After our first post on how to develop and attitude of gratitude I started paying attention to the people around me to see how grateful they really are. Boy was I surprised and not in a good way.

Let us back track just a little bit. Yesterday was not the best day ever for me, nothing specifically bad happened it was just one of those days, you know where you just need someone to give you a hug and R50 000. However, it seemed like everybody was having a bad day. By merely moving through the hospital I could not help but over hear people complaining, and when I say complain I mean COMPLAIN. I heard people complaining from how the weather is not the perfect spring weather like it is supposed to be to complaining about how bad their leave was (I didn’t even know you could complain about going on leave).

Continue “10 Ways to develop an attitude of gratitude #2”

I have a good friend who was entered for the 94.7 by the company he works for, together with his fiancé and his colleagues.  They aren’t experienced cyclists. When I asked him how the training was going, he replied that they had started training, mostly thirty or forty kilometres over a weekend.  His fiancé said that to train on the road was too monotonous and they found a mountain bike much more exciting.

I could not believe my ears when I heard this.  In my opinion it is two different sports and can’t be compared, although both involve a bike.  One of the most important differences is that on a mountain bike you cycle while standing up most of the time, whereas on a road bike you sit ninety-nine per cent of the time.  On the other hand, another friend told me that mountain biking can give you extra strength for road cycling. Continue “Helping others train for the 94.7”

In June I participated in a fun run to raise funds for a lady who was in a serious cycling accident.  People showed up in numbers their support by running five kilometers.  Watching them I thought to myself wouldn’t it be great if people could show their support for mental health by being part of such an event?  After thinking and praying about it I concluded that it needed to be done and my home town, Vanderbijlpark, would be perfect place to start.

On many occasions people asked me where they can get help or just ask questions about mental health.  This is where fun run comes in.
The idea was to create a safe environment for people to get out of the shadow of a mental illness, without being judged or looked down upon because of it or reaching out for help.  Whether the people has an illness or have a family member or friend that they want to support.  This was an event for mental awareness so people don’t need to be afraid to ask questions, because they weren’t the only person there with depression or bipolar.

Continue “Run4You – Mental health awareness run”

Number 4 on our list of how to develop an attitude of gratitude is to: Learn Prayers of Gratitude. In many spiritual traditions, prayers of gratitude are considered to be the most powerful form of prayer, because through these prayers people recognize the ultimate source of all they are and all they will ever be.

This is also just a great way to become mindful of all the different aspects in your life to be grateful for. As well as giving you an opportunity too just take stock of what is happening in your life at this moment.

Here is one example of a gratitude prayer if you find it difficult to get stated. As you go on you can change and adapt your prayer as it suits your current situation. But Remember writing your prayer is very much part of the process as it is something for you to grow your own attitude of gratitude.

Gratitude prayer: 

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. They lift me up in ways that keep my eyes focused on you and make my spirit soar.

Continue “How to develop an attitude of gratitude #4”

What a blessed day it was for everyone. The best word to describe it is: excellent!
People do support mental health; the evidence is in the support we received for the Run4You event, but more about that later on.

All the months of planning and hard work came together and fitted together like a hand in a glove! The committee (I call them the Dream Team) came and helped with the set up. The team consisted mostly of my family. One of my brothers was responsible for the sound. The music helped to create an exciting atmosphere. It was such an amazing feeling and great honour when Vista’s minibus arrived on the premises. They brought beautiful, coloured Happiness HELPS banners that we used to set up a start and finish point. It created such a welcoming effect.

Continue “RUN4YOU – follow up”

What would you see if you really look at the world?

Take a minute to think about it, or better yet take a moment to look around you and become aware of what you see.

Part of developing an attitude of gratitude is to develop the ability to be mindful. Please note when I say mindful I don’t mean looking in all the compartments of your brain and discovering all the clutter.  Then realizing you still have a draw in there that has a million of your “life goals” you should have achieved by the age of twenty, and here you are in you late twenties and proud of yourself if you are able to make it to work. (Insert panic attack here.)

Continue “Developing an attitude of gratitude #5”

Health is not merely the absence of disease, but a state of physical, mental and social well being. For many years this statement has been the main focus area for the World Health Organization when addressing issues of mental health. You might be wondering why I am babbling on with the WHO buuut….

