Staying well

Managing money to make life easier

replies: 95

One of the big things that causes stress and sure kicks you about when you already have mental illness to play with is money. Whether you're in debt, just scraping by, or feel like you're working to much to maintain a lifestyle. Here is a place to ta... View more

One of the big things that causes stress and sure kicks you about when you already have mental illness to play with is money. Whether you're in debt, just scraping by, or feel like you're working to much to maintain a lifestyle. Here is a place to talk about how to make your dollars go a bit further and take off some financial pressure. I'll start with some basic pointers: - Plan a little with food. Make work lunches, decide on meals for the week and stick to your shopping list. If you shop a bit later you're also likely to get a lot of fresh produce at a discount. - Check regularly (every six months or so) on your utilities. Often there is a better plan out there to switch to. As customers, loyalty to a company usually just gets us a quietly growing bill instead of discounts or rewards. Vote with your feet. - Same with your home loan, you can refinance to one with a better interest rate, just watch out for exit fees (and LMI if you still owe more than 80% of the house value) If you have any tips or questions, feel free to share or ask.

Words of hope

replies: 2

Good evening all! I am Brandon. Many people are unfortunately losing hope in the state of the world. Specifically, I wanted to share my insight on 'the world has gone crazy'. Hearing it can cause people to feel afraid, as though the world has never e... View more

Good evening all! I am Brandon. Many people are unfortunately losing hope in the state of the world. Specifically, I wanted to share my insight on 'the world has gone crazy'. Hearing it can cause people to feel afraid, as though the world has never experienced such a state like it. Throughout history, society has held the view that 'the world has gone crazy'. The most notable examples of world events that come to mind that caused people to feel that 'the world has gone crazy' were the Bubonic plague and Spanish flu outbreak, World War I and II, the social activism of the 60s' and 9/11. The expression 'the world has gone crazy' is subjective and based on fear rather than an objective statement. The beauty of history is that we have been taught the skills to rectify catastrophe. Most of all, I wanted to leave you all who are possibly feeling hopeless and afraid regarding the state of the world with a message of hope from one lesson that history has taught us: humanity has continued to demonstrate resilience and prosper despite countless hardships along the centuries. It is through hardship that we have gained the knowledge and experience to prolong our humanity's survival. For example, Buddha gained his wealth of wisdom by leaving his father's lavish castle when he was 16 years old to experience the hardship of the citizens himself. Why is it that if the world truly had 'gone crazy' that the wind blows, the sun rises and sets, the birds tweet and the flowers and trees grow? I am not sure. I feel that society often gains a false sense of doom from the impacts created by negative media, hearing others' pessimistic views and the false perception of the 'good old days' that tends to be generated by nostalgia. What are your thoughts?

Three things I let go of today...

replies: 6

G'day Everyone. I think we are all onto a winning formulae with the "3 things __" type threads, they have high utility imho. love dng, thus... I let go of irritation about Vinnie snoring loudly. I let go of discomfort by changing my seating position.... View more

G'day Everyone. I think we are all onto a winning formulae with the "3 things __" type threads, they have high utility imho. love dng, thus... I let go of irritation about Vinnie snoring loudly. I let go of discomfort by changing my seating position. I let go of the restriction about three things to let go of. I let go of holding onto everything tightly. I am content in letting go of anything. I let go of this breath. I let go of wanting to breath - yet I still breath. I am grateful for unconscious breathing.

Three things I asborbed today...

replies: 8

Obviously we need to have an opposite thread to letting go, so in here we are hanging onto valuable things, we are committing to things, we are firming up our positions, we are taking into ourselves somethings : These are Three things I absorb today.... View more

Obviously we need to have an opposite thread to letting go, so in here we are hanging onto valuable things, we are committing to things, we are firming up our positions, we are taking into ourselves somethings : These are Three things I absorb today... I absorb someone else's perception of beauty. I absorb the warmth of my heater. I absorb the sounds of nature. I absorb a deep breath. I absorb my own attentive states. I absorb my wife's love for me. I absorb the meta conscious of humanity. I absorb a cordial. I absorb emptiness. I absorb the ideal of letting go... love dng.

