Turn The Other Cheek

Jesus tells us to love other people. He tells us that if someone strikes us on our left cheek, then we should turn and offer them the right cheek too. He is the perfect being. He was able to do this easily, because he knew the path laid out for him.

As Christians, then, how is it that we find it so hard to follow Jesus’ example. We get hurt by someone, and our immediate, gut response is to try and hurt them back. We have to consciously stop and think, before we can make a decision to let a wrong done to us slide.

God made us in his image, and yet we are so different from that image, because we are all so flawed. We all believe ourselves, and our own feelings and needs to be the most important things in the world, often causing us to forget the real, and more important issues.

When a friend only contacts you because they want something, it is easy to get angry and hurt, and to not want to help them. It has happened to me so many times, but God teaches us that we should help them. They are only human too. The fact is, they probably don’t even realise that they’ve hurt you. The best thing to do in that situation, we are told is to calmly tell the person that they have hurt us and explain why, and to help them all the same. The answer, God says, is not to bitch and slander them behind their backs.

Sometimes, in this world, we find it difficult to confront people openly, because we don’t want to upset them, but God wants us all to be better people, and it is only by helping each other that we can truly achieve this, so the next time someone hurts and upsets you, don’t let it fester. Don’t bitch about them behind their backs, but talk to them. Chances are, they didn’t even realise they’d upset you.

Sleep

It’s easy to take it for granted isn’t it? How many hours did you get last night? How many hours do you need each night? Sometimes we think we can get by on so little sleep that we struggle to function in a day. Sometimes, it’s ok if you choose to stay up all night, but what happens when you physically can’t sleep? When you lay in bed at night, awake, tossing and turning, your mind whirring so fast you can’t possibly shut it off. Whay do you do then? The usual stuff doesn’t work. Hot drink, read a book, count sheep…. hmm, well, I don’t need the extra calories, if I read a book I’ll be up all night reading it, and counting sheep, puhlease! Every sheep runs in a different direction, I mean, come on, who in their right minds thought up the notion of counting sheep? As if they would line up neatly and stay still to be counted! So where does that leave the dreamlandically challenged?? Only way I see is medication. Why is it that when things get tough and you feel more tired than ever, that your body seems to decide to withhold the one thing that you need the most? I certainly don’t get it.

Fad Diets

Have you ever stopped to try and count how many fad diets there are out there? There are far too many to count. The blood group diet, the atkins diet, the gi diet, slim fast, weight watchers, rosemary connely diet. There are even companies that will pre prepare food and deliver it to you, for a hefty price. But how many of these diets really work, and work with lasting effects? The truth, very few. If things worked, then there would be far few of these diets around. The truth is, the key to losing weight is a numbers game. Calories in, calories out, and people on these fad diets are just too lazy to crunch the numbers, do a bit of exercise and lose the weight they want to lose. I’ve done it with counting calories and exercise. It takes at most an hour a day. I get to have my treats as long as the numbers add up, and I’m losing weight. No ridiculous detox, no extortionate prices, just simple counting. When are we going to stop these companies from taking our money and our control away. You and only you have control over the weight that you lose and gain! It’s about time that we all take responsibility for our own bodies and choices and stopped relying on random companies who, lets face it, are generally only interested in earning money.

Take Responsibility

It’s a word we hear often. Responsibility. Not one we use that often though. People are quite happy to shirk responsibility if it gets them an easy ride. There aren’t many who will actually stand up and be counted. Imagine if we had national service nowadays. How many people would actually volunteer. It  seems that in this day and age, people have decided that it is better to take the easy option. and in doing so are making the world a worse place. It is time that we all stood up and took responsibility for things in this life, before this world becomes one full of lazy cowards who are unable to even remember what the word responsibility means!

In the style of…

I was set a writing task last week, to write a piece in the style of a famous writer. It was not something I’d ever thought of doing, and have no where near finished it, but found it surprising, how difficult it was, firstly, to decide on a style, and secondly, to actually focus on writing in that style.

