Quote No.89
In times of change, self-doubt can creep up on us. What was normal has vanished and we are learning to adjust to a new and different way of life. Be patient and encourage yourself. “Know that you are good enough. Each of us is.”
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Welcome!
To check out the backstory The Power is yours… Quote No.99 “Encourage Yourself Encourage Others”
Quote 91
Did you have to adjust your phone or other technology in order to read this quote?
Did that throw you off momentarily?
I’m deliberately trying to pull you into the moment. I’m hoping to take you out of the trance of daily life. Out of autopilot.
A few weeks ago we spent a lot of time in autopilot, thinking of everything we had to do.
Today we have an opportunity to stay with those tomatoes…
because we have been given the gift of time!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
If you’re new here and would like some of the backstory, please check out my introduction to The Power is yours: The Power is yours… “Encourage Yourself Encourage Others Quote No.99”
Yes, just like the photo, lives have been turned sideways, and upside down. But, we are resilient and we can adjust!
If you are lucky enough to be able to visit a beach, share your photo or link in the comments below. If you’re in lockdown and can’t visit a beach, don’t be afraid to dream up one!
Find a photo of a recent trip to the beach on your phone or better still dust of an old photo album and find one there. Memories are powerful! Relive those memories, smell the sea, hear the sounds all around you. Share what you recall, with others in the comments below or with those present around you.
Life is sometimes choppy, sometimes calm. Find the calm today and encourage others to find the calm too!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Anne can be contacted at info.devinepublishing@gmail.com
Trigger alert…this post is upsetting.
Lives are destroyed by bullying.
Children’s mental, emotional and psychological health damaged not only in the short-term but often into the long-term.
Lives are lost, too often, to bullying. Children unable to cope with the torture inflicted on them by bullies sadly see no way out, other than to take their lives.
I might be writing this from Ireland and this story may refer to Yarraka Bayles, a boy on the other side of the world but the location is irrelevant… bullying is bullying and this is the reality for another child and another family. It is a horrific, upsetting reality.
The turning point came, the day I learned to accept our son John’s inability to attend school or to live a functioning life. His life had become dysfunctional because of school bullying. I shared some of the backstory in Bullying & Beyond… Painting the pain, part three.
Learning to accept his dysfunction as a result of bullying, was a slow process but it was the catalyst for change which allowed him to break free of his dysfunction and move forward with his life. I shared that in Bullying & Beyond… “Acceptance”, Love & Time.
Our daughter Emma also suffered at the hands of bullies and sadly we are, to this day, still dealing with the aftermath.
It has been a struggle to stay strong and be resilient. It was often one step forward and two steps back.
But yesterday I remembered the power of acceptance and I let go resistance. I see yesterday as two steps forward and one step back and that is progress, it is a sign of change to come…
Let me try to explain…
We attempted to drive to Newbridge to visit Newbridge Silverware’s Doris Day exhibition. You might like to learn about this wonderful event here… https://visitnewbridgesilverware.com/doris-day
We got half way there when Emma could no longer contain her anxiety.
Yesterday was our second attempt, the first attempt we achieved about a third of the journey so yesterday there was progress.
But the biggest progress for me was remembering my ‘acceptance‘ of John’s dysfunction, thanks to the reminder of my Psychologist to let go ‘resistance,’
I was able to make peace with this event and love Emma for herself. She did her best. We did our best. We sat in our car, in a service station, having a coffee while Emma took a short walk and some air. We made peace with the situation. We were truly grateful and expressed our gratitude for that time, that moment, having coffee, having family time, living life to the best we can.
We turned for home with no regrets or upset or shattered expectations but with happy hearts and later last night, Emma announced that she wants to try again next Saturday!
This exhibition means a lot to Emma. She adores Doris Day and that entire era. She is training her dog, named ‘Doris’ after Doris Day, to be the first recognised Psychiatric Assistance Dog in Ireland. She is pushing politicians to recognise this existing EU law, in Ireland. It is a slow process. I would love you to give her some support as she shares her IG account at dorismakesmyday.
