honesty

I have noticed a very large number of fake profiles recently.No writings.No history.Fake people trolling and bating vulnerable people for fun.it is obvious when an account is fake on here. Unnecessary and sick to be completely honest.I do not respond.People use the sight for support.Not to be questioned,mocked or ridiculed.I have found myself filtering my writing...should beable to express without looking over ones shoulder on a site like this.

#peace #honesty #simplicity

Hello Mind Conquerors!

Like i would like to do every friday, i will repropose this initiative, these are the concepts:

- Sharing how you are feeling in this moment

- Activating notifications on this post

- Reading comments as they are being made, and replying to those to which you can relate to, either with practical advices or kind words :)

If you want to, feel free to give any suggestion to change or improve this post!

The idea is to make us talk with each other in a form that look like a community chat, to stimulate communication and give life to interesting conversations!

If you don't want to comment or reply, don't feel like you have to!

You may just read or skip without any problem, as you please 😊

Thanks to everyone who spent time reading this post :)

#Weeklysharing #conqueryourmind #feelings

#MentalHealth #Suicide #Anxiety #BipolarDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Addiction #dissociativedisorders #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder

#ADHD #Fibromyalgia #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #PTSD #Cancer #rarediseas #Disability #Autism #Diabetes #EatingDisorders #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #Schizophrenia #Abuse

#Happiness #Sadness #freedom #Fear #enjoy #anger #calm #disgust #Pride #neutrality #peace #Stress

#honesty #Openess #dark #light

I love truth. I hate lies. I made a pact with my best friend years ago that no matter how embarrassing or difficult we would always be completely honest with each other.

I made a promise to my wife some years ago that I would always be honest with her. Makes things so simple. She knows I will always tell her the truth when she asks my opinion about her cooking, her clothing etc. I also try to tell her the truth now about my mental health.

Lately though I have found myself being less than honest about my pain levels as I recover from a total knee replacement. I don’t want her to worry when the pain is not being contained but I am conscious that being less than truthful can be a slippery slope. It’s scary being completely honest, it’s hard to be totally vulnerable. Yet it’s something I must keep striving to achieve.

Being a Pastor is hard. Being a Pastor and struggling with mental health issues is harder still. Because so much of our lives is like living in a goldfish bowl we get very skilled at projecting an image.

Here are some truths though.

The average pastor lasts about three years.

1500 pastors leave the ministry every month, due to spiritual burnout or contention in the church.

America is experiencing a net loss of 3000 churches each year.

70% of pastors constantly fight depression.

80% of pastors and 84% of pastors’ wives are discouraged with the ministry.

50% are so discouraged they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other means of making a living.

80% of pastors’ wives wish their husband had chosen another profession.

50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.

70% of pastors do not have a close friend or confidant.

80% of pastors’ children must seek professional help for depression by the time they become adults.

Over 50% of pastors’ wives said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered into the ministry.

Here is a list of things a pastor might not tell you:

It doesn't matter how people leave, we always take it personally and it always hurts.

We run the risk of constantly neglecting our own kids because of the constant pressure to help everyone else's.

It's physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting to thoroughly preach a message.

We don't get the same luxury of having a pastor to call when we struggle.

Our kids are under constant scrutiny and will often be used against us by critical people. Once when telling a guy in my church about how naughty my dog had been that week he looked at me and said, “But he’s a Pastors dog”. I almost fainted. Not only do my kids have to be perfect but my dog does too.

We struggle financially like everyone else and additionally worry about the entire church’s financial stability.

We have very few friends, a whole bunch of acquaintances, and less than a handful we can really trust.

Working fifty hours a week is considered part-time.

We can rarely rejoice in who shows up because we immediately know who skipped out.

We struggle with turning off our phones, disconnecting, or going out of town.

We never get days free of drama and problems.

No matter how good Sunday was, Monday is always an emotional roller coaster.

The weight of people's unrealistic expectations fills us with anxiety and restlessness.

This is Winston who for many years was my dog. We adopted him when he was 6 weeks old and it was the time when Facebook was starting to become a thing. I wanted to demonstrate to my teenage children the shallowness of social media so I set up a Facebook account for Winston.

Soon Winston reached the friend limit of 5000, many of them dogs but also many people. The messages he/I received were amazing. One person messaged him and said, “I didn’t know dogs could type”. He replied that he couldn’t because his paws were too big so he dictated and I typed it for him.

Winston is no longer my dog but it did help my children to get a grip that social media is certainly not a true reflection of people’s lives.

#Anxiety #Relationships #ChronicIllness #Friendship #honesty #Reality #Christianity #Hope