I haven’t written on here in weeks. I have been writing, but in my
journal, scribbling away a simple page or three each day as a matter of course.
I simply haven’t wanted to write on this platform and rather than just churn
out something meaningless I felt it was better to just keep quiet.
For now I am back. I am returning to the frequency I once had of tapping
out a blog each week. My aim is as it always has been, to help others. So
excuse me for the “holiday” and I hope this finds you well wherever you may be.
If I had planned this post I would have been able to lay out what I have
been doing in the last month and what lies ahead. But I have never really
planned these posts, but always let my mind write what it needs to write at the
moment in time. So rather than look backwards on what has been, or search ahead
for what may never come, I will instead focus on the present moment.
I have been doing a few press-ups each day. I was nominated by Catherine
to perform 22 of the suckers everday for 22 days. This challenge is to
highlight the ‘fact’ that 22 military veterans commit suicide every day as well
as an increasing number of emergency service personnel too. The challenge requires
that I perform my 22 press-ups on video and nominate a different person each
day.
To begin with the hardest part was thinking who might be able to do the
press-ups. But today I realised that actually the “doing” doesn’t really matter.
The important thing is that I spread the word.
After doing three days I thought I would look into the statistic
presented in the challenge, because I am a little sceptical of “facts” in the
media. By doing a small amount of digging I found out where this number came
from and how inaccurate it actually is. Nevertheless, I feel that doing a
press-up challenge helps to highlight an issue that is worth looking at and
informing yourself on. I don’t think that 1 press-up a day is quite the same
challenge, nor as eye catching for the media.
In summary it is always worth looking into articles and posts you see
online. It is easy to do your own research (that is the real useful part of the
internet) and draw your own conclusions from what you discover. For me anything
bringing awareness to suicide, PTSD, depression or any other mental illness is
a good thing. Even if sometimes the facts aren’t all they are cracked up to be.
TA
