Life Uncensored Volume 4
Whole Person Health
by Nicole Merritt
With obesity becoming a serious problem, discussing healthy living is more common in society. Being healthy is something that is being talked about more in the media, with many magazines and info-mercials devoted solely to weight loss and healthy eating. Most people believe that to be a healthy person you just must be in shape and eat right. Those people are wrong. Physical health only has a small role to play in being a healthy person.
There is mental/emotional health, physical health, spiritual health and relational health. Physical health is one part of being completely healthy. Many things affect your physical health, such as exercise, nutrition, sleep, medical problems, genetics and hygiene.
Let's start with exercise. Teens on average should participate in 20-30 minutes daily in physical activity or 45 minutes, 3 times a week. Your physical activity should be something that will get your heart pumping.
You also need to maintain a healthy diet, which means choosing fruits and vegetables over chocolate and chips. Sleep is also very important. By sleeping you give yourself a time to rest and you give your body a chance to relax. Medical health is also an important part of your physical health. Certain illnesses may make it harder for some people to lead a healthy lifestyle. Genetics also fits in with medical.
Finally there is hygiene. Simple things like showering regularly, brushing your teeth at least twice a day and washing your hands after you go to the bathroom can help improve your health.
Mental/Emotional health is also very important. Many things affect your mental/emotional health and the way you feel not only about yourself, but also about others around you. Mental illnesses, such as depression, make you think differently about yourself and the people around you. You cannot help if you get a mental illness, nor does it make you a bad person. Anyone can get a mental illness.
Hormones are a big part of your emotional health. Hormones are the things that makes you want to laugh one minute and cry the next. Hormones are chemicals in your body that change the way you feel.
Hormones go especially crazy when you're a teenager, you have ups and downs and mood swings. There's not anything I know of that gets rid of hormones; you just have to deal with them and try to keep them under control. Everyone does this differently.
Being healthy is also a very important part of having a good life. Regular check-ups with a doctor, exercising regularly and eating right are a few of the things you can do to stay healthy.
Also if you think you may have a mental illness you should talk to someone you trust. There are lots of people out there who want to help.
Art (health)
by Andrew Pettispas
Random Thoughts of Time
by Mitchell Reid
Time is the only thing that chills me to the bone.
I fear nothing but time. Time is the only inevitability
day to day. But a day is time as well, so time controls that too.
I can avoid, Beat, overcome everything to prolong my life except time,
I cant listen to my own heartbeat because it sounds like a clock...
I’m 16...and I have done nothing but wasted those years of my life.
I don't know how long I will live, and to do nothing in that time I will
be another forgotten tombstone among the graves...
My family (If I have one)
will go on and I would have been nothing but a waste.
It feels like I have a mid-life crisis every day of my life!
But every day im getting older and closer to my grave without
anything to show for it, but more painful thoughts, memories and feelings.
If that is all life is, Pain then why do we live?...
This House of Mine
by Twyla Wilband
The feeling of no one in my world to trust one year ago is just a memory...not forgotten. One year ago I would not let anyone into my world. Secrets were just for myself to know; my life was a "house" that no one could enter. Yeah it was lonely; very much of the time it was sad. I would not even let anyone have a mouse hole into my world, let alone a door. I kept to myself, not wanting to socialize with anyone except for myself. This is how I wanted it. This is how it was, like it was meant to be, forever. This is all I had known.
Now it has been a year. I no longer have a "house" that no one else can get in. In fact I often leave the door open so people can freely travel through. The front door is open...I have not opened the back door yet; that will take more time. But I have come a long way from one year ago. It is a great accomplishment for me! The house was all shut up for 19 years, and to open a door is a great achievement. The house is no longer dark and depressing anymore. It has, in fact, had a fresh coat of paint on the outside. It may not be painted on the inside yet, as there are a lot of things to deal with first, but in time the inside will be just as good as the outside.
God works wonders in a year. From having a house that was not open for ANYONE, to having people allowed to enter and stay a while. .Not many are allowed to get too comfy, but in time more and more will be allowed. The few that are allowed to stay awhile are the ones that I have learnt to trust. But if you know me, it takes time for me to get there before I let them into my world. Then they stay there.
Wishes
by Nicole Merritt
I'm sitting all alone,
wishing you were here.
I'm surrounded by people,
but I wish I was not.
I feel sad and alone,
wishing this day would come to an end,
waiting to see you again.
I don't know what to do
Nor what to say.
My mind goes blank
except for a loneliness,
which washes over me.
Photo (change)
by Cameron Ross
I Hate Change
by Twyla Wilband
I don't really like change. I like change as much as I like speaking in public.... I despise it! Major changes have been occurring in my life since I was 12 years old. Since then, when ever there is a change, I run and hide. Part of being me is that I have to cope with constant change, but with my disorder it makes it harder to do so.
When I was 13 I was diagnosed with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). One of the symptoms of BPD is not being able to cope with change, and it is rather hard to cope when something new arises. Being diagnosed with BPD is a stressful change in itself.
Since being "labeled" life has been extremely difficult. When I was 14 I was placed into foster care, which was an extreme change. Either every week or every two weeks I was moved to a different location to stay. Not being able to cope so well, I would go AWOL, as I wasn't sure how to cope with everything that was happening around me. Foster parents thought I was being a problem child, but really I was just coping the only way I knew how to.
After leaving foster care I moved several times again. From being kicked out to having to leave for my own safety, I have run into change. It seems when a person gets older, they are faced with more and more change. I know this for a fact. I find change to be so stressful that sometimes I don't want to face the day as I know that I will run into change. Some change is for the better but the change I feel I run into most is the negative kind, ALWAYS! Change follows me like a storm cloud; I am trying to constantly avoid it.
Photo (graffiti)
by Colton Smith
Is Graffiti Positive
by Twyla Wilband
There are spots all over town that have tags; some in alleys, some on moveable objects. There are some on box cars, even some inside of buildings.
I have seen all this on the travels I make around town. They sometimes trigger feelings, depending where they are. If they are on a train I don't mind it as it sometimes livens them up. Badly taken care of buildings could use some colour once and a while, making them look more alive. But maybe the owner should consider keeping it up so they will not be a main target.
But it bothers me to see it in hallways of apartment buildings. Tags are being placed in residential areas that people have to live in. Once the owner covers it up, it magically appears like it was always there.
But I believe it can be prevented, one way or another. People just need to
brainstorm on positive ways to communicate the problem.
But not with signs (i.e.. NO TRESPASSING) as if I was a person that vandalizes.
Being a young person myself, I know that there is nothing to do in Truro. Maybe
creating something interesting may be an option. We need to create a place people
will feel welcome. A place where they can let down their walls bit by bit, because
they probably lead troubled lives and have nothing to do.
Some may vandalize because they feel they cannot go home. Maybe they are in a bad environment at home and this is the only way they know how to respond. You never know; that is why we need to think of other ways to get them to express themselves, in a positive way.
Check out Highlights from previous issues of Life Uncensored and see what it's all about.
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4