What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Probably the thing that I like the most about myself is my empathy for my fellow humankind and my resilience to be strong and bounce back from the challenges of my life.

My friends all tell me I am a strong, positive, optimistic force to be reckoned with, and my psychiatrist expresses what a strong, positive, and resilient person I am. When life throws curve balls at me, I stop and think and pause before I throw the curve ball right back. I never let anything get me down for too long, and in the words of  The Beatles, I have learned to just “Let It Be.” I only work on the things I do have control over and actually change, and I don’t ruminate and worry about the things I can’t change. I try to be calm and not reactionary.

Describe one of your favorite moments.

I have a very particular favourite moment that happens everyday.  When I first get up in the morning to have breakfast I leave Lily in her bed to get up at her own leisure when she is ready.

I normally am in the lounge room and hear little soft taps on the kitchen tiles as  Lily approaches me. Once she gets to the carpet in the lounge room, she has a big stretch, then jumps onto my chest as I am lying down and showers my face with lots of loving 💋 kisses, really licking me wholeheartedly.  Lily wakes up happy every morning 🌄 and once she has finished kissing 💋 me, she is happy and contented just to lie in my arms and be cuddled and patted.   It is the moment in my morning I love the most apart from our morning 🌄 walk that occurs when I am showered and dressed.  It is such a blissful start to my day knowing that Lily feels loved, contented, and at peace in her world 🌎.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about a few things.

Firstly I am passionate about educating the 🌎 world about mental health issues and ensuring that people with mental health issues get tested with dignity, compassion,  empathy and respect.   This is my life’s mission.

Also I am passionate about the existence of angels.  Too much has happened in my life that can’t be coincidence.

Lastly, I am passionate about my little dog, Lily.  She is my most loyal companion and best friend 🧡.  I love her more than anything else in my life.

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

There are actually 2 luxuries in life I. can’t live without..

The first being my private health insurance, so when I have a relapse of my mental health issues, I can stay in a private hospital.

The other luxury I can’t live without is definitely my dog Lily.   She is the love of my life and my most loyal friend and companion ❤️.

If humans had taglines, what would yours be?

The last time I answered this question, I answered that my tagline would be “Now We’re Getting Somewhere ” after the Crowded House song 🎵 with that title.   It still could describe my life, but I have a bit of a sense of humour and could say ” Life Is What Happens Whilst We Are Busy Making Other Plans” which is a John Lennon quote from the song Beautiful Boy.  Or rather, “We Plan God Laughs.” My life is a constantly evolving thing, and I feel I have lived about 5 different sorts of lives in the one lifetime.

What are the most important things needed to live a good life?

There are a number of things needed to live a good life. My advice is as follows.

1. Surround yourself with good people.  Only let people of good character be close to you. Only let those people with good intentions be the people you associate yourself with.
2. Live within your means financially.
3. Save some money for a rainy day and learn the joy of delayed gratification by saving for the luxuries that make life pleasurable.
4. Don’t live on credit. A very good way to get into lots of debt fast is to get everything on credit. So many people do this and end up in incredible amounts of debt they will never be able to pay back.
5. Be an honest and optimistic person and have some faith in God. I believe in the law of attraction.  We literally reap what we sow,  so do things with only the best of intentions, and life will return to you threefold. Both God and Karma exist in the universe, so live a good life.

Who do you spend the most time with?

If I am being really honest Lily my little dog is who I spend the most time with. She is my most loyal companion,  always by my side.

The other people I spend the most time with are Sherree and Liz.  I see Sherree at least once a week and take Lily to visit Liz and Becky once a,week.

I talk to Adrian and Liz on a daily basis.  I make sure that I don’t isolate myself.

If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

If I had to change my name, it would be to Jessica Harrison.   This was the name of Sigrid Thornton’s character in The Man From Snowy River.   She was a beautiful, headstrong, and independent young woman. Jessica  has always been my favourite name for a girl.

Describe your dream chocolate bar.

My dream chocolate bar 🍫 would have to be Lindt balls. I love them so much, and so rarely have them as I am diabetic.  My dream chocolate 🍫 would be a sugar-free version of Lindt balls.

What fears have you overcome and how?

I have a fear of my mental health issues returning and I overcome it by talking about it with close friends and my psychiatrist and by being focused on regularly taking my medications.  I know how to keep well and focus on being optimistic and a powerful force for positivity.

Living on my own I have a fear of loneliness and isolation and overcome it by having regular contact with loved ones  I know if I maintain regular positive contact with friends it stops me from feeling lonely and isolated.

In all my fears it is my faith that helps me to overcome 🙏🏽 it. I believe God had plans for us all, all we need to do is to believe it and be optimistic.