Tuesday, December 12, 2017 25 Comments
Don’t let Congress pretend
they did not KNOW
And make it CLEAR that they will lose their seats
if they don’t REPRESENT the people they were elected to represent
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want Series
Graphic above from What you need to know about net neutrality (before it gets taken away)
Monday, December 11, 2017 25 Comments
Have YOU contacted your Political Representatives
urging them to SAVE Net Neutrality?
If I wanted to slip something hateful by the American Public
I’d do it at a time when they are busiest: Christmas TimeDON’T LET THIS TACTIC WORK FOR THEM!
Take a minute, send a message© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want? SeriesImportant to ANYONE who blogs
The FCC is about to vote on its plan to kill net neutrality – Congress can still stop this travesty. They need to hear from internet users like you — RIGHT NOW.
We have just DAYS to stop the potential for bandwidth throttling — and to sing out to make sure that additional online fees can’t be levied to give preference to certain companies and certain idealogies.
NOTHING we usually do online or in December is more important
than letting our political representatives know our thoughts:
STOP THIS!My 2017 Christmas present to all of you
Although this is NOT a political blog, I am not going to be posting anything festive, fun or informational until this deadline has passed – and I’m going to remind you to ring in every day until December 14th.
- Depending on whether we are willing to, collectively, stop this, my days of being willing to continue to support this brain-based, self-help, neurodiversity blog with many non-billable hours of my life may be numbered.
- So nothing is more important to me than nudging each of you to make another call, send another tweet or email, and encourage YOUR readership to step up to stop this.
Think YOUR voice doesn’t really matter much?
So did well over 200 million eligible voters (231,556,622) who couldn’t be bothered to vote last November (the majority registered Democrats).
Political cronyism feeds on collective apathy — that’s what allows them to make deals, close ranks and do what’s easy.
If we won’t stand up for our own needs and desires,
why should we expect THEM to?You have a voice ONLY if you use it
CONTACT U.S. Senate: Senators of the 115th Congress.
If you missed my first post about this issue and are scratching your head, PLEASE take the time to get informed.
Click the link immediately below to read about it and watch the extremely amusing 13 minute video included.
We need EVERY American voice to save Net Neutrality
Or click to watch that video currently at the top of my sidebar.
Or scroll down to the list of Related Links
(always found below my articles.)You can also learn more about what’s going on and how to ring in at links below:
Wednesday, December 6, 2017 53 Comments
We have until December 14th
to save net neutrality
Unless, of course, you LIKE paywalls, fast and slow lanes,
internet service provider monopolies & potential for censorship,
and increased internet fees
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want? SeriesYou have a voice ONLY if you use it
We have just DAYS to stop censorship, bandwidth throttling and extra fees online.
The FCC is about to vote on its plan to kill net neutrality – only Congress can still stop this travesty. They need to hear from internet users like you — RIGHT NOW.
CONTACT U.S. Senate: Senators of the 115th Congress.
DO YOU TWEET?
Where do your members of Congress stand? Find out, and tweet them!
To win, we need to bring more members of Congress onto “Team Internet”— especially Republicans.
Republican members of Congress face massive pressure from party leadership to oppose Net Neutrality, partly because of lobbying by Team Cable, and partly because they see it as “Obama era” policy.
- Net Neutrality predates Obama
- It has always been a design principle of the Internet.
- It does NOT need to be a partisan issue.
Some Republicans are open to the need for rules — but they won’t break ranks from party leaders unless they hear from constituents.
Tweets are surprisingly effective.
Time is short to stop both the tax cuts for the rich and the end of net neutrality. USE your voice or LOSE your voice!
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 94 Comments
November 29th is
a VERY important day!
Okay, so it’s my birthday —
but it’s a good day to remind everyone that I don’t write these posts
from a lofty perch in some well-appointed ivory tower.
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Happy Birthday to ME
The older I get, the more important it becomes to take time OFF to honor the reality that I have been granted another year on this earth.
So I am taking the rest of today t-totally OFF – and may well not return to respond to comments until Monday.
WOW! – an entire long weekend away
from my computer!HOWEVER, I would like to leave you with a little present (besides the links to Related Content I always give you at the bottom of my posts, and this December’s Awareness Calendar, already set to autopost on Friday).
Below you will be able to listen to and watch a TED Talk I found recently – the totally serious commentary from a relatively young Canadian mother, Guidance Counselor and education advocate who it RIGHT ON about everything she says.
For my Birthday
If anybody would like to give me a present, what I would like most in the whole world is that each of you would take the entire 15 minutes and 25 seconds it will take to listen ALL the way through — with an open mind — ESPECIALLY if you are a parent or an educator.
Pay CLOSE attention to her brief comments about
- medication
- misdiagnosis, and
- the dearth of physician education
(not just true in Canada, I promise you!)AND PASS IT ON!
Read more of this post
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 57 Comments
Every Little Bit Helps
Why do we discount our efforts when we can’t make a larger splash?© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want SeriesA human tendency?
I am often daunted as much as impressed by the generous offers of help that follow in the wake of a tragedy:
- sending their personal planes to Puerto Rico to bring those who need chemotherapy to hospitals where they can be taken care of, like Rapper Pitbull;
- delivering multiple cartons of food and flying down to prepare 8,000 meals a day to those in need, like Chef José Andrés;
- over-the-top donations that amount to more than I make in a decade donated by more than a few celebrities.
What help could I possibly be?
It seems endemic
I have a similar reaction when a friend is ill and needs some cheering up. If I can’t give them an entire afternoon, I am reluctant to make even a ten minute phone call.
Never mind why, I even feel guilty when I can’t take my puppy on the l-o-n-g walk I know he prefers on rain-threatening days when I waited too long to get him outside and have to rush him along to get us both safely inside while we’re still relatively dry!
And I KNOW I’m not the only one with that kind of limited-thinking reaction. I even see it in the more than generous blogging community.
What about taking a few moments each to read the posts of our virtual friends, letting them know our reaction in a comment, when time itself is in short supply for all of us?
How many of us simply “like” them all from the Reader when we we lack the minutes that turn to hours to read and comment on more than one or two – instead of doing whatever little we can and giving ourselves a pat on the back for doing at least that much?
I almost did it again
Reading a post by D. Wallace Peach, Help: Flash Fiction #Flash4Storms, I learned that another writer, Sarah Brentyn is donating $1 for every flash fiction story written around the theme of Help.Diana [Myths of the Mirror] has pledged to match that amount.
Before I give you the details of the challenge, I have to ‘fess up to my first reaction:
- I don’t write fiction. And my second:
- Even if I did, I’m sure I could never be brief enough to write flash fiction with a limited word count. (Regular readers will be happy to second that thought, I’m sure!)
I’m patting myself on the back that I decided that there was, after all, some little something I could do anyway. I could help spread the word to all the writers who follow ADDandSoMuchMORE.com in a post explaining WHY we tend to do nothing when we can only do less than we’d like to be able to do.
But FIRST, the details of the challenge . . .
