And Breathe......

Do you Act at Being Tough?

I was checking Facebook this morning and came across a video of an interview with Al Pacino, I think it was from 1983, and he was asked ‘Are you tough?’

His response was that he didn’t know.

‘Getting through life you’ve gotta be tough I guess; we’re all tough.’ He said ‘How do you mean tough’ he asked the interviewer.

‘Coping’ was the response.

‘I think what comes from toughness is because you’re trying to cover something usually sensitivity, certain vulnerability, that’s toughness.’

The Quest for JOY!

We all deserve joy in our lives, but finding it isn’t always easy. Here’s a 10 minute video on the importance of finding JOY and why we need to give it more of our attention.

#5in5forMind Update – Postponed to 2022.

It’s been a big decision to make, but I have decided to postpone my marathon challenge until next year.

While the injury to my achilles is feeling better, it’s still not 100%, plus I have pain in my right hip and lower back as well now; while I’ve tried to convince myself otherwise, I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to run five consecutive marathons on a dodgy leg and hip seems a bit of a push, and probably a bit silly.

I’ve been out running and managed 21km with little pain or discomfort, it’s after the running that the aches and pains start. My concern is that if I push it I’m only going to cause more, long-term problems.

I’ve been watching quite a bit of sport over the past few months, especially the Olympics, and the general consensus when you hear injury stories is that the achilles is not to be trifled with, if it goes, then you’re in a world of trouble.

Is There a Mental Health Bandwagon?

The other day I was talking to someone about the work I do, and one of their first comments was along the lines of “A lot of people seem to be jumping on the mental health bandwagon”.

It wasn’t said in a negative, patronising way, I think it was more just a common phrase we use to describe things that are more prominent, especially in the media; but it made me think.

I looked up the phrase ‘Jumping on the Bandwagon’ on trusty old Google, and found the following definition:

“To join an activity that has become very popular or to change your opinion to one that has become very popular so that you can share in its success.” – Cambridge Dictionary

It’s something politicians do regularly if they think it will get them more votes so they can win an election.

If you look at this definition, it is easy to see why people may think that mental health is a bandwagon, especially because of some of the high-profile examples that have been in the media spotlight recently.

5 in5 for Mind – Challenge Update – Running Injury Blues.

Unfortunately (as some of you will already be aware), I’ve had to postpone my #5in5formind marathon challenge, again! This time it’s because of an injury to my achilles.

It’s been about a month now, and originally, I thought it was just my calf muscle, but as time went by it became evident that the problem was bigger than that. This is the first week that I’ve been able to run properly, managing 14km on Wednesday; the good news is that the achilles seems to be holding up nicely, which it needs to, because I’m running the Milton Keynes marathon on Sunday 27^th June!

The whole injury experience had a huge effect on my mood, much more than I thought it would. I knew that running was important to me because I’d struggled during lockdown, when there were restrictions on the number of times you could leave home.