Thursday, 1 September 2011
My First Hate Mail?
I received this email earlier...Hi,
So, just how much money has your blog brought you in since revealing your soul on a blog?
Just call me cynical but all u r doing is seeking readers to give you clicks that will further your career. Good luck.
Just do not dump on us.
What have u ever felt really miserable about let alone downright depresed?
j
I've never had one of these before, to my email. I've had a few 'troll' comments on the blog, that I've written about elsewhere.I'm guessing this person hasn't read too much of my blog content, or most of these questions would be answered.For example, I'm obviously not making enough money to move out of my 'base of operations', which is currently the bedroom of my elderly mother's house. I am 37 and I live here with three cats... if anyone goes missing around Carlisle, you'd be sure that the police would come knocking here first.Anyway... I was very pleased with my reaction. There was no impulse to write STFU STUPID! back in bright red, massive letters. I wrote this:Hi Jayne,Thanks for your email, first of all!
The answer to your questions are already in the posts I've made, so far, if you feel like a good read through, but briefly...
I haven't made any money from the blog. I get a lot of people emailing me, asking for help, too, and I do what I can, free of charge - though it takes up a lot of my time. I sometimes work up to 18 hours a day.
I am writing a book, though, and I have other plans on raising awareness of what I teach. I do expect that, in time, these plans will make a very large income, but - as I've stated a few times - I want to use the profits to help people. This is a good round-up of my aims, in that respect:
http://www.briercliffe.co/User/StoryProfile.aspx?sid=43I had 'depression' for around 20 years... on medication for 15 years or so... got the scars on my wrists from suicide attempts and went through a few very serious overdose dramas. If you ask anyone who has battled mental illness why they were mentally ill, I expect they'll say the same as me... some of us find it difficult to cope with certain situations or times in life. In fact, one in five people will suffer at least one episode of acute depression (rather than 'feeling low') in our lives. That's well over a billion people, on current global population levels.
This is a good article on the BBC website to illustrate that:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/mental_health/disorders_depression.shtml
I was very lucky, in that I experienced the 'awakening' I write about last February, and my whole perception of life changed in the space of around an hour. Although I firmly believe it was 'spiritual' in nature, there's nothing particularly mystical about it, and I'm not at all religious... it's something that just about everyone has access to, but very few people are aware of that strength, within.
Now... if you were in my shoes... if you'd been through what seemed like hell on Earth and came out the other side, smiling, and you felt sure that you could teach others how to do the same... wouldn't you want to help others find that sense of peace, too? I think you would!
I live a content, tranquil life despite not having very much money at all, and though money is far from being the prime motivation of my work, it would of course be useful to extend awareness and promote the benefits of these teachings to others. So, if I were to sell someone a book - for the same price of a few pints of beer - that could help them be happy, don't you think that would be a fair trade? But rather than use the profits of that to buy myself fancy, shiny things to inflate my ego's sense of self-worth, I'd use that money to do positive, life-changing things for other people... be they individuals, groups or communities... such as having a well drilled in a village in Africa, paying the medical bills for some sick kid who needed urgent treatment and who couldn't really afford to wait six months for a long, drawn-out fund-raising campaign, or perhaps inspiring children from hard-to-reach inner-city communities to learn a musical instrument or get involved in music production.
I'd also quite like to do my part to prevent people from killing themselves, or living truly miserable lives because they can't switch off their thoughts. The mind can be a person's greatest enemy.
It is a cynical world, yes, but some people in it have true hearts and will work towards changing the world - which we all share - for the better. I'm one of them. There are many others, too.
I hope that helps with your concern.
Cheers,
Les
2011-09-01
Lesism - by Les Floyd: My First Hate Mail?
4 comments:
God Bless You Les, you have a heart of gold and it thrills me to see the love you demonstrated in your reply...may your life continue to be a celebration and may you always view life with the postive outlook you've presented here...it is wonderful to see the growth of another person! You're helping others more than you could possibly ever know...May there always be miracles in your life and sunLight along your path! And may you find abundant love, Always!
Good for you for not going the STFU route. :D I might have.
Les,
I am sorry you had to receive such a spiteful email BUT your response was not only eloquent but positive and heart felt.
Suffering from a mental illness is not a thing anyone could honestly say they would want to have with them for the rest of their life. Their family and friends would also expound on the difficulties of knowing someone you love who is a sufferer.
I actually wrote a post about Bipolar on one of my blogs to try and make people aware of it. If you are interested you can find it at http://vampiriquedezireauthor.blogspot.com
Thank you for sharing this post and your thoughts, it takes a lot of courage.
Blessed Be!
Always the gentleman, well done.