Monday, September 11, 2017 111 Comments
Gen-Xers to Millenials
Sharper than WE were?© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want? SeriesEavesdropping on an interesting discussion
Shortly after calling for an end to Stigma in my 2017 September Awareness Days article, I had the occasion to revisit the topic through another lens.
Coming across a couple of “kids” in the nearby park where my puppy TinkerToy and I sometimes wander, I was reminded yet again of the need to guard against our knee-jerk assessments.
By looks alone, it would have been all too easy to dismiss the pair as yet another Blonde Barbie and an over-eager lad who wanted nothing so much as to get her alone and in private.
Since we seemed to be wandering the same paths, Tink and I just a bit behind them, I had an opportunity to eavesdrop on their lively conversation.
BOOKS! They were discussing classic novels, comparing and contrasting them in a manner that would have done any geek-level book club proud.
Their vocabulary was certainly equal to my own, and their knowledge of the books they were discussing was superior. They looked to be no older than 18 – freshmen or sophomores, most likely, attending one of the many nearby colleges.
When they turned around to head back my way, apparently reaching a dead-end on one of the paths that Tinker wanted to investigate, I asked them how well they knew the park and if they knew where a different trail led.
I discovered, in the lengthy conversation that followed, that they were both not only intelligent but delightful – and very kind to Tink. It turned out they were just beginning their senior year in High School!
I hope they discovered that whatever they initially thought about me was inaccurate as well — especially since I am probably at least as old as their grandparents.
How many times do we assume a “generation gap” that doesn’t really exist? And how many opportunities to populate our world with friends of all ages pass us by because we do?
Have you ever actually talked with a couple of dark-skinned dread-locked young men — or a few of those “kids” with spiky purple and green hair, belly-baring tee shirts with confrontational sayings — and nose rings? (I mean, about more than who does their hair and what happens when they have a cold and need to blow their nose.)
Respect goes both ways. Some of them have equally “out of the box” views on drug abuse, politics and life itself that just might save us all.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 43 Comments
Hurricane Harvey – How You Can Help
From Nicolas Rossi and Deborah Carney© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
adding to the What Kind of World do YOU Want SeriesLong time readers know that I rarely reblog, since the WordPress truncated “click to read more” reblog format is frustrating for so many of you.
I am making a rare exception in this case (edited via Press This), sharing an article from Nicholas C. Rossis.
It contains quite a few suggestions about ways in which those of you who are inspired to help Harvey’s disaster relief efforts might best do so.
It was generated by information from Deborah Carney of BookGoodies.com, who speaks from personal experience.
In 2012 she lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.
Nicholas goes on to say that Deborah’s experience “taught her a lot about how organizations and the government don’t help the way you think they will.”
So, Hurricane Harvey prompted her to compile and share a list of organizations that are dedicated to helping people directly affected.
They are “boots on the ground” and not tying up your donations in administrative costs and funding things that don’t really help.
I AM going to send you over to Nicholas’ blog to read more about what Deborah found most needed and most helpful, along with most of her suggestions of places that will do a lot with your contributions, briefly explaining how they work and how they help.
If you are anything like me, you want the majority of any help you are able to provide to go to directly to the people who are struggling – NOT to the agencies with administrative overhead to support, or to anyone attempting to profit personally under the guise of “helping the victims.”
Before you go, I want to share just a few of her suggestions here, as well as a few links to some other articles below, for anyone interested.
Please feel free to reblog – here or there –
spreading the word is something we can ALL afford to do.Helpful Organizations
In Deborah’s case, the following organizations showed up and dived in, helping with food, donations directly to people, and with hands to help her clean out her house.
They were there before the Red Cross and did more for people than any government agency did — and without “paperwork” or asking for anything in return:
- Operation BBQ Relief https://operationbbqrelief.org
- Rapid Hope https://www.rapidhope.us
- Team Rubicon https://teamrubiconusa.org/
- TZU Chihttp:// http://www.tzuchi.us/
Read the entire article here:
Hurricane Harvey – How You Can Help | Nicholas C. RossisFrom the News & ’round the ‘net:
- Texas and Florida NEED your Blood
- Hurricane Harvey: That shark photo is fake — and part of a bigger problem (video footage included)
- 17 tips to prepare for Hurricane Irma!
- Flooded Texas City Receives 60,000 bottles of Fresh Water from Mormon Youth (with video footage)
- Texas, Louisiana begin long recovery from catastrophic flooding as the remnants of Hurricane Harvey move northeast
- Global Giving: Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
- BBB: GlobalGiving Foundation meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability
As always, if you want notification of new articles in this Series – or any new posts on this blog – give your email address to the nice form on the top of the skinny column to the right. (You only have to do this once, so if you’ve already asked for notification about a prior series, you’re covered for this one too). STRICT No Spam Policy
IN ANY CASE, do stay tuned.
There’s a lot to know, a lot here already, and a lot more to come – in this Series and in others.
Get it here while it’s still free for the taking.
Want to work directly with me? If you’d like some coaching help with anything that came up while you were reading this Series (one-on-one couples or group), click HERE for Brain-based Coaching with mgh, with a contact form at its end (or click the E-me link on the menubar at the top of every page). Fill out the form, submit, and an email SOS is on its way to me; we’ll schedule a call to talk about what you need. I’ll get back to you ASAP (accent on the “P”ossible!)
You might also be interested in some of the following articles
available right now – on this site.
For links in context: run your cursor over the article above and the dark grey links will turn dark red;
(subtle, so they don’t pull focus while you read, but you can find them to click when you’re ready for them)
— and check out the links to other Related Content in each of the articles themselves —
COACHING LINKS at the end of all posts
Friday, September 1, 2017 74 Comments
Awareness Day Articles ’round the ‘net
Depression, PTSD, Chronic Pain and more
– the importance of kindness & understanding
(and maybe an email to your legislators for MORE research funding?)
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
World Suicide Prevention Day – Monday, September 10, 2017 – every year, since 2003.
The introduction and Suicide Awareness section of this article is an edited reblog of the one I posted in September 2016. Unfortunately, not much has changed in the past year.
Notice that my usual calendar is missing this month, to underscore the reality that those who commit suicide no longer have use for one.
Onward and upward?
“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” ~ Helen KellerThe extent of the mental health problem
Every single year approximately 44 million American adults alone — along with millions more children and adults around the world — struggle with “mental health” conditions.
They range from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ASD, OCD, PTSD, TBI/ABI to ADD/EFD and so-much-MORE.
Many of those struggling with depression and anxiety developed these conditions as a result of chronic pain, fighting cancer (and the after-effects of chemo), diabetes, and other illnesses and diseases thought of primarily for their physical effects.
DID YOU KNOW that one in FIVE of those of us living in first-world countries will be diagnosed with a mental illness during our lifetimes. More than double that number will continue to suffer undiagnosed, according to the projections from the World Health Organization and others.
Many of those individuals will teeter on the brink of the idea that the pain of remaining alive has finally become too difficult to continue to endure.
