we bring in conditions such as Stuttering and Stress then it can make for an even more enlightening experience to both read and write. I also feel like this will open up a lot of different avenues that people can discuss and share experiences in which can ultimately help more and more people.
I am planning on running and writing this series very differently from how I usually write them. I feel like for this series to have the desired effect and message that I want it to have then it would be much better to bring in guest writers who wish to share their story. If you have any ideas or stories that you want to share then please feel free to get in contact with me! I am always happy to talk through ideas, no matter how weird or bizarre they may seem at first!
All I’m looking for is a story, can be as long or short as you’d like, about a time where you’ve experienced or seen someone experience something relating to Stuttering, Stress, Mental Health or anything similar to these! If you want to stay anonymous or want to use an alias for your story too that is completely fine, it is the story itself and the message it carries that is important. Let me know if you have any ideas!
In regards to the schedule of the series, at this current moment, I am unsure of how long the series is going to be and when the new blogs in the series will be released. I suppose it comes down to how many people wish to share their story. I may or may not write a few blogs for the series too, it is something that I am not 100% on currently but is something that I am thinking of doing. I feel that the blogs that I could write for the series would be better in their own series and really want this series to be about other peoples stories.
If you have an idea for a blog or story and are nervous about writing or sharing it please get in contact with me too. We can discuss the idea through and if you want to then write it I can help with the wording and phrasing if appropriate. As stated previously every idea is encouraged, I will always talk through ideas with you, even if it seems really silly at first!
That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! Thank you all for reading! What do you all think? Are you excited for this new series? Do you have any ideas that you want to share? Have you ever had an idea but didn’t know how to take it forward? Leave your answers to the following questions either in the comments or on our Facebook page and we’ll have a chat about it!
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated here is greatly appreciated! I will be putting the money back into the page through advertising, guest writers and conet creation!
£5.00
James
Time to Talk Day 2020!
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
Today, February 6th 2020, is the annual Time to Talk Day! Time to Talk Day is designed to encourage people to speak up about any problems or issues they have been facing in regards to their Mental Health. It is an enormous day of the year in regards to Mental Health and is a day that I feel is not focused on as much as it should be, this is one thing that I am hoping to change over the next few years.
Having the confidence and indeed the courage to stand up and talk to somebody when you are going through problems with your Mental Health can, to many, be seen as an impossible hurdle to get past in life but I firmly believe it is a crucial step in both accepting and resolving the issues and problems that we are faced with in life. The spotlight is slowly starting to be shone on Mental Health but in my eyes there is still so much more that needs to be done. As a society we need to try and understand how hard it can actually be to say that you need help. Too many simply asking for help can be an impossible task, and that is something that we need to try and change.
The first thing that I believe we need to change is how we see Mental Health. The video below will help give you an insight into what Mental Health actually is and how it affects us in day to day life:
As we can see from the video, Mental Health affects each and every one of us. it is a part of who we are and is something that we should be proud of, not ashamed or embarrassed of. Time to Talk day is designed to encourage us to speak up and talk about our problems which is also one of the key principles of this page!
We all have our good and bad days but it is crucial to remember that they are normal in life! I openly admit that I have days which seem like they last forever and then days that go by in a second. There are days when maybe you will be more upset than you usually are but if we focus on those days then that is all we will ultimately see. Learning to identify when you are having an off day can sometimes be a lifesaver. Remember talking to people can make a massive difference, even if it is just over a cup of tea, this is where Time to Talk Day comes into play!
If you are not quite sure what Time to Talk Day is then the video below will hopefully give you an idea of what Time to Talk Day is all about!
In celebration and appreciation for Time to Talk Day I am going to be launching a new series of aimed at encouraging people to talk about the times they have come into contact with Mental Health. It can have affected you or somebody you know and if you want too, you can remain anonymous. If you have any ideas or want to share your own story please get in touch! I’ll more than happily listen to any suggestions or ideas!
If you would like to learn more about Time to Talk Day, you can do so through the following link: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day
Thank you all for reading today’s blog! Happy Time To Talk Day! What do you think of today’s blog? Have you heard of Time to Talk Day before? Are you doing anything special today? What do you think we need to do regarding Mental Health as a society and a community? Let me know what you think in the comments or through our Facebook page!
Sweeney’s Blogs
Any money donated will be used for content, advertising and future page plans!
£5.00
James