I circled through several different options, ranging from Sylvia Plath, to Sue Mayfield, to John Marsden, to Emily Bronte, before finally deciding on Jane Austen. I chose her style, because it is a completely different style to my normal style of writing. It is a classical style, which shows major preoccupation with decorum, etiquette, and behaving in a proper way. Austen uses these conventions, and then presents challenges to them, generally through the voice of her main character. Austen is very socially conscious, and her characters, although central, are almost secondary to the plot. She is not a hysterical writer, and does not focus on the innermost workings of her character’s minds. The idea of experimenting with this style appealed to me for just this reason. I always focus on the internal worlds of my characters, and tend to neglect the external. It will be interesting for me to develop this story, and see if I can change my style or not. Watch this space…

Bank Cock Up

Sometimes I wonder with banks, whether one hand knows what the other is doing. Earlier this week, my mother bought something on ebay. When she tried to pay for it, through paypal, she found that she couldn’t. She tried with my dad’s account, then mine and my best friend’s. All were refused. Turned out that they had taken it upon themselves to decide that it was fraudulent, and block all four cards! It wasn’t until over twenty four hours later, when my card was refused as I was paying for petrol, that I found out they’d blocked it.

Now, I understand safeguards, but to block someone’s card for making an ebay purchase, and then not tell them about it, I think is ridiculous and irresponsible. It was only after forty minutes on the phone that I was able to resolve this. It made me ask whether this would happen every time I made an online purchase for a larger sum of money. It made me question my banking choice. How dare someone decide that a purchase of mine was fraudulent, without even informing me.

While I appreciate vigilance, this purchase was not for a huge sum of money, and was to be shipped to the same address as the account. Surely it wasn’t likely to be that much of a fraud risk when considering this.

A First Review

I thought I’d try and change up this blog a little and scatter some reviews of books, tv, movies, music etc throughout the entries. Starting Now!

 

Last week, I had the displeasure of watching a two part BBC drama called ‘Dive’, directed by Dominic Savage. Described as a contemporary love story about two teens growing up in modern day Britain, this show starts out with a girl, Lindsay going to train at the pool, with a view to joining the 2012 olympic team. On returning home, she discovers that her parent’s marriage is over, and not only has her dad moved out, but her mother has moved her new boyfriend in on the same day! Thus starts a sequence of events whereby Lindsay goes off the rails, ends up partying and having sex with one of the popular boys, Robert. Conveniently, another girl in the popular crowd does not like this and slashes Lindsay with a blade, thus leading Lindsay to the emergency room where she is suddenly changed from a closed down, sullen teen who barely says two words, to a more talkative person who tells the nurse that she has been bleeding and that she thinks she might be pregnant. Cut to the olympic team selection meet, where Lindsay finds out that she has made the team. Robert, in the meantime has said that he doesn’t do relationships, but makes a sudden turnaround when he finds out that she is pregnant. A tentative friendship and sexual relationship develops, with Robert then attending the first scan with Lindsay. The second part of the drama follows Robert as he tries to decide whether to be there for Lindsay or not. This scenario is complicated by Robert’s brother who appears to be clinically depresses, having returned from Iraq.

The storyline is patchy, with very little continuity, with the writer having tried to pack far too much into the two hours allocated the show. The ‘brother returning from Iraq’ storyline is a show all of it’s own, and serves little than to take time away from the main storyline.

The characters are poorly developed, with Lindsay’s character saying very few words. In fact, it is to Aisling Loftus’ credit that she was able to say so much while not actually speaking at all. Both characters seem to have moments of being one thing and then seem to immediately switch to something entirely different, which leads me to believe that the writer was writing a plot, and the characters were just a coincidence of trying to achieve the plot objective.

The only saving grace this drama has is the acting skill of the two main characters, which endear them to the audience. Without this I fear many people would have just tuned out.