One kind comment can literally be life-saving, just as a single shaming, cruel, unthinking remark can be enough to push somebody over the suicide edge.
It is PAST time we ended mental health stigma
Far too many people suffering from even “common” mental health diagnoses have been shamed into silence because of their supposed mental “shortcomings.”
Sadly, every single person who passes on mental health stigma, makes fun of mental health problems, or lets it slide without comment when they witness unkind behavior or are in the presence of unkind words – online or anywhere else – has contributed to their incarceration in prisons of despair.
Related Post: What’s my beef with Sir Ken Robinson?
We can do better – and I am going to firmly hold the thought that we WILL.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO’s primary role is to direct international health within the United Nations’ system and to lead partners in global health responses), suicide kills over 800,000 people each year — ONE PERSON EVERY 40 SECONDS.
STILL there are many too many people who believe that mental health issues are not real – or that those who suffer are simply “not trying hard enough.”
That is STIGMA, and it is past time for this to change.
I’m calling out mental health stigma for what it is:
SMALL MINDED IGNORANCE!
(unless, of course, you want to label it outright BULLY behavior)
NOW, let’s all focus our thoughts in a more positive direction: on universal acceptance, and appropriate mental health care for every single person on the planet.
Monday, April 24, 2017 128 Comments
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Reflections: edited repostingClick HERE for Part One: ABOUT Values and the Goose Story
A wonderful model for living
In 1994 I founded The Optimal Functioning Institute™ – the company that presented the world’s first comprehensive ADD-specific coaching curriculum, and the only one for many years (OFI’s certification compliant A.C.T.), a curriculum I developed and delivered personally for years.
OFI was founded according to the principles that Dr. Harry Clarke Noyes articulates in The Goose Story, an extremely short free-verse poem (below) about the importance of community.
For well over a decade it was featured prominently on my first website, ADDCoach.com, built to focus on promoting the existence of ADD Coaching and the importance of brain-based, ADD-specific, Coach Training — and one of the first ADD sites on the web.
I first shared it here on ADDandSoMuchMORE.com in 2011. Over the years, it has become a touchstone and a talisman for myself and, I hope, many of the students who trained with me.
In The Goose Story, Noyes compares and contrasts human behaviors to those of a flock of geese, starting with an impressive explanation as to why you always see them flying in V-formation.
The reason I was so taken with this story is a story of its own: how I became aware of the importance of a strong personal foundation and of values-based goals.
After my recent three-part empathy story [Part I here], which you’ll also find in the Related Contents at the bottom of this post, I decided it was time to share it again with many new readers who might never have seen it.
Part I of this post attempts to give you a little bit of background.
This post shares Noyes’ wise words.
The Goose Story
by Dr. Harry Clarke NoyesNext fall,
when you see Geese
heading South for the Winter,
flying along in V formation,
you might consider
what science has discovered
as to why they fly that way:
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 123 Comments
A LOT of Help — from friends
both near and far
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Walking a Mile Series – Part III, conclusion
Part I HERE; and Part II HERE“There, but for the grace of God, go I”
We each have the power to change the world for someone
Our society has become very self-focused in the 30 years between my first and last experience with broken bones and lack of autonomy. I may not be able to do much to change it, but I am driven to name it and to speak out against it, especially in today’s political climate.
Perhaps the posting of this 3-part article will turn out to be the silver lining to the cloud of an unbelievably challenging several years of my already challenging life.
Perhaps the world will be just a little bit softer and more supportive, thanks to the efforts of those of you who have taken time from your lives to read it — in any number of arenas, but certainly in that of reaching out to help someone alone and in need.
Time creeps for those awaiting attention or help, especially once autonomy has been stripped.
I hope that reading my story will encourage ALL of you to set aside a moment to pay a bit of kind attention to anyone in your lives who has been waiting for someone to have time for them.
Attempt to cheer them up without making them wrong for needing cheering. Simply listening (without “up-languaging”) is a very kind thing to do and easy to extend, even if you are unable to manage more practical assistance.
As I have said in each of the three parts of this article, I am posting it NOW to put a human face on the reality that we all need to increase our willingness to get involved, before the next DSM is forced to add a new category: EDD – Empathy Deficiency Disorder.
My second experience is coming to a close, thanks to a dear couple several states away, more disposed to empathy than sympathy. They insisted on making the TEN HOUR drive to bring me back home with them — to help me heal emotionally as much as physically.
Again, as you read, I want you to keep in mind that, as disturbing as my experience certainly was, it pales in comparison to what many folks must overcome every day of their lives, and what many of our neighbors may shortly be facing unless enough of us step up and sing out.
Read more of this post
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 135 Comments
PTSD Trigger Warning
Not my problem,
not my business?© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Walking a Mile Series – Part II
“There, but for the grace of God, go I”
What kind of world do YOU want?
As I began in Part I of this article, our society seems to be rapidly moving to a state where it is empathy-averse. This article is my attempt at trying to change that sad reality in some small fashion by telling my personal story.
The power of true stories
Sometimes hearing the stories of people you know, even a little, makes a greater impact than any urging to speak out, step up, and make a difference ever could. So I have written a three-part article sharing two personal experiences, several years past now, the first of which I shared in Part I.
My second experience is more disturbing, yet perhaps more important to my quest to foster empathy in those who seem to be more disposed to offer sympathy. Not to post a spoiler, but the end of the story, Part III returns to a more upbeat tone that so many commented that they appreciated about Part I.
However, anyone who has never experienced needing help and not being able to get it has probably never thought about what a lack of empathy means in the life of someone they know. This part of the article gives everybody just a little taste.
Everybody wins – or loses
Science is unconflicted in their assertions that community is important to physical and mental health – both to those who give and to those who receive support — as well as about the dangers of remaining apart on either side of the equation.
I want to repeat another bit of text from Part I:
Sympathy is not the same as Empathy
Sympathy is “feeling sorry for” a person in a particular situation. It is a feeling that allows us to be grateful that we are not the ones going through the experience personally.
But it also fosters a pull to allow ourselves to sit back and do nothing to ease the burden for another.
Empathy is “putting ourselves in the shoes of another,” allowing us to imagine what we would find helpful and encouraging, and perhaps to step up to extend support – if only a little bit, and maybe more than that.
OR, as Bernadette from HaddonsMusings, host of the Senior Salon commented after Part I:
Sympathy is sitting on the sidelines;
empathy is getting in the game.And now for the disclosure of some of the details of my more recent experience – even though it is now several years behind me.
As you read, I want you to keep in mind that, as disturbing as my experience certainly was, it pales in comparison to what many of our neighbors may shortly be facing unless enough of us step up and sing out.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017 121 Comments
Tough Love Lessons
from an Empathy Deficit Society© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Walking a Mile Series – Part I
“There, but for the grace of God, go I”
Not my problem, not my business?
Our society seems to be rapidly moving to a state where it is empathy-averse. The next few posts are my attempt at trying to change that sad reality in some small fashion by telling my personal story. It is time
Many who are still able to care what happens to others take the “wait and see” approach, hoping perhaps that some of the problems will resolve without their involvement.
