Wednesday, August 17, 2011

WELLNESS AND OUR MENTAL HEALTH


We are all interested in our mental health even though we’re not always sure how we are doing.

We mostly know about anxiety and some of us know about depression. Many less know how deep and difficult these conditions can be.

On the medical side, our best help comes from medications. But it is often difficult to get the right medication because each person is different.

We need to know that the experts are divided on the big question of nature vs. nurture - did we inherent it or did we catch it? So some professionals rely on medication; others rely on day to day living.

On the wellness side, there is lots we can do - ordinary things like exercise, diet, study, work, prayer and connecting well with others.

Most of us have some sort of mental health challenge - it might be as simple as being a bit too negative. The tricky part of mental health is that we are often the last person to recognize our problem.

This is where the family and small groups do their good work. In an atmosphere of acceptance, we can allow ourselves to hear messages that are not always comfortable.

One of the best clues to any mental health and attitude problem is to check out what most bothers us in others. That is usually a hot tip.

The moral of this story is that on most days we should rely on the simple, good things we can do for our mental health.

Wellness pays.

Let’s hear your views on this latest FAMILY CHALLENGE!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

SAFEGUARDING OUR CHILDREN: FROM CHEATING

U.S News recently reported that 40% of college students admitted cheating on exams. While some of that will be smart talk that big number tells us something is not right.

The temptations in college are great but well grounded kids don’t cheat. And, we know that well-grounding begins at home.

So what at home could shake the grounding? Here is a short list:
  • Excuses when late from work
  • Fiddling on our taxes
  • 15 clicks over the speed limit
  • Half truths - like “I just had one beer”
  • “Not my fault - He caused the accident”
  • “The devil made me do it”

Our problem is that young children have X-ray vision and supersonic hearing. They often know what’s going on more than we parents do. We have learned from long experience how to fog things. In fact we get to the point where we no longer see our own fogs.

How do we safeguard our children? We need some practice to defog:

  • Daily goals clear the air and focus on good things
  • Find one OOPS you know you can change now
  • Make a deal with the mate to check up each other regularly
  • Watch others to see how straight they can be

Do this for a while and suddenly an issue will come up from one of the children. “Are you getting sticky because you are getting old?”

This is a chance to be straight. Like “Son, I realized that sometimes I was being less than honest”.

It will take a few such exchanges before the kids start to believe it.

Not a bad goal: “Today I will start to fix one OOPS”

If we are not careful, cheating can get seriously nasty!

Let’s hear your views on this FAMILY CHALLENGE!