How working at Disability Challengers feels so rewarding

Hello everyone! I cannot believe it's now the 1st of March already?! I swear NYD still felt like it happened yesterday?!

Anyway, enough hyperbole. I know it's been a month since I was last active on here, as my work-life is heavily getting in the way of that. Especially with my new job. However, I have an unexpected day off work today, so I thought I'd make an appearance back on here again.

As the above title states, I feel like I should talk about how rewarding my job at Disability Challengers is, as well as how does it personally make me feel rewarded.

For those of you who have never heard of Disability Challengers, it is a charity-based job where it primarily consists of interacting with children with disabilities, as well as providing them with fun activities.

And as the company name states, every child comes with a unique set of behaviours. Hence I also manage those children's behaviours whilst having fun interacting with them on scheme.

Working at Disability Challengers feels so rewarding for me, as I am (let's not leave out my colleagues/friends here as well!) providing a safe, playful & overall fun environment for our service users. The backstory of this reason is due to the fact that they may have nowhere else to go & have fun, as other people view their disability as a burden.

I personally like to vision myself as a superhero at the end of every shift. This is because helping people helps me to become a better person in life, and I tend to thrive on the very thought of me visioning myself as a "superhero".

In fact, the last 10 months I have been working at Disability Challengers has made me develop into a more better person. Both physically & mentally. This is because I had the pleasure of working alongside some amazing & all round lovely people, (particularly on the schemes I work at) who accept me for who I am as a person, which help me to gain more confidence when working as a team.

*I began this post on the 1/3/24, but didn't finish it until the 2/3/24*

What is beneficial about "Looking forwards in life"?

I'm back!😁 

Yes, I purposely took a long and fore filling break, because A: I've been on holiday recently. B: I've been having trouble with what to talk about. This is why taking this lengthily break helped me to cook up new ideas for some upcoming posts...

In this case, this one is related to our defeat against the Italians 2 Sundays ago. I will admit, when we lost, I felt the tears running around in my head and they were screaming to be let out by me, as I was so whelmed up by everything that's happened during the whole game. In the end, I realized that it was only best to reflect on the team's journey during this tournament and looking forward in life. (Explanation coming up)

 

Fun fact: This is a popular quote which can be explained in many different ways!

What does this quote mean?

It means, that you acknowledge something great is eventually going to happen to you in life, but in order to achieve that greatness, you HAVE to keep looking forwards at your future and not think too much about what happened in your past, as you cannot change it.

What is beneficial about this quote and why?

If you keep reading this quote over and over again, your mind will eventually become so hyper focused on working on your plans and goals for your future.

Don't get me wrong, it is always a good thing to reflect on your life journey, as well as your past achievements, (if necessary) to help give your mindset some ideas on how to succeed for next time and do better than ever.

Furthermore, never forget about all of the obstacles you had to face and what you had to do to progress through them, as they will always be a useful reminder of your mindset tactics in favour of your success. 

What are the best examples to use and why?

One of them being what I was talking about previously. The England V Italy game. I can sense the players' heartbreak and frustration on how they succeeded in every game right up until the final, when the players got tired and were struggling to keep up. 

During their loss at the end of the game, they had the whole night to pause and reflect on their journey and how they can improve for next time. As this reflecting moment was showing on live TV, I can imagine the teary reaction of everyone else watching, as they can feel the players' emotions when THEY show them after their team lost. It was so powerful.

This is where they start talking on their social media platforms, that they were extremely proud of their tournament journey, their teammates and their support. In which, will help encourage them to look forwards to their next journey in life.

That's all for this post.

Thank you for taking your time to read through. Please feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person. Have a good evening!

   

"You VS You"

Hey all, I was indenting to make a post earlier in the week, however, I've been keeping myself occupied with yet more coursework. In addition, my 1st Maths exam is only around the corner now!

Fortunately, I now have some time for myself at the moment, which means that I can fit in a blog post today.😉 

You're probably thinking to yourself: "What does this expression mean?" it means that you keep on saying or doing negative things to yourself to make you feel bad if you were to make a mistake, when really, YOU try to battle it, by taking your mind off it all and working on making progress to make YOU feel better again. Does that make sense?

Example 1:

You are currently enjoying your session at the gym, when all of a sudden... you make a mistake where you thought you didn't push yourself hard enough to be able to achieve your working out goal. (Whatever that could be)

At around this point, that is when these negative thoughts enter your mind and keep on saying to your inner self: 

"Do you know what, I really don't think I can do this, it is too hard for me" 

"I keep messing up all of the time, because I keep on repeating these silly mistakes" 

"If I cannot achieve this goal, then I don't think I'll be able to succeed in life"

This is where your better YOU enters you mind, by continuously looking for every single way to overcome your thoughts, in order to redeem your working out progression, so that you're able to maintain your focus and keep moving forward.