I have noticed it most overtly in response to current political actions of late, but I have always seen it most pervasively in the continuing lack of Mental Health Awareness.
That attitude troubles me greatly. We need each other, and the quote at the top of this page has never been more apt.
I always planned to speak out about it, once I put my life back together after a horrendous event that all but took it away from me entirely. But there was so much to do in the aftermath that time got away from me.
The attitude I observe, that seems to be increasing since the start of the most recent election cycle, has emboldened me. I think it’s time to put some polish on a few drafts and publish them.
The Value of Personal Stories
Sometimes hearing the stories of people you know, even a little, makes a greater impact than any urging to step up, speak out and make a difference ever could.
So I will be sharing two personal experiences, one a great many years ago and the other only a few. I plan to divide the article into three parts, mindful of the time many of us lack for reading extremely long posts, even though these will be longer than many. They will post on consecutive Wednesdays.
I am posting them NOW to underscore the reason we all need to increase our willingness to get involved before the next DSM is forced to add a new category: EDD – Empathy Deficiency Disorder.
Sympathy vs. Empathy
Sympathy is “feeling sorry for” a person in a particular situation. It is a feeling that allows us to be grateful that we are not the ones going through the experience personally. But it also fosters a pull to allow ourselves to sit back and do nothing to ease the burden for another.
Empathy is “putting ourselves in the shoes of another,” allowing us to imagine what we would find helpful and encouraging, and perhaps to step up to extend support – if only a little bit, and maybe more than that.
Talk and Timing
As I said in one of my updates to an article years ago now, NO contact possible: mugged at gunpoint, modern medicine is very different than the first time I had a broken bone but, unfortunately, bones don’t heal correspondingly rapidly.
My first experience was the result of multiple, serious, spiral fractures to my right leg, many years ago. The damage was the result of a skiing accident that left me unable to get out of bed for a month, in a hip cast for about 8 months, and a leg that was smaller than the diameter of my arm once the cast was finally removed.
The negative impact to my acting career was substantial, but my attitude remained essentially positive – despite a great many challenges – thanks to more than a little help from a small handful of my friends.
This is my story
New York City, where I was living when I broke my leg, was in the middle of a transit strike, and New York cabbies were reluctant to take the time to deal with someone on crutches or in a wheelchair.
- At that time I lived with a godsend of a roommate who stood at the curb to hail a cab while I was hidden from view, so that I could get where I needed to go.
- She also emptied my bedpans for that first bed-ridden month. She kept me company, the bills paid and our services on, and food in my belly.
- At no time – for an entire year – did she display impatience or treat me differently. Nor did she suggest that I pretend that lack of autonomy was less of a struggle for me than it was. She helped me keep my spirits up with conversation and laughter.
- At NO time did she expect that I pretend my situation could be handled by “thinking positively” about it. She understood without having to be reminded, that “motivational” talk of that type would have felt belittling.
- She sat with me patiently during the times I wept over the seeming relentlessness of the situation.
Thank you Janine. I was extremely grateful at the time but, until the contrast of my more recent experience, I had NO idea how very much your help and your attitude made it possible for me to make it through that time emotionally – and whole.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 51 Comments
Regardless of WHO gets hurt
or WHAT cost to American lives . . .
the incoming administration is focused on getting rid of anything
put forward during the Obama administration — as quickly as possible
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Reblogged: Source posted on the Hopeworks blog
Carefully considering consequences
With the exception of issues impacting Mental Health awareness, education, support and care, ADDandSoMuchMORE.com is not a politically-focused blog. Since time is in limited supply for each of us, we must each choose our battles wisely. Politics per se is not my battle.
I do my best to keep things as light as possible, and to inject as much humor as I can in the articles I post here.
But there is no leavening I can devise to alter the serious nature of this particular post.
Rather than attempting to to explain why I am so personally concerned – and about more than mental health – I am reposting a brief article written by a concerned blogger from the HopeWorks Community.
It puts a human face on what is likely to result, should the current insurance health policies be suddenly abandoned, regardless of how you feel about the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act (so-called “Obamacare”).
Following it is a link to an earlier article I posted here, which includes another reposting from Mental Health America.
In addition to some context for the importance to each of us (at the conclusion of that article), the linked article outlines some of the problems with the few suggestions that have been put forward as a replacement for the ACA that the incoming administration is in such a rush to attempt to repeal wholesale.
I added some formatting and a couple of headings to the reblog below, to help with readability for those of you who struggle to stay tracked on text alone, and a link to the original, for those who prefer to read it there.
It’s a short article. I urge every single one of my American visitors
to give it a read and to consider the implications carefully.
It’s important.
Saturday, December 3, 2016 19 Comments
You are much appreciated
AND there is more to be done & more we ALL can do© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Mental Health Awareness SeriesTurning a Comment into a Post
I added a comment to my Birthday Post to thank my readers and followers for the amazing response from so many of you who took the time to read the story behind my prayer.
I so appreciate everyone who commented with empathy, as well as with the disgust that *I* feel for the TRAGIC and avoidable murder of the son of a good friend, colleague, and leading light in the ADD community.
I am expanding it into an Advocacy article, hoping that more of you will see it.
So what’s the MORE?
God Bless YOU all – and now I hope everyone will be proactive, speaking truth to “power” with a reach further than that of the blogging community.
I ask you to write or call your elected representatives and local hospital administrators – and that you repeat this story to your doctors with an expression of concern that something similar could EVER happen to you or someone you love.
It’s desperately needed, regardless of where you live in the free world.
The police are not the central problem here – but their lack of mental health training IS a serious issue that has needed addressing for a very long time. And that, my friends, is a matter for specifically targeted appropriations – or, as it turns out, lack thereof.
The APA (American Psychological Association) and AMA (Medical) could us a major tune up as well.
What happened medically that allowed this tragedy to occur was and IS INexcusable, totally avoidable and, unfortunately, not rare.
We, too, can become effective Lobbyists
ALL decision and policy makers need to be encouraged to assign a staff member to start reading the blogs of the mental health advocates, the chronic pain & PTSD sufferers and of a great many individuals attempting to get adequate and EMPATHETIC care from their doctors and nurses.
Many too many health care professionals seem more afraid of black and white DEA retribution – due to the way in which the DEA enforces their policies, intended to lower drug abuse statistics, to undercut the effective treatment for a variety of disabilities and disorders – than they are of being called out for providing seriously substandard care to many in the mental health community. REGULARLY.
Inexcusable, of course, but professional cowardice is at least understandable on some level. What is NOT understandable is the rude and insensitive way in which many patients are treated by the doctors and nurses they look to and PÅY for help and understanding.
I see tales of lousy treatment on most of the blogs – and insensitive treatment on ALL of them.
I hope that everyone who has posted an article supporting this statement will leave a link in a comment — those will become the only Related Posts for this article.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 110 Comments
Today is my birthday
but, awakening from a nightmare,
I’m not feeling very happy right now
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
First, my birthday prayer:
The personal story behind both the prayer and my recurring nightmares follows below.
