David Stidston
Bio
My name is David Stidston, and I am a single father to my 8-year-old daughter Mia. We live in the beautiful city of Hobart in Tasmania, Australia. I am currently self-employed, working as a freelancer and casually in market research.
Stories (216)
Filter by community
Mental Discomfort
When we think of discomfort, or being uncomfortable, we often straight away think about the physical side to the definition. Perhaps we relate to the feeling of being cramped in an aeroplane, or being squashed up with other people in a small car, or not feeling relaxed in bed when trying to go to sleep, or having a headache, or having sore muscles, or feeling the affects from an injury. All these are different examples of physical discomfort, be it pain, soreness, aches, tension, cramps, stiffness, and the like. In summary, when we think of discomfort, we immediately think of pain. With the physical side of discomfort, we can actually feel the pain in our body, therefore we have an awareness of it, and naturally, we go about relieving ourselves of that pain. Whether we take pain relief medication, or we speak to a medical practitioner, or we admit ourselves into hospital, or whether we just rest the area of pain, we are at least proactive in doing something to relieve the pain. Why? Because it's uncomfortable and it hurts, naturally. What about when it comes to the mental side to discomfort though? It's funny how, for so long, that humankind has only really focused on the physical side of things, rather than both the physical and mental. Health springs to mind with this sort of thing, and how so many people still refuse to believe that mental illness is actually a legitimate form of health issue. Because these such people haven't experienced a mental illness for themselves, many tend to believe that mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, bipolar, and dementia, are all just contrived, and perhaps used a perfect reason for people to attract attention to themselves, to be lazy, or to use as a convenient excuse. Finally, we are starting to see an increase in awareness around mental health, although it doesn't tend to change the above beliefs of those who haven't experienced a mental health issue, as I mentioned about above. When it comes to discomfort, we tend to think in the same manner., we think physical pain, not mental. Like mental illness is to health, mental discomfort is also real, but we fail to acknowledge it and we fail to have an awareness of it, which means we fail to address it, and therefore, we fail to overcome it.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Don't Stop Believing
1981 was the year that Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States of America, Prince Charles married Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral, the first ever London Marathon took place, Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on its maiden voyage, Pope John Paul the 2nd was shot and wounded in the Vatican City, Bob Marley passed away from melanoma, and Muhammad Ali took on his final fight, losing to Trevor Berbick. It's staggering to think this all took place now 40 years ago. It was also the year that the American rock band "Journey", headed by Steve Perry at the time, released their hit song "Don't Stop Believing", which climbed up to as high as number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the US. 40 years on from its release, and the song has gone on to achieve a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Although there are some different opinions around the meaning behind the lyrics to the song, in summary, they actually refer to the fact that we live in a big world, and despite the times of loneliness we can experience at stages throughout our life, there is someone actually out there for us, who is our true love, and we shouldn't stop believing in that. Is it believable that our life partner is actually out there, waiting for us to discover them? Does that person to whom we are completely compatible with, exist? It all comes back to our individual belief, doesn't it? Personally, I think it is believable that our life partner indeed exists, and is out there somewhere for us, waiting for us to discover them. Whether we discover them or not is yet to be determined.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
What A Difference
Yesterday was the first time in around 15 years that I actually returned to somewhere that I was raised by my parents to attend, back when I was a child. Unfortunately, certain online platforms, in which you can share stories and blog posts, prevent us from freedom of speech, so I can't mention of where exactly I returned to, however being a Sunday morning, I think you can gather where I returned to. It wasn't the same building and location I went to as a child, where I returned yesterday, in fact it wasn't even in the same city or state, but the atmosphere was no different to what I experienced in my youth. Now I am very much an introvert, so conversing and interacting with others isn't exactly my strong point, so it was a step out of my comfort zone as it was, but the decision to attend was one in which I believe I have needed to make for a quite a while now. I forced myself to overcome this discomfort however, and indeed made the effort to interact and converse with others. One thing I did notice though, was the atmosphere itself. It felt warm, it felt welcoming, it felt caring, and what I noticed most of all, it felt positive. Even though I was there by myself, not accompanied by any other family, friends, or associates, there was this inspiring vibe in the room that I haven't felt in a long time, and it felt wonderful. The discomfort of forcing myself to socialize, to converse, and to interact, all against my introverted self, was completely overcome through the positivity, love, and care, that was surrounding me within those four walls. I was welcomed with open arms, I had people wanting to share openly with me, I had people wanting to get to know me, and I had people who were showing genuine care for me. It was a total contrast to the people who I have had surrounding me, in my life, for the past few years. What a difference!
