Nothing is as bad as a marriage that is a hopeless failure. ~ D. H. Lawrence

Being in a toxic relationship engenders stress, loneliness, resentments, jealousy, fear, pain, depression, anxiety, helplessness, the destruction your confidence and self-worth, and creates toxic coping mechanisms. It will ruin your life; physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially. The negative effects of being in a bad relationship will last for years and years after you have escaped, that’s if the bad feelings and memories ever really go away at all. I have personally experienced a toxic marriage with an uncaring, unfaithful wife. I have seen friends suffering horrible relationships, and witnessed them reliving the pain even years after the relationship ended. And trust me, toxic relationships always end very badly. There may come a time when you have a choice between being with someone you know deep down is the wrong person for you, or being alone. Trust me, being with the wrong person is a hell of a lot worse than being alone. So, if you are dating an abuser, an alcoholic, a bully, a liar, a lazy slob, a slut, a user, a thief, someone who cheats on you, or someone who makes you feel uncomfortable ~ then run far and run fast, change your name, get out of dodge, and never once look back. Or suffer years and years of fear, penury, pain, anxiety, and depression ~ and then even more years of trying to rebuild your life.

Jack Collier

Be gentle with yourself, you are doing the best you can. ~ Paulo Coelho

Recovering from a Traumatic Brain Injury can be a long hard road, and may require months of specialist treatment and care. I have been very lucky, despite the buckets of blood my injury wasn’t really so bad. There was no need for me to have skull surgery from some budding Doctor Frankenstein. I haven’t had to spend days or weeks in hospital ~ mostly I have been able to recuperate and begin to rehabilitate myself at home. And, honestly, I believe I am recovering faster away from a hospital environment than I would have as an in-patient. Thus far the key elements to my rehabilitation have been;

• Accepting full responsibility for my own health and well-being
• Varied and regular Physical, Mental, and Spiritual activity
• Healthy meals, with appropriate supplements, (hospital food is appalling)
• Staying away from alcohol and other dangerous addictions
• Plenty of peace, quiet, rest, and good sleep
• Prayer, meditation, and spiritual guidance
• The care and support of my closest friends
• Feeling safe, secure, protected, and warm in my own home

I have also benefited from excellent out-patient medical care and counselling.

Recovery and rehabilitation from a brain injury is not a step by step linear process, I have learned that it’s holistic, based on complete honesty with myself and everyone else in my suddenly diminished world. I am much better today than I was yesterday, and I have every hope that I will be more improved tomorrow than I am today.

My sincere thanks to everyone who has helped me.

Jack Collier

Even in the midst of life’s adversity, struggle or strife,

love’s enduring presence remains steadfast. ~ Eleesha

Recently I had a traumatic brain injury. People who know me well say that I have changed almost out of all recognition since then; that I am nicer, calmer, less negative, a much better man to know. And that no matter how much adversity I am going through now things will improve. All I know is that every minute of every day I struggle to keep things together. The walls and fences are closing in around me. I hope that by remembering a few basic guidelines I can go on being ‘a much better man to know’ and not fall back into my old ways. So these are the attributes I’m working on; Integrity, Openness, Faithfulness, Dependability and Reliability, Listening, Caring for Others, and keeping a Sense of Humour. Right now I don’t recognise the man in the mirror ~ he looks like a zombie and dresses like a scarecrow. So when I have the ability I will work on my appearance and try to find some sense of style. With any luck I won’t crash and burn.

Jack Collier

Love is the whole thing. We are only the pieces. ~ Rumi

True love is to fly towards a secret sky. To share the last rays of the setting sun. To live a lifetime in a single kiss. To find that your friend has become your most beloved. Love is taking a chance on where the unknown road may lead you both. Love is she and she is love. May you have a Happy and Joyful St. Valentine’s Day.

Jack Collier

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people say you cannot do. ~ Walter Bagehot

It’s Shrove Tuesday today. When I was a child we called it ‘pancake day’ because way back then the Christian festivals were less about religion and more about having fun, which is just it should be when you are a small child. Now I am a man I know what to be shriven means, and yet I do not feel the need to confess my sins, nor to cleanse my soul. There has been enough of that for me in the days since I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. This is the very last day allowed for revelry and the quaffing of ale before the long, dull, austere forty days and forty nights of Lent begins. Enjoy, but please forgive me if I don’t join you.

Jack Collier

The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love. ~ Hubert Humphrey

For a very long time I did not take care of myself. I willfully ignored the good advice from my friends. I continued on a dangerous path to nowhere, and the world broke me. But, I have been given the chance to make a fresh start. Now I am doing the very best I can to return to life, with the kind help of my few friends I a getting better. I know that every day I am recovering a little, coming a tiny bit closer to health, reaching out to find happiness again. The dawn is breaking, it is a new day for me.

Jack Collier

Be quiet, let your existence speak for it reaches the core of the soul. ~ Syed Sharukh

Since the recent traumatic injury to my brain, my yesterdays are as seen through a glass, darkly. It is as though my past is naught but a dream, and today is my only reality. Or, it may be that now is the dream and my past is the reality. There is no certainty to where I am in time and space. I know that I need to heal myself. I need to find peace by accepting what is, and understanding that what will be will be. Rest, quiet, and the support of my friends will bring me through these difficult moments.

Jack Collier