Overheard at Breakfast on August 7, 2019 We had a good turnout this week. Lionell conducted a “name the author quotations” . We failed miserably and entertainingly. Pat provided a Robust Reds planning update; . only 6 weeks to go . looking for members to assist with silent auction items, wine bottles for the wine raffle and ticket sales Just a reminder, Armajit Sohi mp will be our speaker on August 21. Our speaker this week was Karen Potts. Karen is a teacher and a life coach and her talk was about mental wellness and she gave us a very thought provoking and important presentation. Karen told us that she had considered giving her presentation on “the importance of being happy”. She told us that statistics show that happy people live 10% to 15% longer. Given the average age of our club I think that is a very important message. Karen shared her personal story of struggling with depression, how she coped with it and how she has learned to adapt and overcome. Some of Karen’s tips for fostering mental wellness included; - Taking time out;
- Exercising “planned neglect”. (as Dr. Hook says “let the loose end drag)
- Be kind to yourself. Avoid self criticism
- Drink lots of water
- When eating consider “Forks over Knives”
- Stay active
- Surround yourself with good people
Finally, Karen talked about the importance of normalising mental illness. We can talk about cancer, why cant we talk about mental illness the same way? No one is embarrassed or ashamed to say they have cancer. Why should we be embarrassed or ashamed to say we have a mental illness? |