To do this, you need to stop right where you went wrong and have some time to think. I know this is not an easy task to do at this exact moment, as you're currently in no mood to think about anything. A top tip would be to think about how you have achieved your previous working out goals, then by using this strategy to do the one you are working on step-by-step. This way, you'll be able to achieve every little step, as it they allow you to repeat them over and over again if you don't succeed first time.

(Doing revision would be the exact same example given related to this one, as I still struggle with doing it now)

Example 2:

You are someone who has done some terrible things in the past, all because you were suffering from mental health difficulties. By now, you are a completely changed person, however, you sometimes experience these breakdowns of constantly feeling guilty, as these past times re-enter your mind to haunt you.

How can you help your better YOU to feel right again? It may sound simple, but again, not easy! Remember, when you suddenly begin to feel at your lowest, you will be in no mood to think about anything good. 

Talk to a friend/family member, counsellor or alternatively an anonymous help hotline number (if that makes you feel more comfortable) about these constant guilt thoughts, as you're helping yourself to battle your bad self, as well as inhaling all of that encouraging and positive advice to allow you look for further opportunities to improve on yourself.

That's all for today. Thank you for reading through and please feel free to comment or let me know about a similar experience you may have had. Bye for now! 

  

  

The psychological benefits of taking a break from the internet

Well, I'm back from what I've just stated in the above title: "Taking a break from the internet" This was because I wanted to be more productive with my spare time, rather than spending long hours surfing the wonderful world of the internet.

More to the point, I feel like advising you guys about how taking a break from the internet can really make you feel more engaged with yourself, otherwise more positive.

*Hence as to why I had a decent day yesterday*😁

My main objective of this topic, is that everyone who reads this post, will feel encouraged to follow my discussed examples when they decide to come off the internet for awhile.

How does spending long hours on the internet make you feel?

For me personally, I always feel completely normal. However, DO NOT be deceived by that statement!

Let's say, after about 3 hours later of casually surfing the internet, you start to experience this feeling of your mind going 'blank' which means, you've wasted all of that time just looking up random stuff (if you like) that has now overpowered your important train of thought. To put it in more basic terms, you can no longer think straight.

This is what most people refer to, as it's their way of feeling 'normal' but the reality is, this will only make you feel depressed, by not wanting to do anything productive in your life.

What productive things can you do to take a break from the internet?

One of the things I've been doing lately, is going out for long walks in my local area. By doing so, will help to take your mind off with whatever is bothering you, as you focus on how many miles you intend to do, as well as getting to your chosen walking destination. Don't forget to focus on how brilliant you feel about doing it too!

Learn how to play a musical instrument. In my case, I've been improvising at my drumming skills. Even though I don't actually own a drum kit, I just use any surrounding hard surface to tap my hands on and create different rhythms.

Improve your reading skills, by reading actual books. (Not a kindle tablet) I have various books in my room, which I use to either use to educate myself or to get myself 'lost' in the author's story. What I mean by that expression, is focusing on what the story is about.

Do home-based workouts to help increase your current level of fitness. (See: The psychological benefits of working out regularly  For further explanation)

This brings an end to this topic. Thank you for reading through, I really hope you've learned a lot by reading these chosen examples and please feel free to talk about any similar experiences you may have.

I shall see you soon.

   

"Feeding your motivation"

In this post, I want to give you all a lectured insight, as to how you can "Feed your motivation". It actually turns out to be really simple! Just simply keep on doing what makes you happy. 

For instance, running makes you happy, and you have a keen interest of becoming a long distance runner.

But... to be able to reach that long-term goal, you need to have the dedication to work hard, as well as push hard to be able to get to where you want to be.

However... you also need to be aware that there are physical and mental obstacles, in which, you HAVE to face, as well as finding a suitable navigation (both physical and mentally) to boost your confidence towards the next level in terms of reaching your goal.

One way of doing so, is looking for inspiration around you. Watch some videos about that certain interest which makes you happy, to see if you can copy their tricks and tactics, in which, helps THEM to succeed in relations to finding their motivation. Or you can ask your friends and family to help give you encouragement, by telling you that they will ALWAYS be proud of you, for who you are, what you are and how far you've come and still progressing to for fill your motivation.

From time to time, you may experience these random depressing feelings, where you suddenly feel like you're not trying hard enough, therefore, you don't feel like you're ever going to reach your goal, let alone chasing it down. This is EXACTLY the type of feeling which can throw your motivation right off guard. To keep refuelling it, you need to convince yourself that these are all lies, in which, this depressed feeling is telling you. The best way to overcome it, is to keep on reminding yourself of all the progress you've made over the years. Alongside that, think of all the encouraging words your friends and family say about you, in purpose to give you that motivation, which will really help you to think more about where you want to be.

