Last Updated: 30th Jan, 2003
(I use the Buffied
font. When i get a banner made, this won't be an issue, but
'till then, the above blue words should be in the Buffy
font, but may not if u don't have the small file needed)
INTRODUCTION:
Here, I, Stephanie (fpvs), Co-Guild Morale Officer (Fellow Gulid
Morale Officer being Alex) of the We Luv Buffy Guild at Neopets.com
set out to chipper you up. To make you happier and more smiley
than before turning your browser to this site. If this page failed,
let
me know. I have tonnes of wonderful pics that are almost
certain to make you smile. Whether you're a lover of Spike, Angel,
Buffy, Willow or Giles(!) I'm bound to have the pics (or URLs)
that will 'turn that frown upside down!'
If there are things that you've come
across - words, pics, chain letters, whatever - that made you
smile, send them to me (fpvs_smh@yahoo.com)
and I'll cut, paste, plaster them here. With little thankyous/links,
etc to show that this page is a group effort. From those who
know that people get down, but a simple act of caring can change
that.. or at least start to. I know that being down is all relative
to the person's life, so things that are barely a ripple in someone's
life is a tidal wave in another's, so just work your way down.
I'm sure somewhere along the way you'll find something to make
u smile! And this is all coming from someone who knows what they're
talking about (See the
bottom for my story)
JUMP STRAIGHT TO TIPS
TO MAKE YOU LESS DOWN
SMILE!!!!
Firstly, I'd like you
to think about that which is getting you down. How bad is it really?
Things, they can get worse. Somewhere along the way they might,
but is this likely to happen? Soon? I hope not. Think about how
long this is gonna last. Break-ups, whether they be family, friends,
or more intimate friends, they may be fixed. They may not. It
isn't the end of the world. New friends, they come along. Boyfriends/girlfriends,
they come, they go. Even husbands and wives often, in todays society
don't last. But meeting new people is a wonderful thing. To get
to know someone for the first time. Develop the relationship.
And if it's family problems... well people grow apart. If you're
young and it's parents... well eventually you grow up and get
to move out. You get the freedom and that time that you spend
living with them, it's not really that long, compared to the rest
of your life. You will, one day look back and remember it as a
memory.
I, myself, have had
my share of most of the above, but that's put later, if you want
to read. Proves the whole things-can-get-worse idea. October,
2002. That's my month of proof! But this page is for YOU! Thou
who is down and with a not-good frown!
If you're down, really
down. Down in pits that have walls so high you can't reach the
top. Remember that there are people in your life that care.
There is always someone to listen. Even if that person ends up
being a counciler (all schools have them and it's not hard to
arrange an appointment... and often you can get out of classes.
If you don't like Maths... PE... French, you can arrange for an
appointment then!). It's the counciler's job to listen. So if
you don't think you can go to your friends to talk (and don't
you go telling me you don't have any! Even the class pyro[maniac]
and that person who's always picked on, they have friends! There
is always going to be someone who will miss you. Who'd want you
to come to them when you need somebody. They'd rather you bother
them than you not ever walk into class again.
But what you really
need to do, you need to look inside yourself and love what's there!
If you have issues with how you look - this can be changed! If
you really are grossly overweight - like you don't know anyone
who's larger than you and you don't live in an imaginary
world of television - you can always go visit your doctor. They
can help you lose weight safely. Sure, you may have to stop eating
those chocolate eclairs for breakfast, lunch and dinner *sigh*,
but in the future you won't miss it. You'll be happy that you've
found other food to enjoy, like fruit. C'mon, you might not like
Apples, but what about Mangos, Strawberries, Watermelon, yummy
Grapes, I could go on and on. Oh, and if you're stuck in the world
of television celebrities, you may be interested to know that
in the original Buffy pilot Willow was not played by the petite
Alyson Hannigan. No, she was played by a very obviously
overweight actress. I can't recall her name - hey, how many parts
are there for the larger ladies? But I recognised her. Kinda the
size of Drew Barrymore's friend in Never Been Kissed. The
high school friend. Pleanty of people grow to love they're larger
than average bodies.
