Hi My Friends.
I`ve set up this blog to allow you to submit your stories of overcoming adversity. The site is a new site so it may take a while to build up but please don`t be shy… You can stay anonomous if you like.
All the best ladies and gents.
Robert Snow
And please visit www.alacusht-inspirations.co.uk
January 27, 2008 at 8:54 pm
This is my own story. Born on my mothers birthday I was raised for 3 years by my mum and dad with my older brother. They split up whilst i was very young and i dont remember much of it. My mother who is a wonderful woman remarried to my stepdad Peter. My mother had an awful childhood with her parents dying young and being raised by an abusive foster mum made family an important issue as she never had one. My step dad from a family that was never really incouraged to show emotions. However my step dad who I call dad now is an amzing man. He has never allowed us to believe we couldnt achieve anything. `Cant` was a word not used much.
However I made an issue in my head out of my relationship between myself and my real dad. We had relationship issues we needed to discuss with me feeling alarge preference towards my brother from him.
My sisters came along. One wheni was 4 and a second when i was 7 both from my stepdad Peter. I went through school allowing issues in my head with my father still to plague me which i gave myself loss of confidence leading to years of bullying. However in the early 80`s I discovered a talent for dancing and breakdancing became big and my popularity soared at school. I felt good. But this feeling was based on people liking me.
When the dancing went out of fashion and we stopped, the bullying came back. My confidence dropped. This is the problem with external happiness. Its temporary. It has to come from inside. After leaving school i `fell` into engineering after my careers teacher at `fitzwimarc school Rayleigh Essex` told the whole class that they would never achieve thier chosen career because its too `competitive`. It makes me mad now that these un successful teachers are allowed to dreamsteal. I reinforce this in my daughter now. I wanted to be a photographer but i gave that dream up till now.
Whilst in engineering I started up a Jackson tribute show and travelled the UK and to Germany doing shows at venues like The Hippodrome etc in London until my daughter was born. As confident as I was ,it was still fake as it was at school. I was ok when on stage with the makeup on but as soon as I was off, sadness. I got the offer of MLM and I progressed well. Mainly from the amazing personal development program in place. With out the self help books and seminars I May never have got to here now. I thank my mentors so much. Unfortunately I split with my daughters mother. The love just didnt seem there. I think if only one of you grows, you can grow apart. But you can`t make people want to grow. I wanted more from life.
I still see my daughter every week and we have a great relationship and I encourage her to grow and use self talk and she is getting there. I still use selfdevelopment and as you know I now coach what I have learnt and I am running workshops and seminars. I love the successes so far and I am so excited about the success I can see coming. If I hadnt grown things would be so different.
Im also working on child mentoring for children who have gone a stray and need that help to get back on track with the help of someone who believes in them.
Never give up on anyone! More importantly Never give up on yourself!!
Robert Snow
February 1, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Bipolar humor author goes from Rock Bottom to Rock ON!
Sex in the City meets Girl Interrupted meets Bridget Jones…the American version of course.
Author of “Lipstick and Thongs in the Loony Bin” shares her story:
About four years ago, I tried to meet the Grim reaper. Luckily for me that day his dance card was full. During the recovery period from my suicide attempt, (while I was in the “Bin”–which here in the States is a mental institution and not a trash barrel—though at the end of the day they’re actually quite similar, really) I looked about for personal stories of those who had been in a downward spiral who had come back not only to survive but to thrive.
Ironically, I couldn’t find many tales of people who had tried to kill themselves. At least not ones who were advertising the fact. In fact—I couldn’t find anything HOPEFUL, really. There were lots of clinical offerings or dy, dusty tomes about psychology or psychiatry (snooze) and there were lots of very depressing stories written by brillant, tortured souls but no stories that felt like a hand reaching across the page offering hope, healing and humor.
So—as part of my catharsis—I wrote one.
It’s called: “Lipstick and Thongs in in the Loony Bin” and so far the initial response has been incredible. I self-published it back in October of 2007 and the emails have been pouring in as people share their hearts with me. I well up and get goosebumps just thinking about it.
I was even lucky enough to be interviewed on one of the NY morning talk shows:
http://www.youtube.com/courtneyawalsh
Now I can honestly report that I am truly encouraged and blessed to continue on this journey on this big, blue and green spinning marble. Certainly didn’t always feel that way (understatement). But now—as my speaking engagements start to take off, the book’s message spreads across the globe, and I have a dream/goal/vision of getting a big, PINK Loonybus to travel to high schools, colleges and treatment centers to spread the triple ‘H’ message of hope, healing and humor…well—it gives me the sense of purpose and passion that keeps me going.
Suicide has been a sticky, taboo, stigmatized subject for far too long and I feel that now that Pandora’s box has been opened we need to keep shedding light on these crucial issues. Mental health is the final frontier that we are exploring as a collective and the brain remains the most complex and amazing computer on the planet.
So please help me spread the word, spread the love and spread the lipstick—let’s all take a tube and write our message in the sky for others to be uplifted, inpired and entertained enough to want to stay to see how it all turns out. It’s the lipstick legacy…life ain’t always pretty but it is always worth living.
Some of my other rantings about life, the universe and lipstick:
http://www.lipstickandthongbook.com
http://www.scribechickie.blogspot.com
http://www.courtneyawalsh.com
Rock ON!
Courtney A. Walsh