For those of you you may not know, tomorrow the 10th of October is World Mental Health Day!!

Here at the clinic we have started our celebrations early this morning and will be ending off the festivities on Sunday the 11th of October with our World Mental Health Day Fun Run. I do hope all of you reading this will be able to join us on that day. After all I am not asking you to run away from mental health, I am merely asking you to run for it.

“Thousands of people with mental health conditions around the world are deprived of their human rights. They are not only discriminated against, stigmatised and marginalised but are also subject to emotional and physical abuse in both mental health facilities and the community. Poor quality care due to a lack of qualified health professionals and dilapidated facilities leads to further violations.

The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, is “Dignity in mental health”. This year, WHO will be raising awareness of what can be done to ensure that people with mental health conditions can continue to live with dignity, through human rights oriented policy and law, training of health professionals, respect for informed consent to treatment, inclusion in decision-making processes, and public information campaigns.” Continue “World mental health day”

Most of us have that one person at work that we just find impossible to deal with, but before you loose your cool. Here are 10 tips for dealing with difficult people complements of Psychology Today.

1. Keep Your Cool

Benefits: Maintain self-control. Avoid escalation of problem.

How: The first rule in the face of an unreasonable person is to maintain your composure; the less reactive you are, the more you can use your better judgment to handle the situation.

When you feel angry or upset with someone, before you say something you might later regret, take a deep breath and count slowly to ten. In most circumstances, by the time you reach ten, you would have figured out a better way of communicating the issue, so that you can reduce, instead of escalate the problem. If you’re still upset after counting to ten, take a time out if possible, and revisit the issue after you calm down.

2. “Fly Like an Eagle”

Benefits: More peace of mind. Reduce risk of friction.

How: Some people in our lives are simply not worth tussling with. Your time is valuable, so unless there’s something important at stake, don’t waste it by trying to change or convince a person who’s negatively entrenched. As the saying goes: “You can’t fly like an eagle if you hang out with turkeys!” Whether you’re dealing with a difficult colleague or an annoying relative, be diplomatic and apply the tips from this article when you need to interact with them. The rest of the time, keep a healthy distance.

3. Shift from Being Reactive to Proactive

Benefits: Minimize misinterpretation & misunderstanding. Concentrate energy on problem-solving.

How: When you feel offended by someone’s words or deeds, come up with multiple ways of viewing the situation before reacting. For example, I may be tempted to think that my co-worker is ignoring my messages, or I can consider the possibility that she’s been very busy. When we avoid personalizing other people’s behaviors, we can perceive their expressions more objectively. People do what they do because of them more than because of us. Widening our perspective on the situation can reduce the possibility of misunderstanding.

Continue “10 Tips to deal with difficult people”

Vista celebrated world mental health day with a fun run in the true meaning of the word! The sight of a string of orange, yellow, pink, blue and purple balloons welcomed the runners and lifted one’s mood. The staff wore the same colour t-shirts as the balloons and greeted everyone with friendly smiles.

I could not participate in the race because my body is burned out, so I walked with crutches. They organized a wheelchair for me, and Dr Jerrie Bezuidenhoudt, my psychiatrist, offered to push me for the five kilometres; without hesitation, I said yes!
I had the privilege to ring the bell to start off the race. I started the race with Dr Jerrie pushing me. After a while, Francois (Vista’s CEO) took over from him and that was where the fun began. He started to run with me! When he got tired he shouted to the gentleman in front: Now it’s your turn! Then he would let go, and someone else took over so they passed me from one athlete to the next. David Larkan and another gentleman pushed me most of the time. They are heroes in my eyes. The road was not wheelchair friendly, but they kept going. When they were out of breath, I would suggest: Let’s walk for a while’, but they refused and kept on running Continue “Vista’s fun run for mental health: Run With Me”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This phrase always made me feel so inferior. It made me feel like people think you are ugly and they don’t want to make you feel bad so they are basically saying…”hey I don’t think you look that good, but I’m sure someone out there does.

However, today this phrase became much more clear after reading

A famous writer was in his study.. He picked up his pen and began writing:

**  Last year, I had a surgery and my gall bladder was removed.  I had to stay stuck in bed due to this surgery for a long time.
**  The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favorite job. I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.
**  The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.
**  In the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days.
**  And the destruction of the car was another loss. Continue “Count your blessings!”