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Stop Being A Puppet
Not a day goes by where I don't miss my Mum and Dad dearly. Even though it's now been nearly 14 years since Dad passed away, and coming up to just 2 years since Mum passed away, I still miss them greatly. I can't answer for everyone, but for me, having lost my both my parents now, it feels like this massive hole of emptiness is left inside of me. Even though I may be surrounded by many other family members and loved ones, there's still that feeling of complete loneliness and loss. In my mind, I still vividly recall such wonderful memories of times spent with Mum and Dad, and it's these times that feel like they only happened yesterday, even though they were many years ago. As unfortunate as it is, death is sadly also a part of life, and for those of us left behind to continue on after those we love have passed on, we just need to keep on going, and working towards building the best possible future for ourselves and our children. I couldn't have asked for better parents really, I was absolutely blessed. My Dad was such a hard worker, who dedicated his life to his business basically, just so he could provide Mum, my sister, and I, with the best possible life, whilst he always ensured there were many times throughout the year he could spend some quality time with us all on holiday also. Thanks to Dad being such a hard worker, it allowed Mum the privilege of being a stay home parent, which was so important to my sister's and my upbringing, as she would always work hard to ensure the house was clean, there were healthy cooked meals on the table, and that we always had clean clothes to wear. I can't express how grateful I am to have had such wonderful, loving, and caring parents, and to have been blessed with the childhood I was provided with.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Soak Up The Sunshine
Here in Australia, it's that time of the year where the days continue to get shorter, and the nights continue to get longer. As we head deep into April, and the middle of Autumn, the warmth from the sun begins to soften, and the crispness of the cool air swirling up from the Antarctic starts to take over. Due to the location of where I live here in Tasmania, and it's distance away from the Equator, the nights start to become considerably longer than the days, leaving us with just 9 hours of daylight, and 15 hours of nighttime, come the middle of the approaching Winter. Those in such countries as Alaska have even significantly less daylight again, during their Winter. Personally, I love Winter. Other than the difficulty of prying myself out from inside the warm sheets of my bed, on a freezing cold morning, I just love the beauty of the surrounding snow capped mountains, and the pleasantness of the cool Winter days. I always like the fact you can at least rug up and get warm in the Winter, but there's only so many layers you can take off in the scorching Summer heat, hence my love for Winter. I'm not a fan of sweating, although I do love daylight savings that comes with the whole Summer package. There's one troubling thing though about this time of the year though, and for the following six months ahead, and that is the fact that we do obviously lose the luxury of having that ample sunlight that we are treated to in the Summer months. It means we also lose the opportunity to get some much needed vitamin D for our body to absorb. Because of daylight savings in the Summer months, we can get outdoors before and after work, even on our lunch breaks, and soak up that sun on our skin, but it's a different story in Winter.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
It's Time To Stop Running!
If I received a dollar for every time I stated the obvious in my blog entries, by mentioning the fact that life is full of challenges, adversities, hardships, failures, rejections, and setbacks, I'd be wealthy by now. Sadly, it is the truth though, and we'd be extremely naïve not to acknowledge that. Life indeed tests us in so many ways, it tears us apart, it grinds us into the ground, and it drags us to incredible lows. Thankfully, life delivers us some wonderful blessings, the right to happiness, some incredible highs, and so much to be grateful for also. Ultimately, we are given the choice in which way we wish to perceive life, be it that we focus on all the negatives, or by feeling blessed and uplifted by focusing on all the positives. One thing is for sure, no matter how mentally strong and disciplined we are in continually focusing on the positives in life, it doesn't make us exempt from all those challenges, adversities, hardships, failures, rejections, and setbacks, that life throws at us. The difference with those who are mentally strong and disciplined is they choose to still focus on gratitude and positivity, despite how dire their circumstances may become, and they proactively seek out the opportunities that lie within the adversity they are experiencing. It's not an easy thing to do, let me tell you, and takes many years of mind training and strengthening to perfect, but what it all comes back to is ourselves, and what we allow our mind to focus on. Once again, it's a choice. In times of adversity and trial, not only do we have a choice in regards to our mindset, and what we choose to focus on, but we also have a choice in how we react to it, and how we plan to overcome it.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Don't Stop Now!