To put all of this long advice in basic terms - It's all about the focus! Only think about success!

(The above picture shows me finding my motivation; by working out)

Thanks for taking your time to read. Comment down below if want any advice on motivation and I shall be back soon with another post. Bye for now!   

10 steps to a positive body image

This is an interesting topic of conversation, in which, I came across recently. (Courtesy of my College)

I personally feel like we need to be spreading these messages out more to the world, as there still could be THOUSANDS of people putting themselves down due to their dissatisfaction of their body image. It is deeply important to justify that we are human and we can only function with positive energy. 

Take a look for yourself and have a good long reflect.

  

Just remember - You are ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT regardless of who you are, what you do and whatever you're background is.✊

I rest my case.

"Old habits die hard"

The phrase "Old habits die hard" means you're trying so hard to quit doing something that you keep doing, but at the same time however, you can't stop doing it... This can be seen as a good or a bad thing.

Let's talk about the psychological effects of how a habit can be triggered and how it can keep occurring. In addition, how we can overcome it! 

 
*Note to self* 

Everyone has to experience this at least once in their lifetime, as it is all part of how you function as a human being; by knowing that you've made a mistake, as well as being able to learn from it to help remind you.

I've been round that block time and time again.

Example 1

You always seem to like the idea of having maple syrup with every meal you have, but everyone says you can't keep having it all the time, as it's unhealthy for you and can increase your risk of getting diabetes.

Baring in mind, YOU also know this fact and desperately want to end this habit, but you can't, as you now have this feeling that no meal would ever taste the same, let alone great without maple syrup added to it... *The same feeling as learning how to cope with loss - Grief*

One way of overcoming it, is you could perhaps try using different sauces with every other meal you have. I.e. Ketchup, BBQ, Mint sauce or Mustard. These options can be considered as much healthier compared to a sugary filled sauce which could turn you into an unhealthy person. 

Contrastingly, you maybe consider that you want to eat healthier altogether, therefore meaning you want to eat less fats and more carbs, fruit/veg and protein. (Think about the 6-pack and ripped body you'll end up getting!)

Example 2

You are an alcoholic, you like the taste of alcohol, you crave on alcohol and you rely on alcohol ALONE to help make you feel better about yourself. 

Some might say this type of behaviour is called: "Drinking yourself away" because you feel so worthless by everything that has gone wrong in your life, therefore, you felt like ending it there and then, but it's actually known as "Self pity" as you are currently experiencing the moment of failure, as well as comfort in a not so nice way. There is a difference between the two feelings.

A very good and highlighting example of this would be to use your friends/family to help you feel better by talking to them via text or phone call. If you were to inform them about your recent depressed feeling, they will then take immediate action by giving you comfort, as well as reminding you of all of your past accomplishments to help bring your confidence back.

Again by thinking contrastingly, you could research about all the devastating consequences of how consuming too much alcohol can seriously damage your physical and mental health. This is just one of the many things that absolutely NO-ONE wishes to try and attempt doing with themselves.

Example 3

(An OCD related example)

You slowly start to begin to have this feeling of getting germs on you, therefore you feel like having to constantly wash your hands every 10 minutes would be the solution. However, doing so could cause damage to your hands by making them red sore and flaky. This will even have an impact on your mental health, as with thinking too much about catching germs can lead to showing signs of anxiety, as well as slowly developing a new fear of touching any surface. Thinking about germs and illnesses is a prone factor for the constant hand washing.

Find an activity or hobby to occupy yourself with to help distract these thoughts about catching germs or when to next wash your hands. More to the point, it helps to clear the anxiety and make you into a happier person again, which I'm sure your friends/family will be relieved to witness!

But when you come to the conclusion of this habit getting out of hand to cope with, talk to a friend, family member, teacher or counsellor about how this habit has gotten out of control and how you can overcome it. This way, they'll provide you comfort and support to encourage you to move forwards, but at the same time, to be your backbone when you feel like you're going in the opposite direction again.

That brings me to an end with this topic. Please do feel free to talk to me ANYTIME you wish to have a catch up or need cheering up. See ya soon!

Example 1 inspiration credit: An episode from a documentary called: Freaky eaters

Example 2 inspiration credit: Peter Barlow from Coronation Street       

Example 3 inspiration credit: Something similar which a friend of mine dealt with in the past  

The psychology involved with politics

First, let me begin this topic of discussion by saying that I have NO interest in politics, but at the same time however, I find it really fascinating why a large population of the world feel like they NEED to know how the law works in every country. Or even how different political parties work to make a difference in their local area.

Question overall:

How do politics influence us on how we see the world?  

First scenario:

Say if you were someone who was not happy about the current laws in your country, so therefore, you wanted to be the one who made those changes.

