Unbullyable

I'm so excited!!  This week I received my very own SIGNED copy of the book UNBULLYABLE!!!

I'm excited for a number of reasons:

1. I know the author and think she is fantastic
2. I wish this book AND the author had been around when I was 12
3. I can't wait to see how many people benefit from the insight this book provides.

On R U OK day September 12th, I posted a post on Facebook, which it would appear surprised a number of people.  I've included it below:

In honour of R U Ok day I thought I'd share a little and hopefully on doing so provide others with the confidence to seek out some help of they need it. This is a pretty big post for me and if it surprises some well good; it proves I've been successful in winning the battle.

If I were asked today R U Ok, my answer would be yes. If I was asked yesterday yes again, but 16 years ago it was a very different story.
I was diagnosed 16 years ago with chronic depression and have been battling this since that time. Sure I have bad days, bad weeks even some bad months but I can promise anyone who is experiencing this themselves that it doesn't last. Own it! Take responsibility for it and get the help you not only need but deserve!!!
Depression is no different to diabetes. A person who has depression is usually battling a chemical imbalance, just like a person with type 1 diabetes. When a person is depressed their brain is either unable to produce enough serotonin or absorb the serotonin that is produced. A type 1 diabetic cant make any insulin so they need to take injections.
I'm certainly no medico but this is how my GP described depression to me when I was first diagnosed. Yep sure, 4 years later he was also the same doctor diagnosed me as a type 1 diabetic (ironic hey) and mark my words this was pretty crushing to, but neither the depression or the diabetes has won. I have!
So you see, I don't see myself as a victim of depression, I see myself as a survivor! There are many many wonderful people to whom I owe my life to but most of all it was my dear friend Vicky Muises-Khoury and later my husband Anthony Stephens who have made sure that this black dog has not beaten me!
To my family & friends thank you and I love you all!
Make sure you ask at least one person today R U OK? You may just be asking them the question they desperately need help in solving.

I'm still a little amazed at the number of people who have spoken to me about this post.....

Yep, I have depression AND I am a type 1 Diabetic.... pretty shit combination hey?? BUT, I also have a fantastic husband, two beautiful kids, awesome friends AND a career / education that many would love to have....

So where did the depression come from???  Is it totally genetic? Is it a result of the serious head injury I sustained in year 12? Am I just an inferior human being OR is it just life??  

I'm the first to acknowledge that we do have a family history that may have contributed to my mental illness, however, this may also have been exacerbated by the head injury I sustained in year 12, however, the most significant contributor I think is largely due to the bullying I lived through during my early years of highschool!

We all know the saying 'kids can be cruel' well if this is true, then I'm telling you right now teenagers can be complete arseholes!!!!

 My first 2 1/2 years of high school were hell!!! They sucked completely!  I hated going to school each day, I remember standing at the school fence line, which was within easy view of my parents kitchen window, and praying that they would just come and get me!!  That they would save me from that hell hole!!   I was continuously ridiculed for having an athletic physique, well defined calf muscles, a short hair cut, having the wrong shoes, wrong clothes, basically anything that you could imagine that made me seem at all different to the rest of the crowd!  It pretty much got to the point that I just stopped talking.  I virtually didn't speak for fear of being criticised or identified as different and hence became the subject of further persecution!!!    The only times I would speak were to defend or stick up for Kee Ling Chi, a girl who at that time was one of only two Asian students in our entire school.

Sue Anderson, author of Unbullyable is AMAZINGLY. I felt very privelleged to be asked to read the book before it was sent to the publishers and feel very blessed to have been trusted with such an honour!

EVERY PARENT SHOULD READ THIS BOOK! In fact it should sit right alongside What to expect when you are expecting AND be a compulsory addition to every single teaching degree.  I kid you not!!! This is just how insightful and powerful the guidance is.

Even as an adult I have had to deal with anxiety issues and feelings of self doubt and worthlessness that I know stem from  having been bullied during my childhood. In fact, until I read Sue's book as a 36 year old I still found it difficult to distinguish between self esteem and self confidence!

$30 is a hell if a lot cheaper than the therapy bills I've paid and as the medicos say, prevention is always better than cure. 

www.unbullyable.com.au

Get your copy now!

This is an unpaid and honest review of this book! The opinions expressed are the writers own.

"Life is like a set of Lego" & Thank You Peter Burley!!!

My son shared an interesting analogy with me today..... pure wisdom really from a nine, nearly ten year old.

"You know what mum, life is a bit like Lego,  bit by bit its just blocks, but when you put it all together you can create anything."


Since when did my beautiful little boy become such a prodigy??  He raises a very valid point really.  If we focus on individual things all the time then everything is actually quite simplistic.....  I guess the real goal is to be able to focus on individual things as a part of a larger picture.

I often wonder how people like Leonard da Vinci managed to complete the works he did.... did he envision his entire masterpiece from the beginning or did he work on it brick by brick?  Irrespective of which angle you view this from, the ability to do either is quite an achievement.

Personally, I've always been a big picture chick..... I can see the big picture and can even break it down to smaller pieces... I am willing to recognise that I may not always be the best person to build each individual piece, but nonetheless can usually see how these pieces can fit together.

I would much rather spend my time getting to know experts in each field so that when asked, I can say with confidence, for your real estate sales, you need to use Pete, for your accounting you need to use Brad or Neil, if it's a telecommunications guru you are after obviously you speak with Anthony etc.

As for the meaning of life, well, if that's what you are after...... I don't know... ask Siri.....

It took me A LOT of years to realise that I am not defined by what I do each day....  my job title, in reality means nothing, in 50 years from now when I'm 85 and hopefully still around to be dribbling in to my morning oatmeal, the only thing that will matter to me is that I made a difference to James & Wil and that Anth enjoyed the time we spent together.

The past 3 years have probably been THE most challenging, yet also THE most rewarding of my life. 

I have had the BIG career type jobs, earnt the BIG bucks etc, but overall, none of it measures up to what I have now...  a job I genuinely like doing (thank you Peter Burley for teaching me the importance of this and also to Kay Jackson for the opportunity to do what I do) but I also collect my kids from school each day, spend time with them each holidays, work with other like minded mums and am actively involved in my kids lives!!!  (Hell, I did papermache with them the other day; we made a pinata together)

If you've ever wondered or questioned if women can really have it all, then I'm telling you HELL YEAH.... you may just need to re define what 'having it all' means to you.

Thank you to my beautiful James for reminding me that Life is Like  a Set of Lego