Sometimes we can all feel a little, or a lot, down in the dumps. For good reason, financial, family illness, loss, employment, not enough time, too much time, or for many other reasons we can’t quite put our finger on. That’s life. At least mine. Everybody has their own demons in many guises, and to a different extent. I had felt somewhat overwhelmed which led me to undue stress and just a little “yucky”. I had felt that there was not enough outlets to vent my frustration. Of course there are lots of great self help books out there, great catchphrases and solid messages but something was missing. Even when I came across solid articles but not everybody gets it. I kind of equated it to a game of “Snakes ‘n Ladders “. There is always three snakes on the top line, right when I needed a ladder. Ok back a few squares and roll again. There has to be a better way.
On direction from my GP , and a little searching I came across “ HEADS UP “, [formally known by MOJO, currently they are going through a rebranding, and constantly tweaking improvements ].“Twelve weeks, two days a week”, just thought it would be quite a challenge for me at that point, but, what the hell. What’s to loose. Immediately on meeting Catherine and her team it was apparent that this was not their first Rodeo. For me, after just a few modules the bonding was obvious. A mixture of Mindfulness, open reflection, a few laughs and gentle exercise was plenty for me to put things in order. No pressure. Probably by design, I never saw, or needed name tags. I can not say enough about all the many positive things about of the course, only testify that it worked for me.
IS THAT IT??….. No, on completion [Dec. 7 2017] all ten who completed the course were presented with a help/reference package, toolbox [ and pizza ], courses, to take the next steps. Sorry to say goodbye. Subsequently, in Sept. of 2018 Catherine and her very, very hard working and dedicated team put together a “Peer to Peer support programme “of seven weeks,[ as the name suggests ] to help the next round of participants. I loved it. Seven of us from the South Dublin Chapter, joined eight men from Kildare and bonded instantly. For me it was a great reinforce of all the positive energy that we had and have. It can only get better. I went with the whole group, up to a retreat centre in Co. Wicklow for a day out, and chat, walk, lunch. How nice.
This is what the programme did for ME. Constantly I was reminded that it was mine, my programme. Part of the “Heads Up “ mantra. Now the snakes for me are a little shorter, and I lost a few, while the ladders are longer and more frequent. Ladders trump snakes. Twelve months ago I could not write this letter, now, thanks to all my life is in a much better place.
Contact Catherine in South Dublin County Partnership to find your local Heads Up on 014649300, and watch out for their new website coming soon.
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