Right from this moment on, you start to gain an interest in politics, their parties and what they do. This way, you're inhaling in all of the understanding of how a party works curtsy of your curiosity, as well as what they do to make it work, which will make changes to your local area.

Eventually, all of your knowledge will pay of by joining a local party in your borough council. This will help you gain more knowledge by volunteering for businesses, campaigning for your chosen party and rising through the ranks to become a local MP in your area.

By doing so, this will give you more confidence to push yourself to become an MP for the UK! Which will help you to gain more power on these learned skills can shape the country.

Second scenario:

You have a very keen understanding with how local businesses can bring your whole local community together, and so you start researching some ideas on how to improve them...

You then proceed to share your ideas with your local party, in which, they've agreed to and begin working closely with them to work on their improvements for the community.

All of these improvements can consist of by asking these questions: Should we hire more people? Should we start more conversations with our customers; To help bring a more positive and encouraging attribute to our businesses? How about we include more cafes? Which would encourage more local people to come and spend their time at our businesses.

If all these ideas do come into play, you see a shining light inside you that says: "Well done! You should be proud of yourself by cleverly inventing these ideas to your community!" This kind of positive reflection will boost your confidence to get bigger with your ideas!

Third scenario:

You are very passionate about how different people are treated in this country, (Human Rights act.) but at the same time, you are not happy about how some people choose to diss obey that.

You then feel the need to start up a social media page which is aimed at 'Individual Liberty' and consists of this very question, but with different reasons: Why do people get treated differently because of their age, race, height, weight, gender, sexuality or even face?

By doing so, you'll be sending the message out there to the world, which will also be encouraging them to do the EXACT same thing, so that way, this law shall come down harder on anyone who chooses to go against it. This type of action is what's known as: Activism.

If your motivational account proves to be successful by having a million followers, as well as supporters, your fame and determination will be recognized by the creator of your social media account, and will therefore make it verified, as it will then start earning you money to help you build your activism career to a bigger level! Again, making you more confident to learn more about this topic.

Which now brings me to an end with this discussion. Thank you so much for reading and feel free to let me know how politics help YOU see the world. See you soon.

2020 in review and looking forward to 2021

I'd like to take a moment of my time to wish everyone a very Happy New Year despite the pandemic conditions we're currently facing. With that just said, I want to do a review on how the year 2020 went and what to look forward to in 2021.

Ditto to what everyone has been saying: "2020 was a challenging year for everyone on planet earth." (Well, at least 3 quarters of it has been) 

So instead of criticising why this year was so bad, let's highlight all the positive contributes that we did as a WHOLE country: When we went into full-on lockdown on the 23rd of March, we had to 'STAY AT HOME' Meaning: We cannot meet up with anyone, go to work or a place of education and only go out for essential shopping & exercise once a day. It was a depressing 2 months for everyone I'm sure, but one of the two attributes which really stood out in this dark time, was when staying at home gave us all a chance to spend more time reflecting on ourselves - For example: How can I improve myself in life? Answer: Do something creative. (Like what I'm doing) This helps to take your mind off all the tragic things which COVID-19 is doing right now and makes you focus on moving forward with your creativity.

The other, and most big attribute, is how every single person in this country is capable of forming together as a whole and helping one-another get through this difficult time. One example of this would be texting/calling your friends or family members to check how they're coping with life - One of the many social issues that gets talked about so often, due to the amount of suicide risks increasing since locking the whole country down. In addition to all this, we showed our appreciation for the NHS by clapping for them every Thursday evening until the 28th of May. This helps spreads the word to them that they're doing an absolute boss of a job with trying to keep people alive, as well as making them better again.

During the summer, the outlook was getting better and we were allowed to live an 'almost normal' life again. Meaning: We can see friends, go somewhere to eat & do shopping or even go on a short holiday elsewhere in the country.

However, come October, the infection & death rate rose up again, which led us going into a mini month lockdown in November. So we began using our learned social skills again. Shortly after that, we only came out of the mini lockdown before the infection & death rate REALLY surged up 3 weeks later, which meant, those living in tier 4 restrictions couldn't have a normal Christmas & New Year. (Which is what happened to me...) But in light to all this, it gave us a chance to spend it in our little 'social bubble' with our families whilst saying: "Everything will be ok, we will all get through this together" This will help us to keep positive.

Final paragraph on the subject, let's all go into 2021 with a positive outlook. Don't make any big plans while getting your hopes up about them, because they may not happen for a long while, which can only lead to disappointment, frustration and anger - You don't want this to reflect on your family don't you?

That brings me to an end with this informative and helpful blog. Hope you all enjoyed reading and please feel free to talk to me about how you are feeling in relation to these current circumstances.

Take care, and remember - Everyone is in this together.✊💞