The Fire Triangle

I have had an amazing 4 week break over the summer starting with an all inclusive week away in Portugal with my amazing wife and yes all inclusive, to us Brits means eat and drink as much as you can in the time you are awake to get your monies worth. It was a wonderful week to completely chill out from life stresses and enjoy the time in the sun chatting to the wife about random stuff, really it was mainly about cycling ;-) . After we got back from the holiday it was a quick turnaround and I was off to spend some quality time with my number 1. Which included beach hopping, adrenaline quarry, Flambards, seal sanctuary lots of pasty eating and then meeting up with old navy shipmates I haven't seen in years which obviously resulted in a wood burner and plenty of beer. I had a great time with the number 1 and it was good to talk for a few days filled with plenty of giggling. Good job she has my sense of humour!! Yet again as soon as I returned form Cornwall it was down to Somerset to spend time with the younger 2. Swimming, Crab fishing which ended up catching an eel which to a man who is scared of snakes freaked me right out which followed with plenty of park action. The evenings again ended up much the same as Cornwall catching up with shipmates drinking & talking to early hours and then sleeping on the sofa.


The trouble is during those 4 weeks there were many days that I forgot to take my tablets which isn't a problem every now and again but a couple of days missing mixed with lager consumption is not a good mix. I had an amazing 4 weeks off spending time with people I love but there were a few dark days amongst that and was very hard top pull myself together put a smile on my face and get my jazzy hands out. Essentially its all my own fault and drink is probably the worst thing for someone who experiences depression and anxiety. At the time you feel great and I can deal with the hang over the next day but its the grey matter upstairs playing tricks on you.

Can you remember the fire triangle they taught you at school with oxygen, fuel and heat being the sections of that triangle. If you take one of them away the fire dies. I tend to work exactly like that said triangle but replace oxygen, fuel and heat  with Sleep, healthy eating / drinking and exercise. Take any of those away or mess about with one the flame tends to run a bit weak. So its all about balance and everything in moderation.

All good now and looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into work moulding and shaping the future of young people. Back on the bike, less drinking and a clean diet will be good for the mindset and I have started volunteering for the charity Time to change. This charity is awesome. The whole idea is to kick the stigma of mental illness and the way to do that is to educate people.

Did you know that 1 in 4 people within their lifetime will experience some form of mental illness. that's a massive number if you think about. Also suicide is now the biggest killer for men aged between 20 - 49. This number needs to come down. Why should mental illness have the stigma attached to it. Why can we talk about cancer so freely and not depression. Why do people need to whisper when someone is acting a bit differently.

All it takes is to start talking about our experiences and share stories and let people know that its okay to talk about it. People that you may have heard of have spoken about their past. Stephen fry, Ruby Wax and Frank Bruno are just a few names that back this charity and have experienced some form of mental illness. Take a look at the website and maybe make a pledge yourself.

www.time-to-change.org.uk





Take care guys and catch up with you soon.