Being Down

Research reveals the causes of violence in a high school, including social inequality among students and the lack of prevention efforts by the staff, and proposes reforms to alleviate this growing problem in all schools.

This book is about an unusual journey: a unique journey through everyday surroundings. Rob Walters decided to become a shoeshine boy. He stowed his shoeshine kit, a tent, and a few items of clothing in a trailer, connected the trailer to his push bike and set off from Oxford to visit the old shoe-making cities of middle England. Along the way he polished many shoes, met lots of interesting people, pedalled many miles, and gained a fascinating insight into his own country from a rather unique perspective.Rejected by some, welcomed by many, he polished shoes in shopping centres, solicitor's offices, a kite festival, railway stations, campsites, street corners, and a bewildering selection of pubs. He polished the shoes of dossers, company directors, criminals, Morris dancers, publicans, bikers, policemen, schoolboys, reporters, a bowling green groundsman, an Icelander, and a Latvian – to name just a few. He slept in fields, in woods, and on the edge of golf courses. He was ejected from the Norfolk Show and welcomed into the offices of lawyers and fruit importers.During his journey he met members of the Household Cavalry, topless protestors, a homeless joss stick seller, a man who stole baths in hotels, a submariner, a beaten housewife, a disenchanted solicitor, a rubber recycler, a toyshop owner, and two ghost guides – amongst others. All of them had a story to tell: some sad, some amusing. It is their tales and Rob's own incisive observations that are related in this unusual book. Reading it will transport you to Northampton, the centre of the English shoe making tradition; then through the Fens to East Anglia; back across the country to the Midlands; down along the River Severn to Gloucester; and then over the Cotswolds to Oxford. Progress is at a comfortable cycling pace along the country roads and through the sleepy villages, yet interrupted regularly by diversions into the vibrancy of the cities.

Its about your attitude! Tens of millions of people are trapped in a downward spiral of depression, anger, bitterness, and reactivity. Personal negativity has grown to such proportions it can now be considered an attitudinal addiction. Since cognition and attitude have become widely recognized as critical factors underlying health, this pervasive bad attitude clearly undermines our personal and collective health. Lives are cut short, careers are stunted, and relationships wither, because of negativity. But there is an Up Side to the attitude trap. By using the right tools, anyone can find a way out, and experience more vitality and happiness than ever seemed possible. The Up Side of Being Down is a simple guide for healing your personal forms of negativity. The book offers a look at a painful condition that has become as pervasive as Prozac, and as insidious as toxic waste. Each one of us has own degree of personal negativity. The recommendations in this book will help you identify, accept, and heal dysfunctional attitudinal conditions, using a self-guided approach called Mind Fitness. Mind Fitness, like physical fitness, is a lifestyle that leads to better health and greater fulfillment. Instead of barbells and running shoes, Mind Fitness applies the tools of relaxation, proactive reflection and whole-brain learning to create a mental and emotional fitness that promotes full potential and well-being. The Mind Fitness approach embraces the principles of attitudinal psychology, offering solutions for the problems of human health and well-being. The challenge of facing our own negativity?both personally and collectively?plays a large part in the beginning of this new millennium. Mind Fitness is a timely and far-reaching approach to help us do just that. How Can I Know If This Book Is For Me? Do you sometimes feel like someone who... · feels generally discontented and irritated · has bouts of depression filled with frustration · too often takes a defensive position toward things · makes cynical or biting remarks · finds it difficult to embrace new ideas or changes · often feels stressed or angry · exhibits inappropriate reactionary responses · is fearful of what will happen in the future · generally exhibits low energy and critical attitudes? If you want to... · nurture a warmer, more confident and generous relationship with yourself · enhance the depth and quality of your relationships with loved ones, friends, and coworkers · enjoy a greater sense of accomplishment in your work, community, and creative lives · live more optimally in any area on which you focus your mental thoughts: health, education, sports, prosperity, arts, love, relationships. . . Then, this book is for you. In Up Side of Being Down we explore a very common problem?negative attitudes?how they affect our lives, and what we can do about them. Through identification and acceptance of our own forms of personal negativity, our focus shifts from external events to internal causes...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An entertaining, humorous, and inspirational memoir by the founder and chief creative officer of the multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand ban.do, who “has become a hero among women (and likely some men too) who struggle with mental health” (Forbes). After graduating from college, Jen Gotch was living with her parents, heartbroken and lost, when she became convinced that her skin had turned green. Hallucinating that she looked like Shrek was terrifying, but it led to her first diagnosis and the start of a journey towards self-awareness, acceptance, success, and ultimately, joy. With humor and candor, Gotch shares the empowering story of her unlikely path to becoming the creator and CCO of a multimillion-dollar brand. From her childhood in Florida where her early struggles with bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and ADD were misdiagnosed, to her winding career path as a waitress, photographer, food stylist, and finally, accidental entrepreneur, she illuminates how embracing her flaws and understanding the influence of mental illness on her creativity actually led to her greatest successes in business and life. Hilarious, hyper-relatable, and filled with fascinating insights and hard-won wisdom on everything from why it’s okay to cry at work to the myth of busyness and perfection to the emotional rating system she uses every day, Gotch’s inspirational memoir dares readers to live each day with hope, optimism, kindness, and humor.

The Upside of Being Down shows the winding paths that are the thoughts that go through one's mind, and the debilitating symptoms that come alight with Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is an illness misunderstood by many. At first glance it is seen as a trivial call for attention, but it is so much more. The Upside of Being Down is a memoir of a teenage survivor of Anorexia written in order to destigmatize this illness so that many more can be treated. Only one in ten sufferers will seek treatment because many people don't conceptualize what eating disorders truly encompass. What may come as a surprise to many, is that weight and looks are the most insignificant part of this illness. Through medical appointments and unique experiences, Carolina recounts the thoughts and actions that built up her diagnosis within The Upside of Being Down. Much like navigating unknown seas, Carolina writes about surviving an illness that is entirely abstract and has no simple way out, while also advocating for eating disorder awareness to encourage families and people who are on the verge of giving up.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An entertaining, humorous, and inspirational memoir by the founder and chief creative officer of the multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand ban.do, who “has become a hero among women (and likely some men too) who struggle with mental health” (Forbes). After graduating from college, Jen Gotch was living with her parents, heartbroken and lost, when she became convinced that her skin had turned green. Hallucinating that she looked like Shrek was terrifying, but it led to her first diagnosis and the start of a journey towards self-awareness, acceptance, success, and ultimately, joy. With humor and candor, Gotch shares the empowering story of her unlikely path to becoming the creator and CCO of a multimillion-dollar brand. From her childhood in Florida where her early struggles with bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and ADD were misdiagnosed, to her winding career path as a waitress, photographer, food stylist, and finally, accidental entrepreneur, she illuminates how embracing her flaws and understanding the influence of mental illness on her creativity actually led to her greatest successes in business and life. Hilarious, hyper-relatable, and filled with fascinating insights and hard-won wisdom on everything from why it’s okay to cry at work to the myth of busyness and perfection to the emotional rating system she uses every day, Gotch’s inspirational memoir dares readers to live each day with hope, optimism, kindness, and humor.