Getting through the dark days

November 2, 2020

In today's podcast, Ina Mullin, National Manager, Communications, and Public Affairs Officer for Lifeline Australia, is sharing her amazing work - helping people connect and find hope in life.

I know that everyone is facing some form of a challenge at the moment—with Covid and the state of the world—but our ability to handle these challenges is THE distinguishing factor, determining whether we're going to be successful in our lives or not. It is that simple - and that hard! This episode is about what you can do to get past that moment of feeling stuck or like it's the end of the line for you.

As someone who has walked through my own very dark days, and I greatly value those who give their time to help others get through the challenge. These people are coaches - hope and survival is the goal - a quintessential human quality that forms the bedrock of life. Hope allows us to dream. Dreams give us the strength to believe. Belief is the main ingredient of success. Ina is a leader in one of Australia's primary organisations dedicated to giving people hope.

Ina joined Lifeline in 2018. She's had a bunch of business development, brand management, and public relations roles at different charity organisations. But in the past couple of years, she dove deeper into mental health, understanding other people's issues, and emotional distress, and building resilience in them.

Growing up with socially conscious parents, she spent her early years volunteering at a crisis shelter, inspiring her to focus her corporate career on building opportunities for a more compassionate world.

Right now I'm running a course called Launching Your Passion Project and recently we talked about the 'messy middle'. It doesn't matter what you're trying to create, there's always this aspect of resistance, when life seems harder than normal. That is what Lifeline can help you get through. This is a very timely podcast. Many people are going through tough times right now. Governments have priorities a certain aspect of "health" and largely underestimated the mental health impacts of restriction measures - the most vulnerable being youth and minority groups.

Ina shares the spike in calls that Lifeline has been receiving over the past 12 months and highlights the importance of connection and how it gives us the strength to hope.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW ARE DOING IT TOUGH YOU CAN:

Connect with us here at the Blueprint
Call Lifeline by dialing 13 11 14.

It's important that as we go through these challenging times, we adjust our plans to make sure we include social connections. I also encourage you to do some deep reflection, like journal work, to rethink your purpose and call. Connecting with your inner identity and purpose will strengthen your mental health and give you a positive direction to move you forward.

Have you taken the Lifestyle Design quiz? That is an amazing way to get you clear on your own inner strength and your focus for growth. It will generate a free, customised report that includes personal coaching questions to help move you toward your best life.

Let's get into the podcast...

Here's the highlights:

[04:21] When I was volunteering, I realized I was learning a lot more and getting more satisfaction.
[06:06] Lifeline is Australia's largest suicide prevention center. Known for their volunteer-operated 24/7 hotline for people going through difficult times but feel they don't have anyone to talk to. It's important that such a service exists, where people are available to listen without judgment.
[07:10] Every year 1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental health issue. Since September last year, there was a 10% increase in calls.
[12:11] Crisis supporters have been more motivated to help. But debriefing is always necessary. Our message: We're committed to being here for you.
[15:42] Success is building the connection to others and the connection of purpose—connecting to see your strengths and hope; seeing that what I'm doing impacts others connects me to what I'm doing.
[17:50] Holding on to Hope Podcast: Placing importance on the voice of the experience: Being able to listen to how they got through it is possibly the greatest contribution to back the change. Every single person has a different reason for being alive today, for finding strength and hope but every single person has a connection to something, with a purpose that has given them the reason to live.
[20:04] If you or someone is going through something difficult, reach out to a Crisis Supporter to have someone listen without any judgment or advice but help your crystallize your own thoughts and what options you have. Ask them directly to open a conversation.