I shared some of Emma & Doris’ backstory in Petition please support…Bullying & Beyond… Painting the Pain, Part II
If you are relatively new here, thank you for reading. Thank you to my regular readers for your comforting presence as we journey and learn life lessons together. Your company makes all the difference.
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
In Ireland, the Department of Education & Science, (DES) gives clarification on what constitutes bullying using social media:
‘Placing a once-off offensive or hurtful public message, image or statement on a social network site or other public forum where that message, image or statement can be viewed and/or repeated by other people will be regarded as bullying behaviour’ (DES 2013: 9).
In contrast, one-off incidents of negative behaviour, such as isolated hurtful text messages and private mails, which cannot be viewed or repeated by other people, are not considered to be included under the definition of bullying.
The fact that the internet provides anonymity can have particular consequences
for cyber bullying. Being able to act and communicate anonymously online removes
some of the deterrents that would help prevent children from getting involved. The fear of negative consequences is lessened for the perpetrators and it increases the psychological distance between them and their actions. The perpetrators can therefore refuse to take responsibility for their actions. In most cases, cyber-bullies know their targets, but their targets don’t always know the identity of their cyber-bullies. This can lead to children and young people being suspicious of, and alienated from, all their peers.
The fact that the distinction between bystanders and active participants can be
less distinct in the context of online bullying also makes cyber bullying more difficult to
deal with than traditional offline bullying.
The bystander effect refers to incidents where an individual in need of help is not assisted by an onlooker because the onlooker assumes that someone else will intervene.
Responsibility for bullying often goes beyond the person who creates and posts harmful content online. Sharing, or commenting on content on social networking websites or joining, subscribing or following online sources of content
intended to humiliate or harm individuals can also be considered bullying behaviour.
I hope you found this post helpful and that you feel confident in defining what cyber-bullying is and what cyber-bullying is not.
Source #UP2US Anti-Bullying, Teachers’ Handbook, Junior Cycle, SPHE
I recommend you check out the “Let’s Fight it Together” video.
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Have you ever considered what bullying is, and what bullying is not?
In Ireland, the Department of Education’s definition of bullying is “Unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical, conducted by an individual or group against another person (or persons) and which is repeated over time.”
Therefore there are 3 important flags to watch out for in defining behaviour as bullying behaviour, namely…
1. There must be INTENT (DELIBERATE)
2. There must be an IMBALANCE OF POWER
3. It must be REPEATED OVER TIME
However there is an exception in that it is deemed a cyber-bullying offence, if a child is bullied just once, via an open social media platform; where hurtful information or images can be reshared.
I hope you found this post helpful and that you feel confident in defining what bullying is and what bullying is not.
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
This morning while cooking breakfast, I noticed the bubbles forming and bursting on the surface of my porridge; intent upon their job. I held onto those air trapped moments, soaking them in! It’s difficult to explain the sensation of absolute awareness that I felt, other than it being a feeling of enhanced appreciation and total bliss. Life was beautiful; just bubbles and me!
How often do you engage fully in the moment? Can you describe the sensation?
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Anti-bullying training for teachers that is evidence based and backed by up to the minute research is vital if students are to have access to the best possible education in an educational environment that is bully free.
The NABC, National Anti-bullying Centre in Ireland is providing an anti-bullying programme for teachers working in Irish Post primary schools…read more here and please share…
Calling All Teachers to Register for Anti-Bullying Schools Programme
“The FUSE programme is part of the Department of Education and Skills Wellbeing Framework and supported by the NABC, ISPCC and Dublin City University, and funded by Facebook. To run FUSE in your school and learn more about the programme please visit the FUSE website: https://antibullyingcentre.ie/fuse/ or please contact us on Tel: 01 884 2012.”
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