British Tv

British Tv at the moment is a dead loss. We have become like all  other consumer markets in this country. There are no longer any more really good, regular British dramas. We instead buy American shows to put on Tv.. Now, I’m not opposed to American shows, they’re great, but Britain has always had a strong showing of dramas on TV, and since the credit crunch, our TV has become a mass of documentaries and reality shows, and while I like these (mostly), I don’t think that British TV should be limited to this just because they think it’s cheap tv. We should push for more dramas on our screens. There are so many brilliant actors and writers out there just waiting for a chance. Perhaps we should start taking some risks, and put something other than the usual things on TV.

People

Some people really frustrate me. Why would you deliberately try and worry someone who is supposed to be your friend. Why would you ignore someone one day because you have something better to do and then be all over them the next day. The truth is, people use each other. People are horrible sometimes. Some people are so obsessed with looking good and sucking up to other people in authority that they just don’t care who they hurt. They think only of themselves and if they see someone else doing well, they get bitchy. It’s childish. If people just grew up and acted like human beings and were kind and compassionate to others, the world would be a far better place!

Why does success seem to be a dirty word??

I was watching “The Simon Cowell Factor” last night, and apart from the extremely annoying voiceover (honestly, I wanted to rip her out of the tv and strangle her with her own hair!!), it got me to thinking.

The programme was very overly critical of Simon Cowell, portraying him as a fairly unpopular, uncaring, ruthless businessman who is only interested in money. The thing the people in the programme seemed to not understand was that Simon Cowell could stop work yesterday and still have enough money to live the rest of his life out in relative luxury. He doesn’t have to work. He doesn’t need the money. He chooses to work because he loves his job. Yes, he’s egocentric, vain and self centred and he is probably the first person to admit that, but the thing that hit me was how the British media critics slated him in the show.

We British, as a whole, seem to feel very bitter towards any person who is successful. Whether it’s down to jealousy or not, I don’t know, seeing as equally successful people  are also equally bitchy.

It made me wonder whether they would rather he was broke, unemployed and living off the state? It seems stupid to me that we are perfectly happy to use celebrity when we have the opportunity, For example- news critics get plenty of material from Simon’s reality tv shows, and yet then decide to slate both him and his shows. This makes me feel like we are a culture who is two faced and bitter and bitchy. Maybe we should grow up and accept that Simon Cowell, along with many other successful people, are better off than us. They worked hard for it, and deserve our respect.

It is about time that we, as a nation, stopped looking down on people who are successful, just because they have done what we have not and we are bitter about it.

The Weather

I was reading some rules about writing the other day, and one of them was that you should never begin a story with the weather. It got me thinking how stupid that rule is. I mean, let’s face it. The weather is central to our lives. It defines what we wear, what we do, where we go.

The weather is everything. Last week, there was bright sunshine, that led people to sunbathe outside in skimpy clothes, and to use electric fans in the house to cool down. The weather broke on Sunday, and when I looked around, it was amazing to see the difference between the scenery on a dark, dank, cloudy day, as opposed to on a bright, hot sunny day.

As a writer, you need to use any tools and methods at your disposal to create atmosphere and to set the scene. Obviously, I’m not saying ‘become a cliche’, but realistically, to say not to begin a story with the weather, when, (if you can find a different and inventive way to do so), it is such an invaluable tool, seems to me, to be pure idiocy.

Yes, you want to be individual, and original, but not to the detriment of your writing. At the end of the day, when you create characters, you make a commitment to them to do them justice. They have trusted you to tell your story, so, if using the weather at the beginning is something fitting for your story, hang convention! Do what is best for your story and your characters, and ignore your critics!!

The Elephant In The Room

Have you ever noticed how, the less you talk about something, the bigger it gets. And the bigger it gets, the less you want to talk about it, and then the process starts again until this thing is so huge that it is like an elephant. And then it’s like, “there’s this elephant, no one else seems to see it. Maybe I imagined it” and so you ignore it. And this elephant is mad and keeps trying to get your attention, but you refuse to let it, And then, you get to the point where you explode just because you refuse to notice it. Basically, the elephant you’ve been trying to ignore, squashes you. Tramples you. Crushes you.

