GOOD People change the way you see LIFE

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I love GOOD people. Those people who are just so beautiful on the inside that they can change the way you think about yourself.

I don’t always think too highly of myself; a lot of times, I feel a fool, worthless, too sensitive, miserable and boring. Depression has this unfortunate effect on me. I’m not asking for pity; it’s just the truth.

For the most part, depression doesn’t stop me from living the life I want. It’s only a part of me. I have a privileged life compared to some, I have a good family, fabulous wife, great kids, two pets, including the second love of my life, Ludlow a Cocker Spaniel, a rewarding job that I love and friends to socialise and enjoy life with.

Writing this blog has been a massive and helpful change for me, I am open about my mental health, it helps me to talk about it, in my job I have disclosed my battles with depression when giving advice, as it seems to to help students, who then realise they are not alone and that if a big gregarious guy like me can be depressed then they don't need to feel so isolated and helpless.

I've had lots of replies to my blogging, all positive, including lots of personal messages from people who I haven't seen for years. Even one of my sons, who has struggled to handle my recent battles and who I was very mindful of when I wrote them as I didn't want to cause him any stress or upset; has read them and we have talked positively about my depression and what has happened.

Which brings me to the subject of this blog, GOOD PEOPLE!

I have the absolute pleasure of working with some lovely and good people, we all have a common aim and that is to improve the lives of the 22,000 students at the University of Huddersfield. This week we are working side by side delivering a packed Freshers', the aspect that has me thinking "good people change the way you see life", is the fact we have been and continue to be so supportive of each other. Setting up, clearing away, giving out t-shirts to 3,000 students, laying out 1,000 huge carpet tiles, 200 tables, 300 chairs and then 3 days later packing them all up after you have filled four skips with rubbish, supervising 3,000 students on a pub crawl and managing a quarter of a mile long queue are all physically exhausting and only a small amount of what we do, so being there for each other with a smile on our faces is important.

Every day I see and hear actions and words that inspire me, and it genuinely surprises me when people are that good. They make the exhaustion feel good.

Your responses to my blog are fantastic and I thank you. Good people understand that depression doesn’t make someone weak. They see that it’s isolating, impossible to know what goes on inside someone’s head and that fighting a battle in your brain is exhausting and inescapable, but just a few words can help a person much more than you might think.

Be there for people. Build them up; they deserve it. 

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