“I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra” - Carrie Fisher

What an amazing woman, lost too soon. She was very open and honest about her mental health issues and we need to honour her legacy.

She was the first kiss-ass female hero as a girl growing up in the seventies. She was not perfect, in fact far from it, but she connected with so many people on so many levels.

Having the courage to open up publicly about her drug and alcohol addiction as well as her mental health struggles due to being bi-polar.

She became our champion as she regularly spoke about mental health and how not enough is being done to take care of those who suffer in silence.

Carrie had a service dog, named Gary. He went with her everywhere. As more people are using service dogs, her public appearances with Gary raised awareness of the very important job these wonderful animals do.

As more and more information floods the web, an even brighter light shines on all she accomplished in life.

A True Hero for all females to look up to, flaws and all. She fought demons that many people would never understand. Yet she rose as a phoenix from the ashes and blazed a trail for all follow.

Rest in Peace Carrie - The disturbance in Force was powerful when you left us.

Having a Bad Day!!!!!!

How do you explain to a normal human being, that you are having a really bad week even though you don’t do anything?

Having a chronic condition or three makes life difficult.

I have been feeling exhausted for over three weeks now. At first I thought my tiredness was related to the sleeping pills I was taking to counteract my insomnia. I was always tired during the day and was forever dosing off.

However I have been off my sleeping pills for over a week now and I still feel tired all the time. I will be sitting doing something on my iPad and the next moment I realise I have dosed off again and have to refocus on what I was doing.

It is not like my insomnia has kicked back in. I am sleeping well and at length at night and struggling to wake in the morning.

I have been really good and have been taking all my vitamins as well as all my prescription medications, yet it does not seem to have an effect on my exhaustion.

I do not want to go to the Doctor about it, as all he will do is some blood tests which wont show anything, and I will still be none the wiser.

Exhaustion is a part of my life. It is never going to go away. I just wish it would not last for the long periods of time, as it seems to be doing more of lately.

On days like today, my depression levels spike as I am feeling useless and exhausted, and all I want to do is sleep.

Plebiscite / Refugees / Fear

Below is a section from an article published on the ABC web page regarding the Plebiscite that the Liberal government plans to hold on Same Sex Marriage.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-14/525-million-price-tag-on-same-sex-marriage-plebiscite-study/7243298

A stand-alone plebiscite on same-sex marriage could cost the Australian economy more than half a billion dollars, according to new research.

Modelling undertaken by accounting firm PwC says it would result in $280 million of lost productivity, on top of the cost of running the nationwide campaign, estimated at $158 million by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The cost to the community of funding the two campaigns for and against the proposal would cost $66 million, while the impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the gay and lesbian community amounts to $20 million.

PwC Australia chief executive Luke Sayers said the real cost of the plebiscite was three times what has been quoted by the Federal Government.

Yes, you read correctly - Half a Billion Dollars for a Plebiscite that the government may or may not act upon once the results are in. That is $500,000,000 including lost productivity.

At the same time the government has announced that they will be keeping the number of refugees allowed into Australia each year at 18750.

Firstly lets talk about this vote. The government has agreed to give each side of the argument 15 million dollars each to campaign for their side of the argument. That’s a lot of money that will be wasted on hate speech. And there will be hate speech. Many church elders consider the LBGT community to be evil and will express this during their campaign.

Lets start treating every human being as equal and stop categorising them according to their religious beliefs, sexual orientation or refugee status.

The government could stop the Plebiscite, allow a conscience vote of all politicians to pass gay marriage bill, and use the funds allocated for the Plebiscite to assist those who have been forced out of their homes due to war and allow more refugees into Australia every year.

Stop giving people who spout Hate Speech of any kind a platform.

Stop clicking on articles that discuss Hate Speech.

Stop teaching your children to Hate.

Stop allowing fear of the unknown to generate Hate Speech

Stop letting fear guide your voting

Get informed, understand others and there will be a lot less hate in the world.

Secondly, the refugee crisis is at an unprecedented level due to wars, many of which the Western World has had a hand in starting.

According to the UN Refugee Agency there are 65.3 million refugees worldwide. The site also state that 33,972 people are forced to flee their homes Daily due to conflict and persecution. That is almost twice the number of Refugees that we are prepared to let into Australia in a year. In a YEAR??? Really!!

The Refugee crisis is a Worldwide problem and we need to be more involved than we are.

Lets not waste money on even more Hate Speech and a wasted vote and let's spend that money on helping more Refugees.

Tragedy upon Tragedy compounding even more Tragedy

As America commemorates the 15th Anniversary of the tragic event of 9/11, the rest of the world reels from the impact of that tragedy on a daily basis.

Because of 9/11, we as the human race have dehumanised a group of people to the point where we do not care if they die.

Below is the 8 Stages of Genocide. We have allowed this to happen to the Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, Muslim and any other refugees escaping certain death in their country of birth.

1. Classification

2. Symbolisation

3. Dehumanisation

4. Organisation

5. Polarisation

6. Preparation

7. Extermination

8. Denial

Even the pictures of dead children do not move us as we see these children as less than human.