I’ll leave you with that thought.

Bad Reputation

Have you ever noticed how young people have such a bad reputation, even though they don't really deserve it. Sure, there are some youths who are clearly trouble, but there is also a large percentage who aren't. In fact, in some circumstances, I have found young people to be far more understanding that older people. For example, a young person in a wheelchair is quite often shunned, or looked upon as a malingerer by an older person, without their having any proof. The older person will not bother to help this person though they have no proof that the person is malingering. They demand respect, regardless of whether they have earned it. As I have said, there are youths who do exactly the same thing as this, so it is not an exclusive thing. What I am saying is that everything is relative, and that people should be judged on far more than just age. To me, age is nothing but a number. The number of years we have been alive. We do not gain wisdom by age, we simply gain more opportunity to gain wisdom, something that many young people seem to see, but not many older people do.

Perhaps it is time to start valuing people for what they bring to the table than for the number of years they have been alive.

“Oh, I can’t possibly like that! It’s way too mainstream”

I am so sick of people going on about how they hate stuff that;’s popular, simply because it is popular. The fact is, if bands like Girls Aloud and The Saturdays were not so popular, a lot of the people that currently say they hate them, would say they are great. This just makes all of these people seem pathetic. I’m sick of people saying they hate things and then secretly liking them. If you like something, then you like it. Who cares what other people think? In saying that you hate it and then listening to it when no one else is watching, you become pathetic losers who are more concerned with public image than in being a genuine person. And then, you have the cheek to go on about the popular bands being FAKE!! Have you taken a look in the mirror?! Fact is, things that are popular, are in the charts because PEOPLE LIKE THEM and are buying them!! And anyone that tries to say that people are manipulated into liking them are being disrespectful to the general public in thinking that they are so much better because they’ve ‘seen through it’. I like chart music. I like non-chart music. If I like a song, I like it. It doesn’t matter to me who sang it, wrote it, or whether it’s popular. And anyone that makes a decision based on whether something is mainstream is just as lame and shallow as the bands they believe actually are lame and shallow!

To Vote or Not to Vote?

As election day looms and we are bombarded with propaganda and lobbying from all of the different political parties, who are, let’s face it, all as corrupt as each other. Any government that gets into office will basically decide to do what is best for them. All of the parties criticising Labour for their expenses scandal seem to forget that if they were in their shoes, they would probably do exactly the same thing. The simple fact is that the government DOES NOT CARE about the general public. They only want to get into office to serve their own agenda.

Plenty of people I have spoken to have said that they will not bother to vote. The problem with this is that we risk some left wing parties like the BNP getting in by default then. The fact of the matter is that we do HAVE to vote. Though I believe that all of the political parties are corrupt and only out for what they can get, I also believe that we have a duty to vote for the lesser evil of them all. The fact is, the vote that all of those women in the suffragettes lost their lives for has become nothing more than a farce. We cannot hope to vote for someone who will fight our corner, all we can do is vote for someone whose wants and needs are going to harm us, as a public, the least.

To all the people saying that they will not vote this week, I say “It’s your choice, but do you really want someone like the BNP getting into power, because that is what will happen if we as a people stand by and do nothing”. We have a duty to this country, to do our best to make sure that we do not fall under any left wing power, whose aim is not for the better of our country, but to push their own personal agenda.

So, people, I know it feels like a farce and a waste of time, but VOTE! Vote for the party you consider to be the lesser of all the evils presented to us in the political parties standing.

