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Taking a Mental Health Day…

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Today [January 28, 2014] is #BellLetsTalk day, a day in which an entire country tries to help raise awareness and erase the stigma that comes when discussing mental health. Mental health should not be something that we are afraid to discuss. Too many lives have been taken and NOT enough awareness has been made.

Suffering from mental illness does not make you weak, it merely means that you are struggling in way that people do not yet understand. Mental health describes a level of psychological well-being or an absence of a mental disorder.  Mental health may include an individual’s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Mental health can also be defined as an expression of emotions, and as signifying a successful adaptation to a range of demands.

Sometimes the answers seem lost or we are afraid for whatever reason that no one understands. Everyone’s journey is different & while we might not be the same…EVERYONE deserves to feel like they belong. Sometimes the best gift YOU can give is to simply LISTEN because sometimes all they need to is be HEARD. Turning our backs on mental health is NEVER an option, we NEED to stop the stigma that surrounds it. EVERY person has they own scars that are invisible on the outside and we ALL need to know that IS OKAY to ask for help. TOO many lives have been lost from the fear to speak up, let’s BE FEARLESS…SPEAK UP and SAVE lives.

Please, if you are suffering or or know someone that is suffering from mental illness DO NOT be afraid to ask for help. There is NO shame in admitting weakness or a need for help BUT in our darkest moments we CAN find strength. Asking for help is not a weakness, it IS a strength.

“Awareness is the greatest agent for change”. -Eckhart Tolle

Resources:

Bell Let’s Talk

Mind Check

Today I am taking a mental health day AND taking the #MINDCHECK pledge, how about you?

I am Sarah and I am the friend of someone who was depressed.

I know it isn’t a choice. It’s not a weakness, self-inflicted, or a result of not trying. Sometimes you can’t just get over it, it won’t just go away. Pretending it isn’t happening doesn’t help. Talking about it does. Getting support early can make the difference.

Helping someone you care about is not a burden.

I pledge to learn the signs. I will not judge. I will have compassion. I will reach out, listen, talk, help, and find help.

My name is Sarah Laug and I will NOT stay silent. Will you?

Here’s to a BEGINNING for Mental Health awareness that will hopefully go beyond today and erase the stigmas that take away the focus.

Asking for help may be the most difficult thing you do today or tomorrow BUT I promise you it will be the most rewarding…this LIFE is worth living & YOU are important.

As always, until next time, nuck said.

Sarah E.L.

Road Trip #1: Part TWO

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Stop THREE: The Igloo. A red hot Sidney Crosby was looking to continue his dominance while team mate Marc-Andre Fleury was looking to continue his solid start. The Canucks were looking to continue their great start to their 7 game road trip. This game would also mark the return of Alex Edler to the lineup from his three-game suspension.

This game had some great moments from BOTH sides as the pace went back and forth. In his return Edler scored a beauty of a goal to open the scoring. Not to be outdone the Penguins had their own stars step up to tie this game…do you even have to ask who it was? As he has done all season, Crosby continued his red hot streak with 3 points in the game! The Penguins took over the game by taking a 2-1 lead BUT no lead was safe in this game…as the ever reliable Canuck Richardson scored another CLUTCH goal to tie this game at 2.

Kassian who has been playing impressively since his return from suspension scored his first goal of the season to give the Canucks a lead. If I haven’t already said it…not one lead was safe in this game….late in the third a very talented Penguins rookie Olli Maatta helped Pittsburgh force overtime.

Overtime was not enough to solve this one and we all know what comes after an unresolved overtime: the dreaded shootout. Malkin scored the lone goal in the shootout [& it pains me to say it was quite a goal!]. Despite the loss, this was a great game for the Canucks. Kevin Bieksa factored on every Canucks goal and played one of his best games of the year. At the end of the day two great teams played a team that featured great moments from both sides. What more can the fans ask for?

Stop FOUR: Columbus DAY…or is it? It was almost like watching a Nashville game…it was a tight 1-1 lock and looked like either next goal wins or OT would be needed. Eddie Lack made his second NHL start.

The Blue Jackets got a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining and the Canucks pushed back and NEARLY scored many times…BUT no tying goal could be had.

No tying goal with the clock winding down resulted in my least favourite call of any game: pull the goalie for an extra attacker. Nine times out of ten, it results in an empty net goal…this was one of those times. Columbus won this one 3-1. A disappointing loss BUT that’s how it goes sometimes.

Stop FIVE: A New York State of Mind or so the song goes.

The Islanders were quick to grab a 2-0 lead. It was not the start the Canucks wanted to have and a pattern that has become WAY too common in the first 11 games. The lead would not last as just 16 seconds after coughing up the 2-0 lead…the Canucks began the comeback with a goal from Ryan Kesler. Midway through the first period Daniel Sedin the game 2. This game had high scoring written on it from the beginning.

The second period saw much of the same…the Islanders took the lead back early in the second period. The Canucks thanks to a #sedinery play found this game tied up once more! The Canucks took over the momentum in this game with a LATE goal to take their first lead of the game with a goal from HIGGINS!

The third period seemed to slow a little pace wise with action on both ends of the ice. It seemed like perhaps this game might end in regulation BUT that would have been asking too much. The Islanders pulled their goalie for an extra attacker…and they kept pushing for the tying goal which they got with just 1:12 remaining on the clock. Overtime would be needed.

Overtime was all Canucks…they did not want to have another shootout (& personally I’m glad…I hate shootouts!) The game winning goal came on play started by Bieksa [who was originally credited with the goal] and finished by Brad Richardson. COMEBACK COMPLETE! It may not have been a pretty win but they did come back from trailing 2-0 to win 5-4 and regardless of how it came a WIN is a WIN at the end of the day.

5 games into this road trip the Canucks have posted a respectable 3-1-1 record and will look to build upon that when they close out their road trip with two more stops in New Jersey and St.Louis.

Next Stop: TODAY the team will come face to face once more with Cory Schneider and the New Jersey Devils. [It looks like Cory has earned top crease time for the moment in the latest goalie controversy].  New Jersey has just one win this season and will not give up two points to the Canucks very easily. Its going to be an interesting game that’s for sure…Vancouver will have to put its best game on the ice if they want to take two points tonight.

#GOCANUCKSGO

As always, until next time, nuck said.

Sarah E.L.