There have been a number of events that have taken place in my life or very close to me that has had me stop and think about being proactive. Many times the solutions to problems and the antidote to issues are prescribed after a bad event, but those very solutions and antidotes are very effective to never having the problem in the first place. Let me show a couple of examples.
If you go to the doctor and find that you are pre-diabetic or have diabetes, what do they do? They may put you on medications, but they will for sure instruct you on changing your diet and getting more exercise. So why do we wait till something happens, disaster is ready to strike and then start making changes, when we know that a healthy diet and good exercise routine can result in good health, with lowered risk of these kinds of diseases?
Recently someone close to me that suffers from depression, anxiety and bi-polar disorder after getting the chemicals balanced out was encouraged to take the time to learn and practice meditation. In fact at the hospital, the encouragement was talking to someone (social therapist), physical activity, and learning peace with meditation. These are all recommendations that are good for all of us. Why do we wait to practice some alone and quiet time, simply sitting with ourselves, and allowing our minds to rest – till we are stressed out or even worst have a complete breakdown? Should we not practice good mental health on a daily basis?
I have really started thinking about this in light of the work I am doing on bully prevention. To be honest it is hard to find individuals interested in the work that needs to be done – unless of course they are being bullied or their child is being picked on or worst yet someone is thinking of harming themselves. Then the subject is quite important to them.
Please do not wait till your child is being harmed in some manner, or until you find out that they are being hurt, before you take proactive steps to help them. Do not wait till they are in a fight and you admit that there are anger management issues that should have been dealt with a long time ago. Friendships, relationships and the way we deal with one another is not something that we wait till a bad destructive event. Do not wait to learn about verbal self defense, anger management, relational aggression, or the boy code – until there is an emergency situation in your life.
If you want to help me put the information together, find ways to help others and create a curriculum for all of us to study please contact me and I will tell you where I am at this time and we can discuss solutions to creating a culture of peace in our schools and community.