Just a short one

It's been a while since I last blogged. Things here have been pretty up in the air. My Nan passed away after three weeks in hospital. We had to fight to get her home. Thing is, I think all of us pretty much think that if she'd had adequate care in hospital, then she may still have been here. Hospitals say that they are overstretched and haven't enough money. They always blame it on this, but let's face it. There are plenty of extremely busy organisations with far less money and staff who do a far better job of caring for people, and do you know why this is?? It is because PEOPLE DON'T CARE! Nurses sit around all day not doing very much. They take sometimes up to 30 minutes to come to a patient's aid. They clearly aren't interested and don't care about the patients. During my Nan's stay at the hospital, I saw elderly ladies laying on beds that were soaking wet. I saw ladies who'd had severe strokes covered in food because no one could be bothered to feed them. One lady was due to be sent home the following day, but had a fall and was made to stay in, and the worst thing was that no one knew how it had happened. Her daughter only found out when she took her mother's nightie home to wash and saw that it was covered in blood! I think the worst thing, though was a lady who came in with a broken shoulder, and in two days, she couldn't even recognise her own daughter. How can a hospital that professes to care about people, treat some of the most vulnerable people in this way and then say that it is due to understaffing. I can tell you now, although there are understaffing issues in hospitals, this is not the primary or sole cause of the poor treatment that we receive from our NHS. It is about time that people took a step back in time to when being a nurse involved far more personal care for patients and far less form filling and pen pushing!

Our Corrupt Government

For months now, we have had to listen to the government banging on about the recession. They say prices are rocketing and that we have less money. Now, I'm no mathematician, but surely the solution is simple, STOP PUTTING THE DAMN PRICES UP!!! The base price of things in the UK may have risen slightly, but the main things piling on the pounds are the duties and taxes that the government want to add to the price of things. They keep putting the prices up higher and higher, when the product itself has only gone up by a very small margin. The fact is, that our government, charged with our safety, security and wellbeing, seems to be far more interested in lining their own pockets, buying holiday homes and duck houses with OUR money, than in looking after our economic security.

Only this week, they announced that they expect the price of petrol to rocket up to over £1.20 per litre in April. This is not because of the petrol's actual price, but because of the duty that the government seem intent to put onto it. They seem to be blinded by greed, and cannot see that although they may be able to claim fuel expenses from the state, there are people out there who cannot afford these ludicrous price leaps that they have planned.

How many times have we heard recently, "Now we're in a recession" uttered by one or other of the government. If this is the case, why do they not stop thinking of their own pockets and start doing their jobs and protecting our wellbeing. They seem to have been corrupted by their own greed and cannot see that if they just stopped adding tax and duty to things, then we would be able to claw our way out of the recession and into a slightly more stable economic condition. Then, they could add this money on and we would be able to afford it, making it a win - win situation.

This seems to me, the most sensible option by far. After all, no matter how powerful the government believe they are, not even they can get blood out of a stone!

Community Service - A waste of time?

I was thinking the other day about community service. Criminals are arrested and made to do community service, but instead of getting them to do something worthwhile, they are made to paint railings endlessly. Why not put these people’s time into something worthwhile, which may, in the end make them into responsible members of society. It is said that most people, particularly young people, commit crimes because of low self-worth and boredom. If we, as a society were to give them a means to improve this, then surely they would not end up back in the same position, or worse, in prison.

We need to take responsibility for our repeating criminals, and help them to find a purpose in life. We need to show them the meaning of true satisfaction. After all, what satisfaction is there in painting railings, which are to be torn down the following week. This merely serves to demoralise them even further, and creates the mindset of “Why bother?”.

If we want to reduce crime, then we need to find community service jobs that give people some sense of achievement, otherwise they will feel as if they are only good for one thing. Ineffective community service is just as bad as putting someone in jail. It is a contradiction. Community service is supposed to make criminals take responsibility for their actions, and make them pay back to society for their crimes. Painting something that is to be torn down the following week is not a service to society.

Litter picking, reading to the old and infirm, renovating people’s houses who can’t afford to have it done and are desperate. That is a community service.

All the while that community service is ineffective, as it is now, we may as well give up on it and throw people in jail at the first crime, because until they feel some self worth, which could be taught by community service, they will end up back in court again and again.

Doctors

Have you ever noticed that TV doctors are nothing like their real life equivalent. They are kind, empathic, caring and tend to go out of their way to help their patients even when it means breaking the rules.

