The Weekly Friday Feast

[Appleblossom]

Hi @Former-Member Happy Birthday

Getting used to access arrangements can be a real kil ler.  Yet in the long term it does allow you to have rest and relaxation time so go with that... Even if paranoid thoughts interfer ... treat them as unwanted thoughts and work on nourishing you ... whatever .. on the doing ... at frist I get through accesses by doing all the house work while it was empty ... and put up the music loud to help give me energy to do it ... and then I had more time for my son when he was at home ..

There may be a bit of tug of war over the kids' interests ... I went with the well rounded approach .. a bit of sport a bit of art and science ... and there was enough looseness in my approach to prevent argument.  That being said I am pretty annoyed that my ex .. his father .. taught him how to be trapped by technology .. not how to master it ... as IT person I had hoped he would do that .. maybe my son was too resistant to take on his father's ideas too ... he was resistaant to everybody ... made teaching him music .. even when he asked at 16 really tough ...

but be in there for the long haul for your kids ... pick the issues that are worth fighting for ... dont sweat the small stuff.

Some things about paranoid thoughts ... sometimes they are generated by a knowledge of fear ... so they can alert you to things that you might be able to develop strategies for .. not all paranoid thoughts are dissociations or unreal thinking. Its just when we project them onto people who are not the source of the fear experiences ... that they become unreal.

I was terrified about the effects of my family's dysfunction on my son ... but the truth is he has had to do his own growing up and he has turned out well and I am proud even if he is not in the mainstream. 

[Jacques]

Hi everyone, sorry i am so early for friday feast, but i don't seem to be able to stay late these days, so i thought i would say hi now 🙂

I have had a tough week, i have had a friend whom i thought was going to take their life, i managed to talk them out of it, but they still will not reach out for help 😕 

Other than that i have been helping mum's friend who needed an operation to get to and from town. 

it does not sound a lot, but i am so exhausted, just happy to sit and have a break.

oh i thought i would bring chinese tonight, to lazy to cook a virtual feast 😮 

Hugs to everyone, and extra hugs to those who are doing it tough.

Jacques

[NikNik]

Happy Friday everyone!

@Jacques - that's exactly what I feel like actually.

Here's some prawn crackers to go with the meal!

Jacques - sounds like a HUGE week. Self care is so important. It's hard when you are made to feel like it all falls on your shoulders. It's okay to draw a line though - boundaries. It will benefit you and the person. You get to take care of yourself, and they get the help from a professional service. It's hard though...

[Jacques]

Oh yummy, i lovve prawn chips.

Yes it is so hard, but i really thought 8t was the time, they removed Al lthe in friends and was so distressed I could not get them to speak to me for 2 days.

It is so sad, i am trying so hard to get then to reach out to professionals but they are refusing I don't know how to help them.

Maybe you guys can help me with ideas.

[Former-Member]

Hi @Jacques & @NikNik....

We are having burgers for dinner - homemade chickpea patties, beetroot, roma tomato, spinach, tomato relish in a multigrain bun! Yummy - I'm hungry... 

I reduced my antipsychotic again last Saturday, so have been coping with withdrawals - including a dangerous breakdown - thanks to my partner I'm still here... Feeling 'more okay' today & now feel like this may be the easiest reduction of the antipsychotic yet - gives me a bit of hope for the future, which I have been lacking lately.... I have become increasingly tired of psychologists, social workers & psychiatrists telling me I will be able to go back to university ("you are smart"), have a career, be a mother etc. My partner said to me he doesn't care if I go to yoga & read books all my life & it finally clicked with me that if that is all I can manage - that is all I can manage. Yes, I would like a career helping people - but I may just never be able to cope with the deadlines & stress of finally getting a uni degree & then the actual act of helping people in the way I want... In saying that I'll probably do a lot more crying about the opportunities mental ill health has taken away from me yet!

@Jacques I'm glad you were able to help someone - make sure you are kind to yourself too... 

Pumped for yoga tomorrow morning @NikNik?

Happy very belated birthday @Former-Member 

Namaste,

Anna

[Former-Member]

Yummy!  @Jacques I love Chinese food.

Hello to you, I havent met you yet.  I joined on here last week, nice to meet you.  You have had an exhausting week.  Emotionally draining with your friend and then driving your mums friend around, you do deserve a rest.  

[Crazy_Bug_Lady]

Hi guys.
How is it already Friday!!
I have had a hell of a week.
Monday-Thursday I was staying at the showgrounds for a junior heifer expo. I wasn't competing (too old) but I was staying to help.
And then as that wasn't draining enough, Wednesday night I copped a headbutt to my head from one of the heifers and was sent to the emergency room for a check up. No breaks, no concussion, just a black eye and an egg on above the eye.

Having gotten home from the expo last night I had a lovely shower and a looong sleep.

[Former-Member]

🍲 SOUP here tonight. Thick Vegie with Home Made Chicken Stock. Been eating / drinking it all day as a kind of cleansing 'fast' - very filling.

Resting a lot trying to get over this upper back / neck pain from lifting something heavy, pain. Good thing is the mood is stable for 5 days really.

Monday was wonderful, to be at my son's Uni 🎓 Graduation - he's worked do hard! Wonderful proud parent's day.🎓

[Bimby2]

Had a lovely chicken curry with different vegetables followed by stewed apricots, a scoop of vanilla icecream and a sprinkling of pecan nuts with a dusting of cinnamon & nutmeg. A small glass of white

wine to give flavour to the tasty meal. Hope each forum member has a really good weekend. Cheers from

Bimby2  

[Jacques]

I am so glad your 0artner is so supportive and focused on your health instead of money, I am so glad you are alive @Former-Member I am glad you are still on the forums too, sorry for not being able to be here to give you support and encouragement.