Think for a moment about a lengthy road trip you went on at some point in your life, one that was a few thousand kilometers away. It may have been a destination that took several days to reach, so you had to make overnight stops along the way. Perhaps it was for a holiday, and that destination was to be the highlight of the trip, but you incorporated some stops along the way to do some sightseeing and exploring. Even if you haven't been on such a journey, then think of a destination you would love to visit, that is say 3,000 kilometers away from where you are, and visualize driving that journey, how you would plan it, and where you would stop along the way? Either way, focus now on that destination, and why you wanted to go there so badly, what was it that was attracting you so? Perhaps there was a certain tourist attraction you desperately wanted to see, or there was a certain event on that you needed to attend, or maybe some of your loved ones live there. Whatever the reason, focus on the "why" you chose that destination, and the importance of it to you. Whether you have done such a road trip, or are just visualizing it in your head, I now want you to picture yourself on that journey, where you are say half, to maybe three quarters, of the way there, and unfortunately, you begin to feel the wheel rim starting to scrape against the road, courtesy of a flat tyre. Now this may normally not be such a big deal, but for the fact that along this journey so far, you have encountered so many hiccups, such as constant roadworks, a flat battery, accommodation dilemmas, you lost $100 from your wallet at some point, and all these other annoying inconveniences, it has compounded the frustration within you. So rather than go about changing that tyre and continuing on, you end up changing the tyre, you turn around, and you head home. You are fed up with all these frustrating events and occurrences, that you have simply had enough!
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Analysis Paralysis
Have you ever heard the phrase "analysis paralysis", or "paralysis by analysis"? The next question is, if you heard of it before, do you even know what it means? For those who are unsure what it's about, let me break it down into a more basic definition for you. Analysis paralysis is failing to act on something because you continually overthink it, halting the progress towards achieving that goal or task. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are presented with an assignment or task of some sort, maybe given to you by your boss at work, and in viewing it, you really have no motivation or ambition to complete it because it looks tedious, boring, or energy sapping, or maybe it feels uncomfortable to do? As it is something you really don't want to do, you then go about procrastinating over it, finding different ways of going about delaying to act on it for as long as possible. Being an assignment or task that must be completed though, and with your boss regularly checking in on your progress, you know you have to act on it in some manner, so you go about pondering different ways of attacking it and approaching it, perhaps writing some notes down, so it therefore looks like you are actually doing something, when the truth is, you are not actually doing anything about it at all. After a while of nothing but deliberation, your boss comes over to you and asks why you haven't actually made a start on your assignment, to which you show them your notes, only for them to point out that you're overthinking it and you just need to do one particular action, which you know full well that was all you needed to do in the first place, but you just couldn't be bothered. You're left with no choice but to do that action, you're forced out of your comfort zone, and you end up completing the action, much to your displeasure. That's an example of analysis paralysis, and a situation where we choose to overthink something in a bid to avoid getting stuck into the actions.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Mind Food
Food is essential for us humans, in order to survive, that's no secret. Our body needs to absorb that food in order to supply the required energy needed for our various organs and tissues to function accordingly. When we fail to feed our body with the nutrients it needs, the first things we notice that starts to happen is our body becomes weaker, as our muscles begin to shrink, and we begin to lose weight. As a few days pass by without food, our body starts to basically feed on itself, turning to its energy storage, such as carbohydrates and fats, but once these reserve energy levels are used up, that's when things get really serious. Our vital organs start to shrink, our body temperature significantly drops, the immune system is severely weakened, and the kidneys begin failing. Even our concentration levels deteriorate, as the likes of hallucinations and convulsions set in. As the body consumes the remainder of its fat and carbohydrate storage, it begins to feed off the muscle protein, including from the heart. From here, it's only a matter of time, and the body can no longer function, which of course leads us to perish. Starvation is not exactly a very inspiring and motivating topic to talk of, that's for sure. Sadly, we live in a world where it is also real, as an estimation has revealed that 1 in 9 people globally suffer from undernourishment. For those of us who are privileged enough to have access to clean water and healthy food, I think we should always remember to take a moment to be grateful, and understand how blessed we truly are in life, because there are many others who would die for as much as a bite of an apple. So why is there a need to discuss starvation on a blog designed for motivation, personal development, and inspiration?