ARE YOU ANXIOUS ABOUT NOT ACHIEVING YOUR LIFE GOALS?

replies: 9

Hi Everyone I have noticed these days that many people seem to be fretting about not achieving what they dreamt of. Particularly with the Covid 19 pressures and never ending lockdowns. To me it seems more prevalent when peeps reach their 30th birthda... View more

Hi Everyone I have noticed these days that many people seem to be fretting about not achieving what they dreamt of. Particularly with the Covid 19 pressures and never ending lockdowns. To me it seems more prevalent when peeps reach their 30th birthday, or just before retirement age. What happened to my goals, what have I achieved? I have been thinking about this quite a lot. Some time ago I read something about 'Surrendering more' and not overly focussing on goals. I can't remember much of it but some parts struck a chord that I have found really useful in adapting to my life. Here are some of the life principles I try to observe, (but am not always able to!). 1.Try to celebrate what you have, instead of searching for reasons to be happy. For example good health, job you like, friends, even that nice bed cover, a trip you enjoyed etc are all good things to celebrate! 2. 'Ke Sera Sera' - I find this one very helpful. Basically the song is about what will be, will be, and not fretting over goals and dreams. By all means still keep that over arching vision alive, but just let things happen a little more. I guess better expressed as letting go of the need to be in charge of your life and recognise that the Universe will look after you - with just a bit of guidance from you! 3. Obstacles are there for a reason. Difficult I know, but looking back, nearly every obstacle placed in my way was actually a detour in the right direction! Yes we really to learn from difficulties when looking back. So try not to let them overcome you or get in the way of your strong self belief. 4. When doing Philosophy classes years ago, I remember learning not to judge but to look at things objectively as they really are. Too often I let my emotions or beliefs get in the way and cloud my judgement. Even people you might think are a pain have very positive things to offer if only you will let that happen and get to truly know them. Is this the same as being in the present? I hope this post is not too waffly and some one may actually get something out of it. All I can say is that if I remind myself of some of these principles, It makes me feel much better about myself and my future. Very happy to receive your views! All the best, The Bro

Advice for a poor financial situation + mental health issues.

replies: 3

Hi Everyone, Pretty much my major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety and ADHD all underpin this situation I am in and this situation affects me daily. I cant work because I work in construction and have no money...I haven't been shut down for 2... View more

Hi Everyone, Pretty much my major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety and ADHD all underpin this situation I am in and this situation affects me daily. I cant work because I work in construction and have no money...I haven't been shut down for 2 weeks but instead since the start of the latest lockdown in Melbourne (because we do renovations in peoples homes we cant go in) essentially haven't been working for months now. I also want to move out of home but I dont have any money saved up its impossible to save sometimes. I have a new job offer at the end of this week, but its in construction as well - I just don't know if they are going to keep me on (it was a verbal agreement until this shutdown is over) its my anxiety playing up, plus my bad luck in the past. - do you think they would stick to their word? Any ideas if i should stick it out a couple of days to see if i got this job, or give up in construction completely and go work in a different area for the next few years? I am so tired of trying to grind it out and stick with it especially with coronavirus and not having any funds to back myself up with... whos experienced similar? I am trying to get ahead and save but in this industry its totally effed now I don't see an end to these ongoing lockdowns within construction. thanks again.

Covid-19's Impact on YOUR well being....Help us help others!

replies: 253

Hi Everyone This is a difficult and unprecedented time we are all going through. Out of 10 how has Covid-19 impacted your well being? Just for myself...I come in at about 8....A brief post will help us help others more effectively! 0 to 5 .......... ... View more

Hi Everyone This is a difficult and unprecedented time we are all going through. Out of 10 how has Covid-19 impacted your well being? Just for myself...I come in at about 8....A brief post will help us help others more effectively! 0 to 5 .......... Low impact...................Coping well and not really worried about Covid-19 5 to 7 ...........Medium Impact.............Concerned about Covid-19 yet is doesnt effect me 8 ................. Frequent Impact........... Very concerned and checking media/news reports 9 ................. High Impact..................Frequently concerned and experience some difficulty functioning daily 10................Very High Impact...........Difficulty sleeping...increased anxiety...loss of concentration and/or feelings of helplessness The forums are a rock solid safe and non judgemental place for anyone to post my kind thoughts always Paul

deteriorating mental health

replies: 4

I come from a family violence background, resulting in living in refuges, living on the streets or going from friend to friends places. I eventually got my own place and i was working at 17. I have always had a fear of not having money, over spending... View more