How have we let this happen in a society where we have access to so much information? After each horrific genocide of a group of people, we the unaffected promise to never ever allow such a tragedy to occur on our watch again.

Yet, over and over and over again, we allow a group of human beings to be dehumanised so we do not care if they die.

Since 9/11 we have allowed our lack of understanding, instant access to the Internet, and media sensationalism to drive our fear of a misunderstood religion to unimaginable heights. Thus allowing the dehumanisation of so many groups of people, even if they are not followers of the religion in question.

How many people have to die before we stop this madness?

Why I Hate EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome)

It is a thief

It steals your life

It takes your will to continue

It makes you feel stupid when you can’t remember anything

It pilfers away your sleep

It introduces you to Insomnia

It plunders every energy reserve

It paves the way to chronic fatigue

It robs you of so much

It costs a lot - medicine - friendships - bracing - doctors

It frustrates when showering becomes mammoth task

It hurts like hell

It breaks down your self worth

It makes you feel useless

It takes and takes

It never lets up

It never stops

It makes you feel less than human

It takes away normality

It prevents you from completing what used to be simple tasks

It makes tidiness a thing of the past

It drives you crazy when you cant clean anything

It causes depression

Having Ehlers-Danlos Sucks - I wish I was a Unicorn

Firstly, I used to cycle a lot when I was younger. I was much fitter then. I knew many people who would not get on their bicycle unless the ride was 60km’s or longer.

So to ride 5km’s does not seem like much. It should be a stroll in the park.

SO WRONG.

I woke up at 5:00 this morning to help hubby before he went to work. I was back in bed by 5:30. Fell asleep and slept till 12:00. When I woke up I was in PAIN.

My legs ache, my arms ache and my back is sore.

So much for gentle exercise!!

All my Doctor’s tell me I need to exercise on a regular basis and it will help my pain. HA HA. I cant even ride 5km’s without hurting myself.

So back to the drawing board to find out how far I can ride my bike without hurting myself.

The future generations……. Glad I am an older Unicorn

I was at the shops when I overheard a conversation with a mother and her son:

Son: Close your eyes

Mum: You are not getting anything

Son: Just close your eyes

Mum: No

I then wondered out of earshot. I few minutes later I overheard them again.

Mum: Okay you can have one

Son: Ok, but there are others

(He then wondered off to the toy isle and returned with three packets containing toys)

Son: I need all of these

Mum: But you already have this one

Son: But you don’t understand

I again thankfully wondered out of earshot.

From no to ok in a few minutes shows the lack of parenting skills that many parents display today.

Many older people “quote the bible” saying “Spare the rod, spoil the child”. As many parents do not believe in smacking as a form of discipline this quote is totally redundant.

This so-called “quote” does not even appear in the bible.

The verse in question is Proverbs 13:24 which I have listed below from various translations and none of them state that the child will be spoilt.

* Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. 

     New Living Translation

* Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves is diligent to discipline him.

      English Standard Version

* He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him properly.

      New King James

* Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them

      New International Version

* A refusal to correct is a refusal to love; love your children by disciplining them.

      The Message

The version that’s works the best for today’s world is The Message.

It is simple and clear. Correct your child and discipline them. There is no mention of smacking.

The important lesson here is discipline your children. You are doing them a disservice by not disciplining them. If you raise a child who does not understand the meaning of the word no, they are more likely to become a burden on society rather than a productive member of society.

A young adult who does not understand the meaning of no will most likely:

* Fail in school as they will not believe teachers when they say no

* Fail in University as they will not believe the lecturers when they say no

* Loose many jobs as they will constantly clash with managers who say no

* Argue with Police Officers who say no and may get arrested

* Argue with anyone in authority who says no

Raising a child with boundaries and who understands the meaning of the word no is not easy. It requires time, effort and consistency.

It sounds like hard work and it is, but it can be done. I have met children who have never been smacked, but when mum says no, they understand and accept the answer.

However to many parents today are too wrapped up with their online life to worry about their children. Tablets, smart phones, TV and computer games have become the children’s baby sitters.

According to an article listed below the average person spends 490 minutes a day online. That equates to over 8 hours a day. No wonder parents are not spending any time disciplining their children.

http://qz.com/416416/we-now-spend-more-than-eight-hours-a-day-consuming-media/

  

I am really glad all our children are young adults and have been raised with discipline. However I feel really sorry for them when the younger generation join them in the workforce.

Once again Humanity has failed the masses.

Facebook is once again covered with the picture on the right for the 84 people who died in Nice, France on Bastille Day - 14 July 2016.

Only one person changed their picture for Baghdad, on the left, when car bombs killed 292 people on 7 July 2016.

Only 7 days separate the two events.

When isis attack a western nation every western nation mourns the loss of life.

When isis attack an eastern nation, it does not even feature in the western news.

I am not saying that one event is more tragic than the other. Both events are tragic. The loss of life in these inhuman attacks is always a tragedy.

The problem is the reaction of the rest of the world. The very poor reaction from the world for the Baghdad bombings adds fuel to an out of control fire known as isis. It gives isis recruiters ammunition to show young vulnerable Muslim youth that Muslim lives don’t matter.

Lets stop adding fuel to the fire. Lets treat every life lost due to terror as important.