Website helps connect young people with free in-home STD tests - latimes.com

I stumbled upon this tonight and I think the idea can really be a great resource. Definitely something to talk about in conversations about out public health policies and resources.

Website helps connect young people with free in-home STD tests - latimes.com

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Teens Posting 'Cutting' Videos on YouTube - US News and World Report

Teens Posting 'Cutting' Videos on YouTube - US News and World Report

It's NEDA AWARENESS WEEK!

NEDA Awareness Week! February 20-26, 2011

Each Day...

Catching up!

I have a few things I want to mention, and because I haven't updated in a while I felt the need to catch up.

First, check out this link -- QuickFact

It is a campaign to add facts about mental illness to the back of grocery receipts.  We all look for the coupons on the back, but what if there was a quick fact about something.  Kind of like reading your fortune after a great asian inspired meal only you would learn a fact that could change your view on the world we live in.

Secondly, I cam across these 12 Characteristics of Adult Children of People with Alcohol Addiction

In short:

1. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction guess what normal behavior is.
2. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction have difficulty following a project through from beginning to end.
3. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth.
4. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction judge themselves without mercy.
5. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction have difficulty having fun.
6. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction have difficulty with intimate relationships.
7. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction over-react to changes over which they have no control.
8. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction constantly seek approval and affirmation.
9. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction usually feel that they are different from other people.
10. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction are super responsible or super irresponsible.
11. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction are extremely loyal, even if in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved.
12. Adult children of people with alcohol addiction are impulsive.

It's what you do with this information that allows one to break the cycle.  I am from a family where the cycle was broken with me.  I chose not to live my life in a way that has been directly influenced by my upbringing.  We all have a choice of how to live our adult lives even though we do not have one regarding the circumstances of our youth.

"This is not what I signed up for!"

Today I attended my new employee orientation for the State of Florida.  We discussed a lot about our work program, Vocational Rehabilitation.  Our eligibility program offers individuals with physical and mental disabilities resources and services with a goal to obtain employment.

Upon catching up on a few things over the past few weeks, I have realized that so many people do not actually know what they are signing up for.  When signing releases, applying for services, entering into organization, etc., you are then accountable to that entity for the responsibilities outline in the very "terms and conditions" we so often overlook.

John Hancock has one of the most recognizable signatures on file.  I would like to believe that he stood behind everything he signed.  I would like to believe that he accepted the consequences, positive or negative, of that document.  I would like to think that he would honor himself, his values, his goals, and his character in the form of his signature on material he believed in.

Is the anger and disappointment at some inevitable negative consequence stemming from your frustration about your lack of attention to the fine print, or are we to believe that you signed up for something that you inherently do not agree with or do not want to work towards?

We all have a choice in life, and more often than not, it is informed choice.  Heck, even when you are read your rights at the time of arrest you are presented with a choice, your behavior from that point further.

It is unsettling to me that so many people will enter into relationships with businesses and/or organizations and then neither abide by nor agree with the policies and standards they consented to.

I guess the point of all of this is to protect yourself, you character, and your reputation by making sure that you understand what you are signing up for.  I would agree that things are not often as they seem, but did you ever ask yourself how you could have missed it?  What role do you play in how you life is impacted by your choice to sign you name?  How can you influence your circumstance through your future choices?