PLEASE God, we seriously need to upgrade the health-care system in this country. We need a clean sweep of the Mammon-worshipping insurance industry, God, clearing out everyone who is getting rich off the health challenges of the citizens of this country.
Please make everyone aware that, most importantly, we desperately need to FIX America’s woefully inadequate mental health care system, as we vastly improve mental health awareness in the entire country – including empathy for the poor, the homeless and every single one of our veterans.
Lay it on the heart of every single American with breath enough to speak, God. Let them know it like *I* know it, feel it like *I* feel it
Make them realize that action can no longer be procrastinated, regardless of whether America’s new administration is willing to understand or is otherwise uninspired to take effective steps toward solutions that are more than sound-bites and cronyism.
Let the world finally understand that jails and prisons are no place for those who are mentally ill, God, and that Law Enforcement without in-depth mental health training has NO place dealing with the mentally ill.
Amen
Sunday, September 11, 2016 29 Comments
Articles ’round the ‘net
Depression, PTSD and more – the importance of kindness & understanding
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness MonthWorld Suicide Prevention Day – Saturday, September 10, 2016 – every year, since 2003. I deliberately choose to wait a day to post my own article of support for two reasons:
- So that I could “reblog” and link to the efforts of others, offering some of the memes and articles they have created to give you both a quick hit and an overview of the extent of the problem.
- So that I could honor September 11th – another anniversary of loss and sorrow, as many Americans mourn the missing.
The extent of the mental health problem
Nearly 44 million American adults alone, along with millions more children and adults worldwide, struggle with “mental health” conditions each year, ranging from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ASD, OCD, PTSD, TBI to ADD/EFD and more.
One in five of those of us living in first-world countries will be diagnosed with a mental illness during our lifetimes. It is estimated that more than double that number will continue to suffer undiagnosed.
Many of those individuals will teeter on the brink of the idea that the pain of remaining alive has finally become too difficult to continue to endure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One kind comment can be life-saving, just as a single shaming, cruel, unthinking remark can be enough to push somebody over the suicide edge.
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It is PAST time we ended mental health stigma
Far too many people suffering from even “common” mental health diagnoses have been shamed into silence because of their supposed mental “shortcomings” — and every single person who passes on mental health stigma, makes fun of mental health problems, or fails to call out similar behavior as bad, wrong and awful when they witness it has locked them into prisons of despair.
We can do better – and we need to.
According to the World Health Organization, suicide kills over 800,000 people each year — ONE PERSON EVERY 40 SECONDS. STILL there are many too many people who believe that mental health issues are not real – or that those who suffer are simply “not trying hard enough.”
This is STIGMA, and this needs to change.
I’m calling out mental health stigma for what it is:
SMALL MINDED IGNORANCE!
(unless, of course, you want to label it outright BULLY behavior)
Wednesday, August 31, 2016 39 Comments
I expect Universities to be places of enlightened thinking
The University of Chicago flunked the test
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
A Mental Health Awareness PostA Trigger Warning is no different from a RATING
A Trigger Warning is NOT content censorship – it is a WARNING. Period. It allows for the use of coping strategies by those students who need them.
It is absolutely insane to put forth some black and white argument expressing fear that supporting its use in ANY circumstance will facilitate its application to all situations where some student might take offense.
- Few thinking individuals are up in arms about impinging on the rights of people who want to watch certain types of films simply because they are rated X to guide those who do not.
- Rational people do not insist that the ban on guns in schools be lifted, holding up 2nd Amendment Rights (the right to bear arms, for my non-American readers).
And yet, The University of Chicago sent out a letter to incoming Freshman outlining their [non] logic as they disclose that they will not support the use of Trigger Warnings and Safe Spaces on their campus.
Rather than using this issue as a chance to increase Mental Health Awareness, which is to be expected from any institution claiming education as its purpose, The University of Chicago has chosen to issue what amounts to a gag order.
We have a L-O-N-G way to go where educating people about Mental Health is concerned – but for a University to be so blatantly unaware is both frightening and appalling. I’d yank my kid out of that “educational” environment in a heartbeat!
Why all the fuss?
Regular readers are aware of the reasons for my reluctance to use the WordPress reblog function – so I hope you will jump over to the posts below to read the rest of the excellent points surrounding the words quoted below.
In her introduction, Maisha Z. Johnson explains the issue in terms anybody might easily be able to understand, EVEN the decision-makers at The University of Chicago, especially John Ellison, U of C dean of students (who is declining to respond to emails, etc. by the way).
THAT would mean, of course, that they’d bothered to upgrade their egregious lack of education about mental health issues before responding in what I feel strongly is a cruel and ignorant fashion.
Two college students return to campus after both were present for an act of violence.
One of them was physically injured in the incident. In order to return to class, he asks to have space around his desk to allow him to stretch, because sitting still for too long would aggravate his injury.
How would you feel about his request? Would you understand why such an accommodation would help him heal? Expect his professors to oblige?
Now, the other student’s pain isn’t visible – it’s emotional.
He wasn’t physically hurt, but he lost a loved one, and he’s traumatized. Certain reminders have resulted in panic attacks, and he’d rather not experience that again – especially not when he’s trying to move on with his life and get an education.
So he also makes a request, asking his professors if they can give him a warning before covering material that relates to the type of violence that took away his loved one.
How would you feel about this student’s request?
What he’s asking for is a content warning, also commonly called a trigger warning. And it’s a huge source of debate.
. . . when it comes to an able-bodied person experiencing a temporary injury and needing support to heal, there’s usually not much debate about whether or not they should be allowed in class with crutches, a cast, or extra space around their desk.
The sharp contrast between this acceptance and common attitudes towards trigger warnings reveals something disturbing about our society’s approach to trauma and mental illness.
Sunday, June 12, 2016 6 Comments
What is WRONG with our world today?
And what can we do to turn things around – IMMEDIATELY?
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Unusual, but necessary
As regular readers know, since the WordPress reblog function is not particularly ADD/EFD-friendly, I rarely reblog. In any case, the WordPress reblog function does not seem to be working at all today — a day when I would otherwise have used it to reblog the post below, put together by the author of the Make Me a Sammich blog.
I usually confine my articles to topics that directly impact individuals struggling with challenges common in what I refer to as the Attentional Spectrum community. I generally avoid “political” posts that do not directly impact the mental health field.
HOWEVER, in response to my horror at the deadly attack in Orlando, I am not able to remain silent about the repulsion I feel for the increase in hate-mongering of ALL types, much of it fomented by the rage that is given expression on Twitter – some by politicians running for office who damned well SHOULD know better!
Hate breeds hate. STOP IT – all of you
and let’s stop supporting ANYONE who spurts venom.
My hand-crafted reblog attempt:
I have copied Rosie’s first few paragraphs below – and encourage you to follow the link provided below her brief introductory paragraphs to see the entire post. She speaks my mind as well or better than I ever could, and has also included links for anyone who is moved to help – or needs help.
