The Weekly Friday Feast

Hi @Jacques - I'll have a slice of that lasagne too please - is there a veggie for me. Nice to have you here. You said you've had a pretty rough week - are things ok? Glad to hear that you're hoping to have a restful weekend.

@Shaz51 sorry to hear about the sciatica - hope you're not in too much pain?

@Faith-and-Hope I really loved how hearing about you manage anger - recognising the bitterness and resentment and then expressing how you feel. It's a good way to care for you and voice your needs. The other thing I do to help with anger is to surround myself with people who can make me laugh. Having a laugh does wonders for me.

@Kurra those spicey chicken bits sounds fun! I love spicey food, though I'm vegetarian. I reckon that chicken might go well with the paella though!

What's everyone up to this weekend?

Thanks @CherryBomb, It is a bit painful tonight ,

@Jacques, @Kurra, both your dinners are yummy xx

Thanks @CherryBomb 😊

Part of learning how to look after myself better was realising that I had the choice to walk away from those dysfunctional relationships, and my marriage too if I had to ... that was empowering .... but I chose a different way.

I simply put on my bestest, most formal and polite manners around those people, and began to spend the least amount of time possible in their company .... and turned deaf ears to all the flack that resulted in.

Then I flooded my life with people whose company I enjoyed, who cared about me, and who made me laugh.

Took a while for everyone to learn the new order of things, but that fixed it ❣

The power-play people came round, mostly, with time ...

Hey there to

@Faith-and-Hope @Kurra @Shaz51@Bridgetjones @Bimby2 @Former-Member@BlueBay

to the wonderful and knowledgable @CherryBomb

and my MFL (mate for life) @Jacques

I'm the same as CB I'd like to try a little bit of all the food ... esp @Kurra... OOHH I love hot!!! with a soothing sauce or condiment to go with it, and well if you pay the next day, I try to think of it as a reminder of the lovely food I had yesterday 😉

It reminds me of a joke;

When does a mexican know they're hungry? ...... their butt stops burning 😉

@BlueBay by your post I'm guessing at the moment you are being cared for other than home. Besides the not so nice sounding food, my thoughts are with you that you are recieving the care that you need.

I've had a busy but very rewarding week @Jacques and @CherryBomb you would probably remember when I started my "new" role ... guess what It's not so new anymore, my one year anniversary was yesterday 🙂 (hasn't it gone so quick).

For everyone that don't know me, last year I was given an opportunity by an organisation to become a peer worker. I work as an encouraging person with a lived experience of my own for people who need a bit of support getting things done.

I love Friday feast so much. It was an opportunity for me to unwind and relax on a friday evening/night and share a story and a joke with some very special people.

My role is full time and I am also completing my Cert 4 course as a mental health peer worker, and I am also a dad to a 12yo girl and a 10yo boy (my most important role). It all adds up to Matt = very time poor, but trust me everyone, I still come to these forums to read and get support. Especially the friday feast.

Aww @Shaz51, maybe a heat pack, or warm bath? I dunno... Did the doc's suggest anything you could do at home? My friend, you are in the wars. Thinking of you.

@Kurra if we had hot scale of 1 - 5 chillies I think I'd be a 3.

@Faith-and-Hope did you find walking away from those dysfunctional relationships tough?

That's a great point @Kurra about the difference between anger and frustration. I haven't been angry for a very long time, and when I have been angry it took a series of many frustrations to get to that angry point. I'd like to think that I've learned some lessons on the way defuse frustrations before they spill over into anger. Though, I get that sometimes, life can dish out many frustrations that are beyond our control, which can lead to anger. The trick here, is to focus on thing we have control over, like taking time out to care for yourself and reflect.

And here in WEstern Australia........

I forget the weekly feast again.......but watching my favourite show....Mash.....Arlo is innappropriatly barking .....

Eating cake and cream for dinner........

a carrot a bunch of endive and cheese sanger has to do it tonight for me

There is no substitution for empathy and walking a mile in another person's shoes

In the helping prefession ... that has to become a skill ... if a therapist cant do that at least once in each and every session ... then they are rorting the MH system ..

anger is a big issue ... @Kurra yes that is the logic ... most people try it ... but the amounts of anger differ for each person and situation

and having other people to help mediate problematic family dynamics ... is also something I tried @Faith-and-Hope but becomes harder and harder the further down the socio-economic pile

did I tell you my BELOVED D2 lives with a member from a household name in Oz food ... I went on strike on that brand for about 8 years ... but it is a pervasive brand and I relented cos I started feeling silly and petty about it ... it wasnt fair on the son and it wasnt totally the teacher's fault. She was well intentioned, good at her job, passionate about issues, and took a job that cared about people rather than dollars ... but Brighton and my childhood were world's apart ... so it takes a LONG time to figure it out.

I havent been allowed more than 3 x 5 second interactions with her ... could go to her school ... maybe will one day.

we need more good research projects and appropriate bell curves and wiggly graphs etc ... about socio econoomics

Epidemiology on SH is interesting ... it doesnt happen in 3rd world much

Not all MH practitioners may be well equipped to handle such SH situations here in Australia ... of course there are exceptions ... and some may make empathic leaps ... but cultural differences among pravtitioners and clinets/consumers may need extra consideration.

Keeping watchful about the situation for my son.

Being able to walk in another's shoes takes some shared eperiences and commitment to do so.

IThis is a generalisation but something to think about....

think you can act out your anger by getting a partner who is very angry and either takes it out on themselves or others......like women who fall in love with men in jail.......