Category: Happiness

HOW MANY HUGS HAVE YOU HAD TODAY?

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard the Huggies commercial many times over relaying the message to its viewers about the importance of hugging.  I’m also pretty sure that as you are reading this that you may have even started singing the lyrics to the song in your head. Huggies is sending out a very captivating and compelling message to their viewers and consumers alike through the power of advertising, letting everyone watching know that “we all need a hug in the morning and one at the end of the day, and as many as possible squeezed in between to keep life’s troubles at bay.”  It finishes off by telling us that “it’s my belief that for instant relief, a hug is the best cure of all.”

Before this Huggies campaign ever began though, another individual from Australia started a social movement that involved holding up a large sign which simply read “Free Hugs”.  He carried this sign with him in very large open spaces encouraging strangers to give and receive hugs from one another after a random hug from a stranger made an immense impact on a depressive period in his life. The outcome was incredible and this random act of kindness got him international attention, a youtube video produced and even a guest appearance on the Oprah show.

The reason that such advertisements and campaigns which I have mentioned above work so well is because there is actual scientific proof that a hug is good for you.  From the moment that a baby is born we begin to create a bond with them in the form of a hug which can help strengthen their immune system and brain development while building the foundation for an intimate, loving and safe environment.

Hugging may begin at birth but you never outgrow it.  Hugs become a part of our everyday lives right up until the day that we die.  We give hugs to one another to show our happiness or excitement towards one another and many of us appreciate a welcomed hug when we are in need of comfort or feeling sad.  It is probably the most universally used non-verbal gesture around spanning across every culture, every environment and every language; and the best part of all is that they are free.

Whether someone is feeling happy or sad a hug has so many health benefits (but in this day in age it’s often best to ask someone for permission to hug them if you are not in close relation to them!).  A hug can help to relieve someone’s pain & suffering, help to dissipate their fear or anxiety, help to reduce their feelings of loneliness or isolation, help to reduce someone’s high blood pressure and help to bring an overall sense of security and happiness to a person’s well-being.

Yesterday was a very difficult day for me, a day that I haven’t felt in quite a long time, a day too hard to open up about at the moment and a day where I really needed a hug.  But I am not always one to welcome a hug because I find sometimes it makes me feel very claustrophobic when someone is touching me and at the same time I can get extremely emotional.  I find my mind begin to race when I receive a hug from someone, especially if that someone is a close friend or family member. Yet like yesterday when I needed a hug the most, and by allowing for that much needed hug to occur I immediately realized how important a hug truly is and how much a hug can truly benefit a person’s self-worth, a person feeling so hopeless and defeated can feel a sense of calm, and the longer the hug, the better.

According to Jack Canfield who is a renowned motivational speaker and probably best known as author of the “Chicken Soup For The Soul” books says (through research) that “People need 4 hugs a day for survival, 8 hugs for maintenance and 12 hugs for growth.”   This seems like a worthy enough experiment for everyone to try (especially in the sad state of the world right now), one that shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish and really there is absolutely no harm in it, only healthy and hearty benefits. So happy hugging everyone!

IN A DARK PLACE; UNLEASHING PANDORA’S BOX

*Very Sensitive Content*

I have been suffering with depression for well over 4 years now and it’s a daily battle of self-hate.  Some days are easier than others and even some weeks too but when I am in the throes of a major episode I sometimes don’t even know how to explain it to others, I sometimes can’t explain it to others and many times I fear having to explain it to others; it’s exhausting.

As I have mentioned recently, I’ve been in the throes of a major episode for close to a month now but how can I truly explain what I am feeling or thinking when there are no words to describe it.  Well to be honest there are actually many words to describe what I am feeling and thinking but when I say them out loud it’s as though I have just opened up Pandora’s Box and all of the evil interpretations that come along with it.

Opening Pandora’s Box means that I am unleashing my demons into the world that surrounds me and allowing the relationships I cherish the most to have to endure my pain and desperation too, which is the last thing I ever want to do.  Along with them having to endure my pain and desperation I am also burdening them with my despair and hopelessness which for me may only further aggravate the situation.

As I said before, it’s exhausting having to explain my feelings and thoughts to others even when I know they are listening to me from a place of love but when my days or weeks become too dark my explanations become too dark and scary as well.  Should I tell you that I’m just tired or that I’m tired because my sleep is disrupted by inconceivable emotions and fears? Should I tell you that I feel like crap and that I have terrible pains throughout my body from my restless and disruptive illness?  Should I tell you that my illness has worn me down to nothing and that I am done fighting, that I don’t have the strength to go on anymore because that is the only way for me to truly explain my darkest days.

When I’m in this very dark place I feel as though my depression has won the battle, that is if there really are any winners in this situation.  While in the throes of such a major episode of depression is a very scary, lonely and isolating place to be as you are terrified of living inside of Pandora’s Box.

In the story of Pandora’s Box in Greek Mythology, Pandora receives a box on her wedding day but is warned never to open it.  Much to everyone’s dismay, Pandora’s curiosity gets the best of her and she opens the box which in turn unleashes countless troubles upon her world.   I sometimes feel like I keep opening Pandora’s Box and unleashing those same troubles too but only this time they are being unleashed on my very own surrounding world.  I know this feeling isn’t coming from a place of curiosity but instead from a place of vulnerability and pain.

If I just leave the box closed I will no longer hurt the people I love and who love me but at the same time I also see Pandora as a courageous and brave young woman because she fought against adversity by opening up that box.  She may have first created further pain, hatred, judgement and potentially death but at the same time that she was releasing her demons she found the strength to firmly slam the box shut just in time to keep “hope” inside. To me that is truly the moral of this story because after all it’s no coincidence that the one good thing stayed securely inside the box in order to help support all of her future struggles.

IT’S MOVEMBER: “CHANGING THE FACE OF MEN’S HEALTH”

It’s November which means it’s time to take down your Halloween decorations while munching away on your kid’s Halloween candy and feeling the guilt afterwards when you finally realize just how many mini chocolate bars you can actually eat in one sitting.  It’s also the time of year when the sights and sounds of the upcoming holiday season begin to make way and lastly, it’s that time of year for men all around the world to start growing a moustache in honour of men everywhere.

Movember began almost 15 years ago to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer and Depression/Suicide with only one goal in mind which was and still is to “change the face of men’s health”.  As we watch our man’s moustache grow throughout the month of November we are simultaneously making way for conversations to occur which may have otherwise been left unsaid.

By inspiring men to get involved is helping increase the amount of lives being saved every year by reminding them of the importance of early cancer detection, making time for their annual check-ups, getting more active and essentially decreasing the amount of preventable deaths.

From a young age boys are taught how to “be a man”, how to act like a man and I truly believe that society is often the biggest influence on what a “real man” should look like, but I also believe that many traits may be inborn.  To act like a “real man” or to become a “real man” many young boys believe that they should never cry, they should never show fear and that they should never feel pain (all of which are sadly learned behaviours). But the truth is those are not actually the real men because a “real man” does cry, a “real man” will breakdown and a “real man” will suffer with mental illness and die by suicide.

This is why Movember is more important than ever because it is giving the “real men” the okay to feel secure enough not to mask or repress their vulnerable emotions underneath their moustache but to instead give them the power and strength to share their struggles and to ask for help when they need it.

Movember is helping to pave the way by slowly decreasing the stigma surrounding mental illness especially amongst men who statistically have the highest suicide rate in both age and gender alike.  The increase in awareness from campaigns like Movember are allowing men to want to take action to be both mentally and physically healthy by “changing the face of men’s health” one moustache at a time.