I come from a family violence background, resulting in living in refuges, living on the streets or going from friend to friends places. I eventually got my own place and i was working at 17. I have always had a fear of not having money, over spending because i hated it when i was younger and didn't have anything and it made me feel better inside. I always had constant worry and at times would put myself in debt. I recovered (so i thought) from this on my own, and fixed it by paying back my debts and fixed my credit history. 2011 i met my partner and abuse started, psychological at first. Then it turned psychical in 2015 an AVO was placed. I stayed with him until 2019 and finally left. Since 2015 i applied for a course and 2018 at UNI now resulting in a 30k hecs debt, - i didnt study at all or contact them both times due to domestic violence . i have not done my tax returns since 2016 because im scared of my hecs debt and my anxiety is off the roof. I also put myself in more financial debt while i was with him because i was scared that if i didn't have the money to fund things, he would bash me - he did not make me take out the loans nor did he know, i did this because i had constant worry. i now have 8k debt which i am slowly paying off. When covid hit, my work had a massive restructure and a lot of staff were made redundant. I had to work on a project which involved people losing their jobs and i had a massive panic attack so in November i got the covid 19 super release because was so scared i was going to lose my job. I didn't lose my job and now im scared of what the ATO may do to me because of this. I want to do my tax returns and also declare the super i withdrew and i am so scared of more debt and what is going to happen to me. I don't know why i do these stupid things and why i freak out in fear so much and then do the most stupid things. Im going on a mental health plan but i really do not know what to do or what is wrong with me. Has anyone done anything similar? What help can i get i really am a good person but i feel i keep self sabotaging myself financially and i feel so depressed.

What is something genuinely insignificant that has been bothering you lately?

replies: 13

It could be anything: maybe someone you don't know too well has been more distant than usual or maybe you're growing concerned about something that you feel is simply a small health problem. Maybe you've just lost an object and you've been struggling... View more

It could be anything: maybe someone you don't know too well has been more distant than usual or maybe you're growing concerned about something that you feel is simply a small health problem. Maybe you've just lost an object and you've been struggling to find it for a while. Feel free to rant about something small that has been bugging you, even though it may feel unimportant in comparison to other struggles you or someone else has been dealing with lately without feeling bad for complaining about it.

Supermarket shelves

replies: 16

We as humans have control over many things. And we have no control over other things. I can vividly recall words yelled at me as a child "Tony....have some patience". These words were justified in one sense..I'd woken up at 3am on Christmas day and o... View more

We as humans have control over many things. And we have no control over other things. I can vividly recall words yelled at me as a child "Tony....have some patience". These words were justified in one sense..I'd woken up at 3am on Christmas day and opened up all my presents and in the process woken up everyone else. My problem was, I didnt know how to find patience and for many years I was tormented by this. How do I find it? Do I develop it? Do I study for it? What I didnt know as a child and in early adulthood that anxiety had a lot to account for my lack of being able to wait. So anxious, Christmas morning early wake up was uncontrollable. No words aimed at my behaviour would have made any difference...medical intervention was the only way.Fast forward my later adult life and now I realise, being an anxious person I was going to hit a brick wall eventually be it marriage breakdown, work related conflict or other crisis.Those traumatic events were triggers that exploded my illness I didnt know I had What does this mean? We read almost daily someone we have compassion about,write about a situation they have found themselves in, say a work situation. This happened, then this, then that, leading to that happening. Often a situation of injustice in the mind of the confused who is the victim. So why did this person get involved in this particular situation of trauma and not someone else? I'm suggesting that in some situations of hype or disagreement, those with a mental illness might find themselves falling into such a conflict easier. Why? A lot of reasons depending on the individual. But those with a mental illness can have traits like sensitivity leading to over reaction, withholding anger due to abuse, less wise due to poor mental growth or enduring depression due to pride etc etc. Things like patience, tolerance, wit, etc do not arrive naturally in some of us and we will not develop these important qualities by just being told to get them. They are not purchasable on supermarket shelves. But some are obtainable. They can be developed by means of therapy, learning and maturity through aging. Aging gives up wisdom through experience, tolerance through acceptance learned from years of human gatherings. Wit is one that would be harder to achieve. So, if you find yourself in crisis after crisis, you think your life is full of bad luck and incidences. You might have an underlying illness. You are unlikely to find stability unless you get professional help. Tony WK

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A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members

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