Remember that you can always check out the sidebar
for a reminder of how links work on this site, they’re subtle ==>
As I struggled to form words to begin this post, a CNN notification just popped up to tell me that—as the world reels from the terror attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which killed at least 50 people and injured at least 50 more making it the “deadliest mass shooting in US history”—police in Los Angeles have in custody a person who was armed to the teeth and headed to a Pride celebration in the LA area.
So far, the events seem to be unrelated in the strictest sense—i.e., these men likely did not know one another or coordinate in any way—but any attack, or any attempted or planned attack, on a gathering place for LGBTQ people during Pride week can certainly be said to have at least a couple of things in common.
“We know enough to say this was an act of terror and an act of hate.”
~President Obama
In times like this, it’s often difficult to know how best to help. My thoughts—and my prayers, such as they are—do go out to the LGBTQ community today, but I will not pretend my thoughts and prayers are magical and will create change in and of themselves. That takes action.
As a straight, cis woman, I’m focusing my efforts today on amplifying the voices of LGBTQ people on social media and also, with thanks to @PrisonCulture on Twitter for the prompt, I’m shining light on organizations that work to support LGBTQ people and fight for equality and justice in the LGBTQ sphere.
These are the folks who are out there right now doing the work that needs to get done, and the one of the best ways to help in times like this is to support them either financially or by letting others know about the important work they do. I hope you can join me in these efforts to whatever degree you’re able.
Read the entire article by clicking HERE
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As always, if you want notification of new articles in one of my Series of Attentional Challenges Posts – or any new posts on this blog – give your email address to the nice form on the top of the skinny column to the right. (You only have to do this once, so if you’ve already asked for notification about a prior series, you’re covered for this one too). STRICT No Spam Policy
IN ANY CASE, do stay tuned.
There’s a lot to know, a lot here already, and a lot more to come – in this Series and in others.
Get it here while it’s still free for the taking.
Want to work directly with me? If you’d like some coaching help with anything that came up while you were reading this Series (one-on-one couples or group), click HERE for Brain-based Coaching with mgh, with a contact form at its end (or click the E-me link on the menubar at the top of every page). Fill out the form, submit, and an email SOS is on its way to me; we’ll schedule a call to talk about what you need. I’ll get back to you ASAP (accent on the “P”ossible!)
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You might also be interested in some of the following articles
available right now – on this site and elsewhere.
For links in context: run your cursor over the article above and the dark grey links will turn dark red;
(subtle, so they don’t pull focus while you read, but you can find them to click when you’re ready for them)
— and check out the links to other Related Content in each of the articles themselves —
Related Articles ’round the net primarily found in Rosie’s article
Thursday, May 26, 2016 3 Comments
Honoring Memorial Day
by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Part of the What Kind of World SeriesIf ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~ John McCrae, May 1915
How do YOU relate to Memorial Day?
For many fortunate people – 80% of us, according to a poll taken by the National World War II Museum — Memorial Day is little more than the official beginning of summer. It’s the day we get our barbeques and lawn furniture out of storage to picnic with family and friends until our Labor Day parties mark summer’s end.
One of the longest-standing events that many will attend this year is the Indianapolis 500, held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
NASCAR‘s Coca-Cola 600 has been held later that day since 1961 and, since 1976, the Memorial [Golf] Tournament has been held on or close to Memorial Day.
And still . . .
For too many other Americans, however, Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the day they honor that other day – the one that changed their lives forever – a day of remembrance when they hope that the deaths of their loved ones will never be forgotten, and when they pray that their fathers, husbands, uncles, nephews, sons and grandsons did not die in vain.
It is the one day set aside for all of us to honor and remember, as a nation, the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
It happens every year on the last Monday of May
May 30th in 2016Many people will take time to visit cemeteries and memorials around the county to honor the loved ones of others who have given their lives in military service, as well as anyone they know personally who has made the ultimate sacrifice.
Various groups of volunteers will visit national cemeteries to place American flags on soldiers’ graves.
Cities and townships across the nation will hold stately parades led by marching bands, often including Army jeeps and other military vehicles, antique as well as current. The National Guard is often featured in those parades, along with Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard — active servicemen and women marching alongside veterans of all ages, in uniforms representing many too many wars and even more fallen soldiers.
Thursday, May 19, 2016 22 Comments
How did our country become so selfish?
An interaction that left me Grumpy – and it’s not even Monday!
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
in the Monday Grumpy Monday SeriesWalkin’ my Dog
As someone who moved around a lot throughout my life, I am currently living a considerably more isolated life than I would prefer because I have landed in a town I can’t really understand – Cincinnati, Ohio.
From my experience, at least, Cincinnati seems to be one of those towns I’ve come to call “passport towns.”
An introduction from somebody who’s grown up here – or lived here for most of his or her life – seems to be a prerequisite for even so much as a welcoming smile many days, and certainly the passport needed to develop a community of true friends. Since my move here several years ago, I have found myself quite lonely as a result.
True friends share each others’ lives, not merely conversations in passing or occasional calls for help or understanding in times of trouble. Most of my friends are scattered across the nation, so I frequently get a hankering for a a bit of face-to-face interaction, even though, since Kate Kelly’s passing, I no longer know anyone in Cincinnati I could count among my true friends.
Enforced isolation is something I have not experienced since, many years ago now, I first moved to New Orleans, Louisiana for grad school – another passport town. That surprised me, by the way. I’ve always made friends easily, and it’s extremely rare to need a passport in the South. But I think I finally figured it out.
Commonalities
I’ve observed that the two towns I mentioned are alike in this way: people who grow up there tend to stay put or move back “home,” perhaps because they finally tire of living in some other passport town where they couldn’t develop a community of friends either. In any case, a great many of the residents of these towns seem disinclined to widen their circles to include a stranger without the requisite introduction from a local.
Taking my own advice (from the Series I have been writing on loneliness and isolation), my little dog TinkerToy and I get out several times a day – and I smile warmly at everyone I pass on our walks around the neighborhood (even if they don’t return my smile). I engage anyone who seems the least bit friendly in a passing conversation.
“Hi, how are you?”
“Don’t you just love (or hate) this weather?”When I notice an expression on a face that seems to indicate that they are about to bring our little chat to a close, I wave them on and tell them I hope they have a nice day.
Related posts:
The Importance of Community to Health
When You’re Longing for ConnectionBut passport towns are not the central point of today’s post.
Walking my dog is how I came to meet Staff Sergeant Brown.Some actual connection
My little Shih Tzu TinkerToy and I frequently pass a small cigarettes-snacks-and-beer store that serves the many college students in this section of the walking neighborhood I currently call home. Staff Sergeant Brown was sitting on a stoop out in front, keeping watch on two large garbage bags bulging with cans.
Do you know what he can get for those cans these days? A whole thirty cents – per pound.
And that’s how this courageous, 63 year old veteran of FOUR wars is currently supporting himself – because he is too proud to beg.