This is not true of real life doctors. Real life doctors are often arrogant, ignorant, care very little and have hardly any time. Of course, there are the rare few who do care, but it has been my recent experience that doctors are useless and a waste of space, who think they know so much more than you because they have a few letters after their name.

Some doctors can't deal with mental health, but are good with the physical. Some aren't great with the physical, but excel in the field of mental health, some can do both, and recently, I had the displeasure of meeting one who could do neither.

My grandmother is very sick right now. She was ill on Monday, and so we called the doctor. He came out, told us at the very start of the consultation that he was late for lunch with the district nurses (well, I'm sorry that my sick Grandmother is interfering with your schedule oh great Doctor). He then looked at her feet, as she has gout, and said "oh yes, I see". Then he listened to her heart and said that it was a nice, steady rhythm. Then he said that he was going to do nothing. He said she was old and that her body was old and worn (no shit sherlock). He said that if he had his way, doctors would not prescribe any medication, people would live until 6o and then die of a heart attack, rather that dying a slow death due to the body failing. (How sick is that?) He said that she was old about twelve times. (Is it just me, or is this not only wrong, but very disrespectful). He wasn't interested in the fact that she hadn't been well for three days and that she hadn't passed water for over 12 hours. He didn't care that she was confused and not really with it. He put it down to old age. So, hold on, folks. If you're over 60, you don't pass water for days at a time, get confused all the time and aren't really worth bothering about. (Are you looking forward to it?) This doctor couldn't get out of the door fast enough. He left my grandmother feeling worse than before. She is now in hospital with a severe infection, which has caused complete delirium. (Malpractice? Methinks so.)

Why is it that doctors become doctors when they don't care about people's welfare and wellbeing? This doctor clearly doesn't take his hypocratic oath seriously, and is merely a hypocrite!

Come on people! If you're that disillusioned by your chosen career, then change it. If you're in the caring profession, then you need to CARE first and foremost, above everything else!

A Mentally Ill Society

I seem to be noticing more and more people falling back on mental illnesses nowadays. More people saying “I’m too stressed” and more people saying “I’m a bit OCD”. And the sad thing is, people believe them and they get the sympathy and attention they want, but don’t deserve.

No one can be ‘a bit OCD’. You either are OCD or not. ‘a bit OCD’ means you are normal and like cleanliness. OCD is a neurosis. A disorder. You can’t turn it on and off. It is always there, always in your head and you can’t make it go away. You can’t stop the compulsions. You can’t stop the obsessions, so while people who say they are ‘a bit OCD’ can turn it off and get on with their lives, people with genuine OCD can’t. They have to live with it. Deal with it every day.

If anyone who says they are ‘a bit OCD’ actually knew what it felt like for someone with true OCD, they would never liken themselves to it. I mean, you don’t hear people saying “I’m a bit bipolar” or “I’m a bit schizophrenic”. They know full well that if they did they’d be committed. OCD has become the popular illness for people to use as an excuse in the last few years. They think it’s an easy way out and a bit of fun. Well, let them try having their brain going constantly. Their thoughts closing in on them. Panic and paranoia. Worry and fear.

I certainly don’t think it’s an easy excuse. People who think it is and who use it as one should take a long, hard look at themselves and ask why they feel the need to make out that they have a mental illness to get ahead!

Taking Chances

Life is short. It’s what you make it. Some people are dealt bad hands, while others skate through with no problems at all. It’s a game of luck with which hand you’re dealt, but once you have your hand, it’s about what you make of it. You have to step out there in blind faith. You have to trust that things will turn out right. Take chances and risks, because you only get one shot at it.

I worked this out in my art class. One of the class has had a hard time lately, granted. This person has chosen to be the martyr though. They spent the whole class whinging and whining about the work and how they felt so behind and that they couldn’t possibly do things on their own and take a risk. I found myself getting so angry.

