Tauranga foodies tour

What’s the best local dish you’ve ever eaten while traveling?

The best local dish I have ever eaten whilst travelling would have to be the Hake Fish and Chips I had on a foodies dream tour I went on in Tauranga New Zealand 🇳🇿.  We had lunch at a seaside Cafe at Tauranga. The whole tour was for foodies and we got to experience the food that New Zealand is famous for. The hake fish 🐟 and chips were to die for. After our lunch we visited a 🥝 Kiwi fruit and avocado 🥑 orchard. It was amazing and we got to sample a lot of the food that was amazing in its quality and variety that New Zealand is known for. It was extraordinary.

Indigenous issues

What’s a thing you wish schools actually taught?

I wish indigenous issues were taught here in Australia,  instead of shying away from talking about the culture and history both of modern-day and older history of our indigenous people.  We don’t like communicating their history and issues and yet we can learn so much from them, from their dreamtime spirituality to the issues facing the younger generations today. It is a truth that is both uncomfortable and ugly yet we need as a nation to acknowledge the contribution they make to our society.  Midnight Oil did a great job in highlighting these issues through their music and I am proud of their quiet protest at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics wearing the word sorry emblazoned on their clothes, letting the world 🌎 know that our government at the time was refusing to say sorry to stolen generations. Things like that protest need to be taught to the children Australia.  We need to teach the reality of our history as a nation

This is Lily

Share a photo of your pet and tell us one thing that makes them uniquely them.

This is Lily.  She is such a loving affectionate little soul, an angel, a gift from God.  Of a morning she loves to lick my face and pyjama top, particularly after I have showered and brushed my teeth. She loves the minty taste of my toothpaste and loves to lick my ears after I have washed my hair under the shower

Best advice I ever received.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

I know I have answered this topic many times before. I always write that the best advice I ever received came from my brother David who gave me this advice when I was first diagnosed with my mental health issues and it was to surround myself with good people.  I took that on board and have had two friends in my life that gave me timely meaningful advice. Susanna my beautiful angel lady advised me to walk away from Diana and her family when caring too much for them brought on my own mental health issues. Thank you beautiful Susanna your advice came from a place of love.

Also my lovely friend Barbara who always was telling me to use my gift of writing ✍️ skills to write about my journey for the world to read. I must also thank my psychiatrist who told me over 5 years ago that I should write a blog, because he felt that people would genuinely be interested in what I have to say.

Others opinions and thoughts

What’s something you used to worry about but don’t anymore?

I used to worry about the stigma of mental health issues and what other people thought of me. I learned the hard way not to care about what other people think of me, including some members of my family.  I now don’t care what other people think,  their opinions and judgements speak more about them than it does about me. I have a healthy sense of self worth and don’t care about other people’s opinions.  As one of my friends sometimes says that  “what other people think of us, is none of our business”. It is a true quote and I don’t let others trivial opinions of me affect me.

Every cloud has a silver lining

What’s a quote that perfectly describes your outlook on life?

The quote that perfectly describes my outlook on life is “Every cloud has a silver lining “.  We have the opportunity to grow and learn from everything we experience in this life. Something good comes out of all we experience,  even the most challenging times have a bit of bling attached to them, we only need to be open to learning and look for the positive optimistic stuff in life. Next time life brings you lemons, make lemonade by choosing to be optimistic about it.

Unrealistic Expectations

This isn’t an easy blog post to write as it can be quite painful and unhealthy to talk about it,  but I feel guided to write

Straight out of secondary school I ended up studying primary teaching at university.  Going to university was an amazing experience and I don’t regret doing it, but it probably led to me developing mental health issues because of the unrealistic expectations of my family.  I was the first child in the family to attend university and my family had expectations of me that turned out to be very unrealistic and based on some sort of fantasy that my family had concerning me.  I found university very challenging and although I loved my major of children’s literature I struggled with other parts of the course and started to have panic and anxiety attacks that my family chose to ignore. Then my cousin passed away and the panic and anxiety attacks worsened to such an extent that I deferred from uni and never went back.  If only I had a family who were worldly and educated about mental health issues.  For the next few years I worked in a couple of different jobs and moved out of home, so I could be independent and lead my own life even as my mental health declined and I became very unwell very quickly and my family became stereotypical in their judgement and shame of my mental health issues.  I internalised alot of my struggle and was determined to use my experience to help others and I was blessed to study welfare studies at TAFE and make a career in peer support roles in mental health 🙏🏽.   That was a blessing in disguise because it so easily could’ve become a victim but chose instead to grow developing empathy and compassion.   My advice to people is not to let others expectations of you define you . Life is a journey and we are all on different paths learning different lessons. Enjoy your journey and don’t let other people define you

I do think everything happens for a reason

Do you think everything happens for a reason?

I do think everything happens for a reason. There has just been too much happen in my life that could not be coincidence. I believe in fate abd destiny and life purpose. We are on a journey to learn different lessons in life and the people that come who our lives 🙏🏽 come for a reason and similar souls on similar journeys touch our lives.  I believe that part of my life purpose is to have mental health issues be understood and that i am to give empathy,  compassion and love to my fellow humans on their journey of life.  Nothing happens by accident,  God has plans for our life. Life is all about the journey not the destination. Our souls are eternal and live through many different lifetimes to learn different lessons on those journeys.