Don’t forget that you can always check out the sidebar
for a reminder of how links work on this site, they’re subtle ==>
Monday, May 16, 2016 16 Comments
Name it to Tame it
“Label Stigma” is very OLD thinking© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
May is National Mental Health Awareness MonthWill this NEVER die?
Do we “label” eyes brown, green or blue? Would the color of anybody’s eyes change simply because we don’t put a name to that color for fear of subjecting them to preconceived notions about eyes (or color)?
If some narrow-minded person has a prejudice against people with light eyes, does identifying the color of those eyes as “blue” make the slightest difference what-so-ever?
How about height and weight “labels?”
SURELY nobody really believes that as long as we don’t define size by measurement we can pretend everybody is exactly the same — even though we can easily see that they aren’t.
- Is there some evolutionary advantage to pretending that identifying certain characteristics specifically isn’t relevant – or important?
- Does it really change anybody’s self-identity or position in the universe to find out exactly how tall they are?
- Does it change how we think about our role in the world to know how much we weigh?
And yet . . .
Labelling theory, prominent during the 1960s and 70s, with some modified versions still currently popular, has long asserted the exact opposite.
It postulates that, once “labeled,” individuals are stripped of their old identities as new ones are ascribed to them — and that the process usually leads to internalizing this new identity and social status, taking on some kind of assigned role with its associated set of role expectations.
And society seems to like to go along with this BS!!!
When I look around, the most comprehensive internalization I see is the result of the self-identification with STIGMA.
Out of the fear of having their children “labelled” with a mental illness, too many parents avoid taking their kids for diagnosis and treatment – because they don’t want their children to have to suffer the stigma of a diagnosis.
Out of that same fear, many otherwise sensible adults – who would certainly go for treatment if what they suspected was wrong with them were physical – are leading limp-along lives because they refuse to accept diagnosis and treatment for anything that concerns their mental health. Few realize that they’ve actually internalized the very stigma they think they are avoiding.
MY point of view
As I see it, the reticence to accept mental health “labels” for fear of pigeon-holing or stereotyping allows society as a whole to remain in serious denial about the crying need to stand up and be counted, joining together to sling a few other labels that desperately need to be slung – like intolerant, bigoted, small-minded, parochial and provincial, to name just a few.
And then there’s the label that is my personal favorite to describe a particular kind of tool I’d like to call a spade: BULLY!
I’m calling out mental health stigma for what it is:
SMALL MINDED IGNORANCE!
(unless, of course, you want to label it cowardice)
Thursday, January 15, 2015 10 Comments
When you make a mistake,
‘fess up and FIX itMadelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
As regular readers know, I don’t like (or use) the WordPress reblog function because it doesn’t work for ADD/EFD readership, particularly in the manner in which multiple graphics are handled.
HOWEVER, I am making this exception as a show of support for a blogger who is now prohibited by WordPress from following any new blogs or bloggers – EVEN to the extent of hitting “like.”
None of his many followers can figure out WHY —
and others with similar statistics have recently received similar notices
(disclosed in the comments section of the blog that follows)The response from the [used-to-be] good folks at WordPress is to dig in and defend, rather than ‘fess up and explain how it happened – OR disclose the specifics of the rules by which they sanction (read the comments on the blog of Opinionated Man – my own responses to the WordPress action are scathing!)
BY THE WAY
You don’t have to agree with what he says on his blog to defend his right to SAY it.
- There will be many people who won’t agree with what YOU say on your blog.
- Wouldn’t you want somebody defending your right to say it if WordPress responded to them by shutting you down?
AT THE VERY LEAST, click over to click like to indicate that you are aware of this truly crappy decision on the part of WordPress.com and find it appalling.
Links to more detail, including their missives to him,
available from the link immediately below:Making things EVEN worse
There seems to be NO redress for the original action.
From their response, it seems clear that the policy is that if somebody makes a decision on statistics alone, the folks at WordPress.com refuse to revisit – or even EXPLAIN their [apparently new] “rules” for interaction with other blogs with any specificity.
It’s a “circle the wagons” response designed to provoke fear of “over-stepping” undisclosed boundaries.
Didn’t work with ME
My response is WHITE-HOT FURY at the back-end disclosure sans specifics — AFTER we have spent money and a great many minutes of our lives helping to build usage of the WordPress.com platform.
If WordPress doesn’t have the server space to keep up with the community they’ve actively sought and attracted, then they need to say THAT – not this nonsense!
I hope your response is similar, and that you will (as they say in the theatre)
“Sing out, Louise!”Most companies become suddenly more reasonable once they become aware of wide-spread disdain.
“An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile
hoping it will eat him LAST.” ~ Winston Churchill“It takes a village to transform a world!” ~ mgh
What kind of world do YOU want?
FYI – To get to the article, click on the name of the blog (immediately below) or on “View Original” at the bottom.
The longer link goes to a Forum discussion thread that one of the “Happiness Engineers” (their term, btw) has decided to close to additional comments in what appears to be their new black and white manner of avoiding having to comment toward clarification or issue resolution.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 9 Comments
The End of Life
CAN be comfortable and enlivening
©Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Source: addicted2success.com
Why do we prefer to wait with hope, faith and fear?
Many of us rely on our belief in a heavenly father to partner us through our last days on earth.
Some of us put our faith in medical science.
And most of us prefer not to think about
the end of life at all.As a result, when death comes we are unprepared to handle it in human terms – in our own lives or in the lives of those we love. As a sad consequence, grief is prolonged and much more difficult to handle for everyone involved.
Thoughts about our own death
I must admit that, even as I age, I rarely think about the plot of my last chapter on earth — but I have recently listened to a couple of podcast interviews that have expanded my thoughts about end of life issues in a manner that has surprised me.
Both of them were inspiring in completely different ways, and both of them are supported by books that add depth to the conversation.
Grave Expectations: Planning the End Like There’s No Tomorrow
by Sue Bailey and Carmen Flowers
A Life Worth Living: A Doctor’s Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era
by Dr. Robert MartensenI think these are both important books on a topic rarely discussed, so I wanted to let you know about them — as well as taking some time to turn you on to a couple of excellent interviews with the authors.
Be sure to check out the sidebar for how links work on this site, they’re subtle ==>
Thursday, September 11, 2014 4 Comments
STILL Healing the Divided Mind
by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Part of the What Kind of World do YOU Want? series
[link to videos by Deepak Chopra below]September 11 will never again be an ordinary day.
click image for source – scroll to bottom for NEW view
No longer living in Manhattan, I have developed my own “honoring” ceremony that involves searching the ‘net for articles on the topic and taking the time to read them.
I have learned to expect the posts telling their stories, expressing gratitude that their loved ones had been spared.
I have grown used to seeing the many expressions of empathy and love for those who were not so blessed – and I join them in saying a prayer for those whose loved-ones disappeared in so violent a manner.
I always expect to see expressions of unhealed pain, loss and grief – which I found again – and I pray for them too.
I also expect more than a few expressions of hot and still too fresh anger – which I also found. I pray they will find peace.
