Monday, May 26, 2014
Happy Memorial Day
Today as the grills heat up, baseballs get tossed around, and sunscreen gets applied, please remember to thank a veteran, a police officer, a firefighter or someone else you hold dear. Also remember to please help them get help if they need it, they don't have a problem that can't be treated, or at least relieved a little bit by a friend. Thank you, and enjoy your day.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Solstice Drive for Mental Health Awareness
Hey there you say you don't use Facebook or Google+ but you do use the tweeties? Well have I got a deal for you! I've created a tweetup type thing here: Solstice Drive for Mental Health Awareness Join us for the hangout, or come in person if you are in the Santa Monica/Los Angeles area. How awesome will that be!?
...Developing Story
I know, twice in one day is a little hard to handle, even for me. However, I want to welcome the latest member to Team 'Find A Way Through The Dark', Dr. Chris Zimmerman. He's mine and my wife's chiropractor, and I suppose our first 'Corporate Sponsor'. Thank you for all you've done for us, Dr. Zimmerman, and Go Bears!
Check out the Zimmerman Chiropractic Clinic if you are near West Des Moines at all. He's a great guy, and well since I don't have near amount of the back pain that I used to, it is a testament to him and how he's allowed me to get more active and just improve my overall health. Thanks!
Also, I don't have to worry about Brandon going to the Packers, he signed a contract extension with the Bears today on The View of all places, and pledged $1 million to the mental health community. Outstanding!
Check out the Zimmerman Chiropractic Clinic if you are near West Des Moines at all. He's a great guy, and well since I don't have near amount of the back pain that I used to, it is a testament to him and how he's allowed me to get more active and just improve my overall health. Thanks!
Also, I don't have to worry about Brandon going to the Packers, he signed a contract extension with the Bears today on The View of all places, and pledged $1 million to the mental health community. Outstanding!
Rollin' On the River
I love it when things come together.
My wife and I spent time with our mothers during Mother's Day weekend, as you would hope. With my mother, it always seems like there is something else going on, but that might be my imagination. I came from a house that struggles with expressing emotions and feelings, especially really telling someone how they really feel non-passive/aggressively, and to their face. This has become a struggle in my marriage, and well throughout my life. Former girlfriends would say things like 'You don't let me in" or "I can't get through to you". My wife and I have developed a saying that we've 'Got to let me in on the meeting" because I, have a comfortable home in my own head. It used to be a lot worse of course before identifying and getting treated for depression. I lost a couple friends over the years, and probably hadn't made a lot of good decisions. Thankfully, nothing truly violent, at least to others, and only some nights in jail due to some other bad choices involving alcohol and bad timing. Oh and parking tickets.
Then, this past weekend my wife and I spent some time with a great bunch of kids trying to make a difference in their community. Which is always spectacular, but the oldest of these is probably 16 or will be soon, and the youngest is about 10 years old. They're part of the group, Stand For The Silent in the Central Iowa chapter. The chapter was started by my sister-in-law and her daughters, and has spread through the Johnston school system, and several schools here in Polk county. They've had the founder, Kirk Smalley here in the area to speak a couple of times. I've attended the presentation in person, and man is it powerful. The whole story just guts you. The saddest thing is it can be prevented, even eliminated. Please check them out, read the message and if you can help either monetarily or just by spreading the word, please do. I know it is a good cause.
I work in root-cause-analysis at work, trying to find the base cause of an issue. Think, "its all connected' but with a purpose and less mystical voice. So, that's why when I decided to do this drive it was originally for fun to see if I could 'beat the sun' like Jeremy did. I of course am stacking the odds in my favor, but to be fair the sun is a lot bigger, hotter, and faster than any vehicle developed by man (so far). So, when I thought about doing it for charity, and then seeing Brandon Marshall's foundation working hard last fall, (remember the green shoes and the NFL fine?) it was clear. I believe most of our modern problems stem from mental health issues. Things like bullying, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and others stem from wide arrays of mental health issues, and people not being able to recognize them, or too embarrassed to seek help. Thus, Brandon's foundation was a perfect fit. It helped that he plays for the Chicago Bears, and I'm a big fan of that team as some of you know, but Brandon is the first player I would follow/cheer for even if he went to play for another team. Unless it was the Packers, of course. I mean, there's no pill that could help with that.
Fundraising update: We've officially raised 50% of my goal, with 33 days to go, so the toes will be painted soon, and for the trip. So thank you all so much!
My wife and I spent time with our mothers during Mother's Day weekend, as you would hope. With my mother, it always seems like there is something else going on, but that might be my imagination. I came from a house that struggles with expressing emotions and feelings, especially really telling someone how they really feel non-passive/aggressively, and to their face. This has become a struggle in my marriage, and well throughout my life. Former girlfriends would say things like 'You don't let me in" or "I can't get through to you". My wife and I have developed a saying that we've 'Got to let me in on the meeting" because I, have a comfortable home in my own head. It used to be a lot worse of course before identifying and getting treated for depression. I lost a couple friends over the years, and probably hadn't made a lot of good decisions. Thankfully, nothing truly violent, at least to others, and only some nights in jail due to some other bad choices involving alcohol and bad timing. Oh and parking tickets.