If, however, it's not
the body image, there are steps. Lots of seemingly long steps
that I feel need to be taken. I, myself, am on this path. And
I can tell you that though it may feel like it will take forever,
it doesn't. I actually look at myself of past, self-destructive
years as almost another person. I know that it was me,
but by distancing myself at the same time, it is easier to move
forward. If you have the habit of thinking destructive thoughts,
you need to set up a personal system for when you recognise these
thoughts occuring. Firstly, I should state here that this is just
my own way. If you know other things/ways that help(ed) you, please
let me know so this can be passed on to help others!
Here's an example of the things you
can do/say to yourself to chear yourself up, or simply keep yourself
from sliding down the deep metephorical pit of despair:
1. Whenever you start to feel down do
something to chear yourself up. If you're doing something real important, like homework,
etc. A short break of a coffee (though caffeine is not the best
health thing, so don't you go start drinking coffee if you don't
drink it normally) or a short time of channel surfing could do
the trick. Or if you're into books and have a little more time,
always have a novel on hand to escape through. A chapter... or
maybe a whole book is something that I find raises my spirits
greatly.
2. Stop thinking about that which is upsetting
you. If it's homework,
or something else that needs to be done now, the quick
fix of 1. may have to do the temporary fix, but if not... Think
about something else. You don't need to keep thinking about that
break up you've just had with your b/f or g/f. You don't have
to keep thinking about a great loss you've just had. It's not
disrespectful to give yourself a break from the pain.
3. Go talk to a friend. Ok, if your friends aren't listening,
go find someone else. A counciler or even just call a Help Line.
In Australia we have the Kids Help Line among others. Other countries
will have others, I'm sure. Just get your phone directory and
you should be able to find one.
4. Go for a walk. Run. Jog. Movie. Anything! There are pleanty of things that will
chear you up. It's only you who knows what it is that will do
the trick. Think about the things that make you happy. If you
have a habit make a list of such things. You may suddenly come
to the realisation that watching Buffy chears you up dramatically!
Add it to your list! Next time you feel down dig out a tape (c'mon,
you call yourself a Buffy fan and you don't own a single episode
on tape/DVD??!?!) and watch it! Maybe a single episode will do
the trick... the Muscial episode.. the very first episode.. the
third episode of S6 just to see that look on Spike's face when
he realises it's Buffy and not the Buffy-bot!
5. Make a webpage!!! I'll link to ya! I'm sure you have other webfriends
who'll link to ya, also!! If you get just a little traffic to
your site you can feel that you make an impact on other people's
lives! With the internet you can reach the four [non-existant]
corners of the world! I'm in Melbourne, Australia, the country
'girt by sea' and where are you? Ok, you may be in the next suburb,
but you could be in America, Europe, Asia. Ask yourself this -
would I have ever touched your life if not for my webpage??
But
anyway, I have to stop writting. For now. Email me (or neomail
me) if you'd like some
advice, personal chipper-me-up words, or would like to submit
a chain-letter that made you smile. Hey, a simple deletion of
the part at the end that says, 'Forward this to X people or you
will lead a miserable life' and it could make more people happy!!!
One of
those Funny Chain letters
Flying Pig Vampire Slayer's Homepage
My
Story
Once upon a time there was a shy little girl. She lived
with her older brother and mum and dad. Both her mum and dad had
well paid manergerial positions and hence they were able to go
on family holidays most years. They travelled all around Australia.
It was the year that this little girl's older brother graduated
from primary school, that her school was declared to be closing
down. The evil state Premier closed many schools in his reign
of power. This shy little girl now started the next school year
at another school that was twice the size and one that had nasty
bullies (though compared to other kids, she was barely picked
on at all).
Within a year her parents sat her down to tell her
and her brother that they no longer loved on another. Her father
moved out and started working overseas - In Borneo, Indonesia.