When I first started art classes, at 22 years old, I knew nothing about art really. At school I was told that I was no good and shouldn’t bother. Turns out the teachers were wrong. But I wouldn’t have known this if I didn’t take risks in my art. If I didn’t make the extra effort and go that extra mile. Yes, things scare me, but when I need help, I ask for it. But for the most part, I take risks, I play with the pictures, and inject a little of me into it. With fairly good results.

So what I’m saying, people, is, take risks! Don’t just stand there and shake. Be bold. And as the song says, “What do you say about taking chances?”

Writer’s Blog

I wanted to write something inspiring, witty and imaginitive, but I find myself lacking the words. Frankly, I’m sick of people. Fed up of people using others. I have a ‘friend’ (wow, I never thought I’d have to use that phrasiology again!) who is always there to call on me when they need me. When they’re depressed and need help. When they need a shoulder to cry on. They’re never there when I need them though. It’s almost too much hassle. This friend, I haven’t seen properly for three weeks now, and when I saw her while driving on Sunday, she blanked me completely. Supposedly I’m ‘one of her best friends’, Yeah, Right! She only wants one thing. Attention when she wants it. Well, I’m done. I’ve had it being used!

People backstab, and bitch and attack others they supposedly consider friends, and then expect them to just accept it and be there.

Christians say to turn the other cheek. Well, I will do that. If she ever needs help, I will be there, but never again will I consider her a friend. I am not something to be picked up, played with and put down.

NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Depression

Have you ever felt like you want to die? Have you ever hated yourself so much you could just obliterate yourself into nothingness?

Depression is a crippling illness, which is receiving a lot of media attention right now. I know people with depression, who are good people stuck in a repetitive destructive cycle. Unfortunately, I also know people who use the excuse of depression to avoid the real world. These people are the ones that get help, leaving the genuinely needy people to struggle and suffer alone.

Depression hits more that one in ten people, and the age range is far more vast than you would initially think. The symptoms of depression vary from person to person, some feeling lethargic and lacking energy. Some losing appetite, and some simply feeling ‘blue’.

With this vastly changing illness, it is surprising that the medical profession seemingly decided to treat it in a stock way, as if it was simply the flu.

Doctors seem to act like this illness is nothing more than an imagined disease, thought up to make their lives difficult. It is then interesting that they seem perfectly willing to treat people who are using depression to gain attention.

Why is it that in this day and age, that people who are desperately hurting and in pain, cannot get the help that they need, while the people who are perfectly happy can use this to access all the resources that should be available to help the genuinely suffering people.

Heather Mills: Is she skating through because of her disability?

Anyone following Dancing on Ice on ITV1 can surely see that Heather Mills, despite being near the top or middle of the leaderboard each week, is not as good a skater as some celebrities lower down on the board. So the question is… is she using her disability to get through?

In Sunday’s (January 31st) episode, she alone mentioned her prosthetic leg a total of four times in three minutes. The week before, it was mentioned twice in the same time and in the first episode, it was mentioned a whopping seven times.

Obviously she has a disability, but she preaches not letting anything hold her back and pertains to be a spokesperson for amputees, running support websites and inspiring people. No doubt, noble work, but when she comes on national television and talks about her disability and its limits the whole time, how can she then say she is doing this to inspire people?

Daniella Westbrook was a far more inspirational figure in the show, when she fell, tearing muscles in her back and cracking several ribs, to then keep on practicing, without complaint, despite obvious pain. She went on to say that “It’s just part of skating”. Though she is not a professional skater, in this, she showed the attitude of one, and acted far more professionally than Heather Mills.

The judges, each week, commend her for even trying as she has a prosthetic leg. This doesn’t give us the chance to see her as a skater. We are constantly bombarded with messages of how wonderful she is for trying to do this, with a prosthetic leg, which deducts from the viewing experience, and distracts us with regards making decisions fairly based on skating. It seems to be a case of “Oh didn’t she do well – she only has one leg”. With all kudos to her for going out there and skating, I refuse to judge her any less harshly than the other skaters, many of whom are putting on far better performances and are ending up lower down on the scoreboard.