I will always be unprepared for
expressions of revenge and retribution.ALL of us who are able simply must continue to put energy into healing this wound that is gaping still – in America and in other countries affected by retribution-inspired violence.
We will NEVER forget, but the only way inject meaning into this senseless act of violence (and those that came before and those that followed), is to come to a place where we can experience our feelings without BEING our feelings: taking a STAND for Peace, and sourcing our actions from that stand.
Monday, September 8, 2014 1 Comment
Pay it Forward
by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Part of the What Kind of World do YOU Want? seriesEvery single one of you can share and forward. Please DO that – for me – in appreciation for what I continue to do for all of you.
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart
UPDATE: Go to bottom of article for photo of Andy’s new smile – thanks to ALL who helped by contributing OR forwarding.
1 minute video – click image
My very own
“Make a Wish” campaignThere but for the
Grace of God
Go you and IMy Friend Andy needs a miracle
My request to anyone who has ever benefited from ANYTHING I have ever done is that you become a part of Andy’s miracle in any way you can.
His one-minute video explains what he needs far better than I ever could. The brief text below it adds information and context.
Please click his image – OR one of the links below – and donate just one little minute to listening to his message in his own words — then forward it (and/or reblog my plea).
The greater the number of people who see his message, the greater the likelihood of ALL of us being part of a true miracle – saving the life of a man who will help save the lives of others.
Please, help me make it go viral.
Friday, September 5, 2014 2 Comments
Dream Headlines
What Kind of World do YOU Want?© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
The Upside of the Downside
Gotta’ love the media – ONE report of a groundbreaking study and they go wild with their own interpretations — targeted to each of their particular viewers, readers, and branding.
Association blogs and websites join in from a myriad of vantage points, with the individual bloggers in hot pursuit of the same story right behind them.
Social Networks go crazy. We see related posts on Facebook, discussions on LinkedIn, tweets, YouTube videos, TED talks – the entire internet seems abuzz with the news.
Advertisers on the cutting edge target their commercials to catch the wave of increased publicity. Product development teams are employed to increase sales by tweaking existing products and developing new ones.
MEANWHILE, new funding is approved for new studies to build on the original, further feeding the frenzy as new results are leaked and published.
ULTIMATELY, politicians get into the act as the result of public outcry; caucuses convene to draft new laws based on findings from the original research (that few probably ever read and fewer still understand).
What if it went something like THIS . . .
- Scientists discover neural-mechanism behind turf building and cognitive competition – possible link to empathy deficiency
- Collaboration blows competition out of water — recent research
- Blind Men meet to combine Elephant reportage – New Picture Emerging
Friday, August 29, 2014 6 Comments
How long, oh Lord?
©Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Click image for source (FaceBook)
Earlier today I “Shared” Future Horizon‘s video of a Nashville celebration for well-known animal rights and autism awareness activist Temple Grandin (born in Boston on August 29, 1947 and diagnosed with autism at age two). On FaceBook.
I prefaced it with the comment below, that I want to share with YOU.
God Bless the woman who, practically single-handedly, gave credibility to what science likes to dismiss as “merely” anecdotal.
Autism understanding and awareness took off, thanks in no small part to her sharing.
MEANWHILE, I went on to say, ADD is still the butt of jokes and target of misunderstanding and censure — despite a lifetime of my own work along with the sharing of THOUSANDS on ADD-focused support communities around the web, my ADD clients, seminars, trainings, classes, blogs and books by knowledgeable colleagues, thousands of published articles by expert doctors, and a whole lot more!.
‘Nuff said today. Check out one or two of the links below to read SOME of the many things I have been saying for over twenty-five years now.
Friday, November 1, 2013 2 Comments
What’s WRONG with society today:
a microcosmby Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
Part of the What Kind of World do YOU Want? series
“There is more to life
than increasing its speed.”
~ Ghandi“When leading consciously,
you use the power you have to
intentionally choose actions
that can make a profound difference
in your interactions with others –
both personally and professionally.”
~ Jean Kantambu LattingWhatever Happened to Rita?
Awakening early this morning for a much-welcomed change to my usual dark-centric experience of living, I took my coffee for a walk, hoping that the exposure to early morning light might help maintain the unexpected shift in my chronorhythms.
Having time to muse in the daylight is a rare treat. I’ve missed it.
I ran into another of the mailmen I didn’t recognize, parking his mail-truck: odd only because, as long as I’ve lived here, we’ve never gotten mail delivery on our street until late afternoon.
Since Rita disappeared, it seems we are left in the hands of a series of “temps,” so nothing is truly standard about our mail delivery anymore.
It won’t be until we have our own mail carrier again.
Monday, October 28, 2013 12 Comments
If I prepare for a rainy day,
does that mean it’s going to rain?©Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Coaching Series, supporting the
What Kind of World do YOU Want? Series
All Rights ReservedWell, Of COURSE it does! Eventually. But not because you prepared for it. Your thoughts really don’t control the universe.
How powerful do you think you are?
Even if you happen to be a mighty wizard who can command the elements — what about the OTHER mighty wizards who are thinking a sunny day into place for the Teddy Bear’s Picnic or something?
If you REALLY want to control whether you are likely to remain dry, get it together to move somewhere it rarely rains – like the desert.
But aren’t Thoughts THINGS?
I’m right with you on the metaphysics of this idea, but there are a lot of thinkers on the planet. Sometimes we get out-voted (er-um, out-thought?)
But If you think negative thoughts, you’ll bring about bad things, right?
Isn’t that The Law of Attraction?I was tempted to buy into this fear-based point of view when I was younger – for about a nano-second. I was led to believe that it was some kind of “Secret.”
Here are the REAL Secrets:
Monday, October 7, 2013 5 Comments
Check out additional info in the comments too – in answer to a great question
Your Brain REALLY
Can NOT Do it!by Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
From the What Kind of World SeriesHeads Up! The information reproduced below is NOT new news – yet things are getting WORSE!
Science has been studying the driving/multi-tasking dangers for years now, publishing their findings in scientific journals.
FINALLY, it is getting some serious attention from the mainstream press!
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) did us all a huge service by getting laws on the books that cracked down on drinking and driving. Briefly, our roads were safer and traffic deaths went down.
Despite their efforts, however, we are all now at greater risk than ever because of mobile technology.
- You probably figured out on your own that dialing, texting,
or updating your Facebook status while driving is a seriously stupid idea.
After all, you’d have to take your eyes off the road.- BUT WERE YOU AWARE that, according to scientific reaction-time studies, talking on a cell-phone while driving – EVEN hands-free – is riskier than driving with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit?
DON’T DO IT – and don’t let the driver of a car you ride in do it either.
Just Say NO!
Those of us with attention deficits to begin with really need to heed the warning – and that category includes ALL teens, by the way, whose prefrontal cortices aren’t yet fully developed.
We simply can’t take the risk that we will act on the impulse to answer that cell phone – turn it OFF or hand it to a passenger to tell callers you are not available while you are driving.
Don’t even chance it. Make it a habit by making it your POLICY.
The lives at risk are not ALL yours to gamble!
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