He came home once every three weeks to spend a weekend with his
two children. This little girl's mum soon became over-stressed
at work, pushing towards the end with the application of an unfair
dismissal case against her. Mum eventually went to the doctors
where they diagnosed her with Chronic Fatigue Disorder. This had
actually been a mis-diagnosis of Depression, and somewhere along
these lines she had quit her job. Things just got worse with the
little girl suffering too. She most likely suffered from depression.
Her father flying home to Melbourne from Sydney one
day feels an incredible pain. His appendix burst. Despite the
pain he manages to stay consious the whole time to arrive at hospital.
The doctors don't immediatly beleive it the appendix for the fact
that most people pass out. He had almost died. Yet less than a
week after getting the remains of his organ cut out, he is out
of the hospital, at home with his mother, recovering.
Then, 12th June, 1998 this little girl, getting ready
for school and a trip to Soverign Hill, she hears a knock at the
back door. It is her Nanna and one of her aunts. Both have clearly
been crying. Straight away the teenage girl knew her mum was dead.
'Passed away' the previous night. The day is spent at her Nanna's,
yet her brother heads to school because he 'had exams'.
The house, due to be open for inspection that weekend,
is taken off the market. Flash forward a couple years, her brother
heads off to the dorms of Uni. She lives with her father. Next
year she completes the final year of high school, her Dad starts
dating again.
2002. Half-way through the first semester this young
woman is told that her father's girlfriend is to move in, or he
is to move out. He moves out and she completes the semester living
alone in a big house. That break she visits her dad and g/f for
dinner and on the way home tells her dad that she would like him
to move in, with his g/f. To move in a few weeks into the new
semester (after she settles into her new classes). The first weekend
after the new semester begins they move in.
The g/f has her ways of living. The young woman who
has lived alone for months, and in unusual circumstances for years
finds it hard to get used to. Everything is different. She rarely
gets to watch the TV that she uses for escapism. Even getting
to watch her few favourite shows is a challenge. She is told that
if she doesn't pull her wait it would probably be best if she
moved out. She is asked if she wouldn't rather live with her Granny.
The Saturday before Uni re-starts after the 'mid-semester'
break (the begining of October) she is told to move out in a fortnight.
A week before her first exam of semester two. Her aunt who is
still living there since coming home from five years in Japan
was supposed to have moved out weeks earlier. The aunt ends up
moving out the weekend before the first exams. She somehow manages
to scrape through them and actually passed everything. Passes
in Math, Physics and Psychology. A Distinction in Astronomy..
though she had wanted much better so that she could go on a free
trip to Parkes, the place for SETI undertakings in Australia.
The place that received and broadcast the Moonwalk decades earlier.
And so she now lives with her Granny in a small, cold
house. With no internet access. No cable TV, that she was used
to. But, hey. At least now there is less stress. Her Granny makes
half her meals for her. And she has most what she needs - she
can even use the computers at Uni (a 20 min bus trip away) for
internet access. And a simple bus trip gets her to the choice
of two different local malls via a bus travelling on a
road less than a five minute walk away. So she may have lost the
only house she can remember living in, but she also lost the stress
that came with living in a house with a man super stressed with
work and an inability to express himself.
So, hey! It could be worse! Could have a life threatening
illness that practically garentees death within a year. The bad
doused in beer last night while out at a club could have been
worth more that the $30 I paid for it a week ago. So, c'mon. What's
your story? Better worse? Still on-going pain? Putting the pain
in perspective of others helps, I'm sure! Hey, I have a trust
fund now. Worth a hell of a lot. And technically I should
own a quarter of that house I used to live in. Worth maybe half
a million in today's market. So it could way be worse.
Could be poor. Forced to pay my own bills in an apartment by myself.
With little more than the clothes on my back!
But I have friends. I have family who all want to be
there for me. I have a start of having money in life. And I have
growing confidence in myself that makes me beleive that when the
time comes, I will be able to survive out there in the
world without a lifeline of family. Without the
garentee that there will be a roof over my head every night of
my life.
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