Sunday 11 May 2014

What will be will be…




Yes, I drafted two blogs depending on the outcome of today’s football matches – forever the optimist!

Exam time

SO, the long awaited exam period has descended onto us and I am so impressed with my son’s attitude to this period in his life. In spite of nasty, spiteful adults trying to knock him off course, he has once again shown maturity beyond his years organising his time well between his rugby and exam revision.  

I would like to wish everyone good luck with their exams. Remember to stay calm, read the paper properly and do the best YOU can do. It is NOT the end of the world.  I have never believed in putting pressure on children. Pressure doesn’t bring results. Encouragement, self-belief, hard work and a really positive attitude provides results. I was overjoyed when my son thanked me for not putting any pressure on him. Motivation is not the same as pressure.

My job during this time is very simple – to deflect unnecessary external pressures, keep him fed and watered and keep the house as calm as possible, even with a seven year old who insists he is either Gerrard or Suarez and has built his own Anfield in our front living room albeit with inflatable goals and a sponge ball! We even get the full Jamie Carragher commentary!

Liverpool FC





That leads me very nicely onto Liverpool FC. Okay Paul Kilbride you know where you can stick those cough sweets… lol. Growing up, I loved watching an exciting Liverpool team that passed the ball around and ran rings around the best of oppositions. The passing and movement has really impressed me this season. With all due respect to Brendan and the team, if anyone had said to me at the start of the season we would have the best striker in the world still with us, our young players would be in contention for the world cup squad and we were involved in the title chase on the LAST day of the season, I would have said, “Can I have what you’re on please!” BUT we have been. SO we didn’t win, SO WHAT. The football is exciting and fresh whilst reminding me of my childhood years. It has always been a real pleasure and honour to be a Liverpool fan but still after 30 (okay and the rest) years, I still love the club. I love the people of Liverpool and their die hard attitude to truth and justice, not to mention their fabulous sense of humour.  I am already really looking forward to next season… and looking forward to seeing justice for all the families affected by Hillsborough #JFT96.

Paul’s fundraising

givingplentytotwenty.blogspot.co.uk  
The Sick Childrens Trust and the Rugby League Benevolent Fund. You can give on Paul’s Justgiving page. http://www.justgiving.com/teams/givingplentytotwenty
You can donate through JustGiving or text SICK66 £1 TO 70070 or text TRYZ77 £1 to 70070 (or more if you would like). 
 
It was disappointing, no more so than for Paul, that his first event had to be cancelled due to illness. I want to wish Al’s daughter a speedy recovery. I know how hard Paul had worked on the event but sometimes life is just like that. We can re-group and go again. I am looking forward to reading Paul’s blog this week. I have a strong feeling it will be one to remember… (no pressure Paul).

Beyond the Past


It is always a great and much needed boost, especially this week, when someone takes the time to say they enjoyed the book. Thank you Sara for your comments, they are much appreciated. The plot thickens for the sequel Beyond the Lies and it is really hotting up now, in more ways than one! The problem I have is where to end the story. I have a few plot twists and a full profile for each of the suspects – listen to me I sound like a writer!! I could write forever… my intention is to keep writing until the story comes to a natural end then edit it, like I did with Beyond the Past. I find this much easier than breaking off to edit half way through. Once the first draft of Beyond the Past was completed, I left it to one side for a couple of weeks. When I picked it back up, I had more clarity and it was much easier to edit. Chapter One in Beyond the Past was actually Chapter Three in the first draft. Once this was changed, I had to introduce other bits for it to make sense. It obviously worked…
Despite of the pitfalls of social media, it has been a marvellous tool for marketing the book and I have a really healthy growth on my accounts including twitter, google plus, LinkedIn and my own website. I hope it won’t be long before I can actually employ someone to take care of my social media for me. Wishful thinking but we all have dreams!


Twitter Trolls

I was thinking this week about why some adults behave so badly on social media. Is it social media or is it just the individual? I suspect it is the latter but their callous bigoted nature is polarised by 140 characters. I was pleased to see the eight week prison sentence but sadly it won’t be a deterrent to people who think it’s satisfactory to belittle, berate and hate other more successful people. At least they can't hide behind aliases and can be traced. I’ve always taught mine to think before you speak. Now, during the techno age is quite clear we should be teaching think before you write.

Stigma & Labelling

This week I was labelled a sociopath, diagnosed by someone who is not medically trained. I have to plead ignorance so looked it up. When I read it, I laughed out loud but then there is a serious message to this. Why would you, without medical training, want to label someone? Sad that, in spite of all the work charities do, ignorant people still want to stigmatise an illness. I will say this. If caring and fighting for my boys, supporting charities, local businesses, justice campaigns, promoting women in business and providing self-confidence and self-esteem boosts (FREE I might add!) are all characteristics of being a sociopath, I advocate the world should be full of them!!

I am currently working on research into the mental wellbeing of children, especially teenagers from a Mum's perspective. There will be a blog on this in the near future.

My website includes news and events as well as the first three chapters of Beyond the Past, FREE. Feel free to pop over to have a look.


You can purchase the book from Pegasus Publishers ; Amazon UK ; Amazon US OR ORDER FROM YOUR LOCAL BOOKSHOP.

Have a safe and productive week. Be positive and help to inspire others…





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