Then, this past weekend my wife and I spent some time with a great bunch of kids trying to make a difference in their community. Which is always spectacular, but the oldest of these is probably 16 or will be soon, and the youngest is about 10 years old. They're part of the group, Stand For The Silent in the Central Iowa chapter. The chapter was started by my sister-in-law and her daughters, and has spread through the Johnston school system, and several schools here in Polk county. They've had the founder, Kirk Smalley here in the area to speak a couple of times. I've attended the presentation in person, and man is it powerful. The whole story just guts you. The saddest thing is it can be prevented, even eliminated. Please check them out, read the message and if you can help either monetarily or just by spreading the word, please do. I know it is a good cause.
I work in root-cause-analysis at work, trying to find the base cause of an issue. Think, "its all connected' but with a purpose and less mystical voice. So, that's why when I decided to do this drive it was originally for fun to see if I could 'beat the sun' like Jeremy did. I of course am stacking the odds in my favor, but to be fair the sun is a lot bigger, hotter, and faster than any vehicle developed by man (so far). So, when I thought about doing it for charity, and then seeing Brandon Marshall's foundation working hard last fall, (remember the green shoes and the NFL fine?) it was clear. I believe most of our modern problems stem from mental health issues. Things like bullying, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and others stem from wide arrays of mental health issues, and people not being able to recognize them, or too embarrassed to seek help. Thus, Brandon's foundation was a perfect fit. It helped that he plays for the Chicago Bears, and I'm a big fan of that team as some of you know, but Brandon is the first player I would follow/cheer for even if he went to play for another team. Unless it was the Packers, of course. I mean, there's no pill that could help with that.
Fundraising update: We've officially raised 50% of my goal, with 33 days to go, so the toes will be painted soon, and for the trip. So thank you all so much!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
4+4=8
Hi there. We're 44 days away from my drive, and these past two weeks have been amazing. First of all, it is May, Mental Health Awareness month, and the OPI #CrazyStigmaGreen nail polish is available via donation at the Brandon Marshall Foundation site, here. When I ordered mine, well when I did my donations, I did two, back to back. I got an email from the CEO of the Foundation double checking that I hadn't mistakenly hit the 'donate' button twice, and wanted to make sure there wasn't a mistake. It just hit me just now that was awesome customer service, and endears me even more to the Foundation, and to Brandon Marshall himself. I responded to Louis Correa's email, assuring that it wasn't a mistake, and that I just wanted 2 bottles of the nail polish, one for me (and added a link to my fundraising site) and one for my nieces. He responded back that it was awesome what I was doing, and then said they will help promote it on their twitter (@BMFMentalHealth) account and facebook page! So that was very exciting and fulfilling. I had been worried that they wouldn't notice, which I know is silly and not the point, but you know it is still exciting anyway.
Then yesterday, my suspicions were confirmed about a family member of mine, through my Mother. I'm not going in to specifics, but basically I had to do a little educating of my Mom and that we shouldn't just 'Not talk about it' and hope he gets better, we need to stand together and reach out to him, because he needs help. I was lucky, I have a strong (willed) wife that helped me realize what was going on, and supported me in my treatment and diagnosis. I probably wouldn't be here at all without her support, let alone strong enough to confront my Mother about mental health awareness, and fight for my family member. She doesn't like me talking about that, because she feels terrible about not being able to go with me on the drive. I keep telling her that she is always with me, and during the drive, she'll be right there with me as I drive along the coast, because she's the best thing that ever happened to me.
Thank you again, and try to help spread the word. No one should have to suffer alone, especially family. Oh, and the reason for today's title: we're 44 days away, 4+4=8=The most important number to myself and my wife. We were married on 08/08/08, both of our birthdays are in August (the 8th month) and well, it's just a good number. 2 cubed and all that.
Then yesterday, my suspicions were confirmed about a family member of mine, through my Mother. I'm not going in to specifics, but basically I had to do a little educating of my Mom and that we shouldn't just 'Not talk about it' and hope he gets better, we need to stand together and reach out to him, because he needs help. I was lucky, I have a strong (willed) wife that helped me realize what was going on, and supported me in my treatment and diagnosis. I probably wouldn't be here at all without her support, let alone strong enough to confront my Mother about mental health awareness, and fight for my family member. She doesn't like me talking about that, because she feels terrible about not being able to go with me on the drive. I keep telling her that she is always with me, and during the drive, she'll be right there with me as I drive along the coast, because she's the best thing that ever happened to me.
Thank you again, and try to help spread the word. No one should have to suffer alone, especially family. Oh, and the reason for today's title: we're 44 days away, 4+4=8=The most important number to myself and my wife. We were married on 08/08/08, both of our birthdays are in August (the 8th month) and well, it's just a good number. 2 cubed and all that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)