A trip into the future: it's just ordinary magic!

Last week I came face to face with my fragility. I had spent a lovely weekend spent with my parents, and managed to turn their mattress over, pull up some paving slabs, and prune a holly tree – all without incident or injury. On the Monday, while out walking Dylan, I tripped on a kerb and fell heavily into the road. I wasn’t seriously injured, but both knees, my hip and arm took a bit of a beating. The following morning I was struggling to move and in a great deal of pain. Everything was sore and each movement I made was painful. It was easier to sit fairly still and only move when I had to. Nearly one week on and I am still stiff and sore. All from just from tripping over a kerb stone. 

Having just passed my #NHS1000miles mark last week, I was struggling to even give Dylan a gentle stroll. Thankfully for such an active dog, he was content to spend a few days running around the garden. For someone who likes to #WalkEveryDay I felt very despondent in not being able to walk as usual. So far this week, I have only managed 49km. I am hoping to be able to attempt a longer walk today but we will see. 

My 49km pales into insignificance when put against the achievements of a Bulgarian called Dobre Dobrev. He does a daily round trip walking from his village in Baylovo to Sofia, some 42Km. He does this every day come rain, snow and sun. In Bulgaria they can experience real extremes of such weather. Dobre does this daily walk every day to beg for alms. He doesn’t keep the money himself, in fact he lives frugally off a very small pension. He donates the money to orphanages and the church. He recently was able to give 24,000 Euros to a church that was struggling. I would like to meet him, he is said to be a humble and generous man. 

Surprisingly, following my fall on the Monday, I also came face to face with the uncertainty of life. I chaired a Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools. The conference had speakers from the government, local authorities, academia and the third sector. Mental health problems affect 1 in 10 children and young people. Such problems include depression, anxiety and conduct disorders, often as a result of something that is happening in their lives. 50% of all mental illness start before the age of 14. Alarmingly, 70% of children and young people who experience a mental health problem don’t get an appropriate intervention at an early enough age. 

Like adults, the emotional wellbeing of children and young people is just as important as their physical health and wellbeing. Children and young people with good mental health are also to be more likely to develop resilience when it comes to dealing with the challenges of life.  There was an acceptance from many of the presenters that in order for children to thrive, they needed to feel loved, valued, understood and safe. Above all else, learning to accept who they are and recognising what they are good at. 

This was a theme that was developed one of presenters who described himself as a ‘Happiness Expert’ – and he certainly lived up to his title. One of his messages was that on average we all only have 4000 weeks in which to live our lives. I did a quick calculation and realised if everything went to plan then I had just 728 weeks left. His wider message was that we should strive to be ‘our best’ as often as possible. To help us achieve this he asked to think about how we might answer 4 questions: 

What does the 10/10 version of you look like, sound like, feel like?

What 3 qualities describe you when you are at your absolute best?

How often are you at your absolute best (honestly)?

What is stopping you from being best self?

It wasn’t quite a ‘one life, live it’ message, but I guess it was fairly close. His premise, was that motivated, energetic teachers would not only facilitate a better learning experience for children and young people, but would also create an environment that would promote good mental health and wellbeing. This resonated well with other messages heard throughout the day. Taking a whole school approach to changing the culture, and a culture that thought more about prevention than intervention. Putting the child or young person at the centre of the system, whether this was just the school or a wider system of children and young people care services. There were many examples given of how important it was (and had been) to hear the young person’s voice, and to find ways of truly engaging them in all aspects of services that touch their lives. As one presenter on the day noted, what we have heard was many examples of ‘ordinary magic’. 

It was a great conference and despite my discomfort and pain, I was able to recognise that it was a gathering of people that were committed to helping children and young people to have the best future possible. In the UK it’s Father’s Day today. I shall be celebrating the day with some of my children and grandchildren. I will also be thinking about what I heard and thinking that should any of my 10 (nearly 11) grandchildren need help with their mental health and wellbeing, there are some excellent folk around to provide that help.