UK Blog Awards 2016 - VOTING HAS OPENED! #UKBA16

For the first post of the year it's an exciting one! Voting has opened for the 2016 UK Blog Awards...

Life In Recovery has been nominated in two categories this year - Health & Social Care and Best Storyteller.

When the blog was nominated I was asked to answer the question 'Why Vote For Me/The Blog?' the answer was pretty simple in the end: Illness (in it's many shapes and forms) can touch us all - no matter who we are. Health should be looked after, valued and nurtured; issues should be discussed; knowledge and experience shared. No-one should ever feel alone, lost, unheard or ashamed. If you believe this too - vote for Life In Recovery - a blog that tries to make a difference.

Voting opens today 4th January and closes on 25th January, so you don't have long to cast your votes!

So...if you'd like to vote for me - how can you?

• All votes are cast via the blog's profile page here (or click on the picture above).

• Once you're on the blog's profile page you will see a big 'Vote Now' button - press it!

• Because Life In Recovery is up for two categories you will have the choice to vote for both of the categories from a drop-down list on the page. 

• Please note, you can vote for each category, but this has to be done separately.

• Once you have entered your name and email address you will receive a confirmation email to say your vote has been registered. Hurrah!

• You can vote on mobile devices and desktop computers once a day...so you aren't limited to one vote! So that's one vote per person per day. Meaning (if you want) you can vote every day until the deadline!

It's a massive honour to be 'in the mix' with some incredibly talented people and companies - all who bring something special and individual to their corners of the internet. 

I urge you to have a browse through some of the other nominees!

I really appreciate and value all of your feedback, support and readership. This blog wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of you - so thank you!

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - yourlifeinrecovery@gmail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Bitchy women: crescendo in catty culture

Near where I live there’s a very nice organic, home-made, yoga lifestyle sort of café. In essence it should be the kind of place I’d be naturally drawn to and want to frequent. 
However, I don’t. 
In fact when I pass it, as I do almost daily, I scuttle by and try to ignore its siren call. Why? Is the coffee awful? Or are the owners rude? Is it dirty/smelly/noisy? No. 
The issue isn’t with the café itself it’s with the people who choose to eat and drink there. It’s a yummy-mummy hangout which is fine in itself but the problem is that all these women seem to talk about is how, "Mrs F looked rough this morning", "Miss B is having trouble with the boyfriend" or that, "Mr and Mrs T are struggling financially". You can’t escape the conversations, however hard you try not to hear them. 

The first time I visited the café I very nearly walked over to the circle of gossiping women to point out that maybe their ‘friend’ was having so much trouble because, instead of trying to be there for her, they were choosing to spend their time ripping her life to pieces instead. The phrase “With friends like these, who needs enemies” hits the nail on the head.

I have stood on tube platforms, been in a queue or looked up from chatting with friends and received one of those up-and-down looks from another woman where you’re made to feel about as small and welcome as a cockroach. The American’s call it giving someone the ‘stink eye.’ This sums it up nicely. It’s hugely rude, disrespectful and hurtful to be judged purely on the way you look or just because you happen to be a fellow woman who might be competition.

However, it’s not just us as individuals who seem to enjoy bitching and sniping about other women; the media adds fuel to the already blazing fire by publishing articles that pit one woman against another. 
Did so-and-so wear it better? Is what’s-her-face the new ‘it’ girl? Ms X dethrones Ms Z as the new princess of pop/queen of our hearts/fashionista/media darling. 
It’s a human version of cock fighting. 
Yet instead of realising how barbaric, demeaning and destructive this trend for setting women against each other is we, as a society and a sex, are in the thick of the crowd egging the fight on!

I’m not asking that all women should link arms and walk off into the sunset together; that’s not realistic. We will have our differences and disagreements - that’s part of being individuals. All I ask is that we stop perpetuating a hate and vitriol-filled society where we seem to take pleasure from other people’s pain. Where we revel and crow over our neighbour’s failings and misfortunes. 

My wish is that we can accept other, respect choices, support our friends in rough times and not judge a book by its cover. My wish is that we can enjoy each others successes, not view people as a threat, or someone to 'take down' and that we can be confident enough in ourselves to build up and boost those around us.

Someone once said “When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself”. 

Do you feel the same way (as a man or as a woman)? Have you been on the receiving end of one of those 'stink eyes'? Do you feel that the media pit women against each other one minute and then berate the women who do "compete"?

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - lifeinrecovery@mail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life