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Don't Get Walked Over
I was once one of these people who was very relaxed, very easy-going, and would always go out of my way to avoid any conflict or confrontation with anybody. I was always someone who was very gentle natured, courteous, kind, and considerate. In fact, I am still all of the above, however I have made a subtle change to the way I conduct myself nowadays, and that is, I no longer live my life pleasing others. I no longer accept when people try to take advantage of me and walk all over me. You see, as someone that is easy-going, gentle natured, caring, courteous, considerate, and kind, there are unfortunately many people who love to take advantage of these behaviors, and they do so for personal gain. They see it as a perfect opportunity to manipulate that person into doing what pleases them, even if it is of detriment to the person they are taking advantage of, or manipulating. It's just an unfortunate characteristic that so many people possess in this world, which is of course selfishness. So many people will totally disregard, disrespect, and dishonor others, as long as there is something in which they can personally benefit from. The biggest benefit that people look for in life is to have things the way they want them, of course. Basically whatever is convenient for themselves. The thing is, people just don't about trying to create circumstances to suit and benefit themselves, they go out about trying to manipulate others into being the person they want them to be, or doing what they want them to do. The worse part to all of this is that those people who do try to walk all over us, manipulate us to do what they want, and influence us to believe what they believe, are often our own parents, friends, partner, and other loved ones. The very people who supposedly love and care for us, who supposedly want the best for us in life, are often the culprits who walk all over us, and because of our relationship with them, we often become a victim of their manipulative games.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Training And Conditioning
The journey to achieving our goals is more often than not, a long, challenging, arduous, painful, and character defining one, especially when our goal is a life transforming one. We are faced with endless challenges, constant failures, numerous rejections, unrelenting criticism, and soul destroying setbacks. The thing is, with those big life changing goals, we often have to endure several years of these adversities, not just a few weeks or months. Let's not forget all the hard work, the hours, the commitment, and even the money, that we invest into achieving these goals also. The journey to achieving our goals can pretty much be likened to a marathon. Now you may not think that running a marathon is exactly that hard, I mean after all, it's only 42 kilometers, right? Maybe ask a marathon runner that question. A marathon isn't about running, and then taking a break to stop for a drink, or maybe walking for a bit to catch your breath, or jogging leisurely, it's about running non-stop for those 42 kilometers. It's about pushing your body to the absolute limit, working through all the fatigue, all the stress of your feet continually pounding the pavement 40,000 times over, battling through all the soreness in the muscles, whilst facing the increasing threat of hypoglycemia from dehydration, and the potential for impairment with the function of the kidneys. It is brutal on the body, and takes several weeks for the heart to return to normal function, whilst the immune system often is also temporarily weakened as a result of the stress the body has had to endure. Despite all of that though, the feeling of completing the marathon would undoubtedly be one of great satisfaction and accomplishment. I can't say I have ever completed a marathon personally, but I'm sure that's how these marathon runners would feel.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
Let Go
Now I'm not a fan of airing dirty laundry out on public forums, however I felt the need to share my personal story with you today, as I really want to highlight, not only the difficulty, but also the necessity, importance, and blessing, of parting ways with toxic people in our life. I am going to say this upfront, as my blog entries and my website are designed to encourage positivity, to motivate, to inspire, and to ensure our life is blessed with happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and success, so I am in no way writing this blog entry today with the intention to have a dig or a swipe at certain individuals in my life, nor is it out of any form of revenge, nor is it in any way to designed to relieve some personal frustration and anger off my chest. Sometimes, in order to create positivity, happiness, and success, in our life, there will be times where we first need to identify and address the negative aspect to certain things, then discuss the reasoning behind it, and then take action. It's just like gardening, with the fact that there may be some beautiful roses that are growing in our garden, but we simply can't pretend there won't be any weeds around the plant itself, or ignore them when they are there, therefore we continually need to monitor them and remove them accordingly. So let's get into the topic of toxic people. Firstly, what constitutes a toxic person? I thought I'd Google the definition for you, and it was interesting that the first website that came up on the search feed was a medical one. Why is that interesting? Because even medical experts have identified the damage and harm that toxic people can do to us mentally, highlighting the importance of why we need to remove them from our life. From the snippet that leads to the website of https://webmd.com, the short description of their article reads as follows; "A toxic person is anyone whose behavior adds negativity and upset to your life. Many times, people who are toxic are dealing with their own stresses and traumas. You always have to defend yourself to this person. You never feel fully comfortable around them. You continually feel bad about yourself in their presence." I would say that's a pretty damn good summary of exactly what constitutes a toxic person.
By David Stidston5 years ago in Motivation
