Is it too late? Fighting Mental Health...
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*Limited time weekly lease offer and all other offers are from Honda Canada Finance Inc., on approved credit. #The weekly lease offer applies to a new 2018 Civic Sedan SE FC2F6JEX/2018 Accord Sedan LX CV1E1JE/2018 CR-V LX 2WD RW1H3JES for a 60-month www.surreyhonda.ca period, for a total of 260 payments of $68.93/$81.96/$81.94 leased at 2.99%/3.99%/3.99% APR based on applying $220/$55/$420 "lease dollars" (which are deducted from the negotiated selling price after taxes). ‡Down payment of $0.00 first weekly payment and $0 security deposit due at lease inception. Total lease obligation is $17,921.80/$21,309.60/$21,304.40. Taxes, license, insurance and registration are extra. 120,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. **Selling price for the 2018 Civic *Limited time weekly lease offerLX/2018 and all other are from Honda Canada Finance including Inc., on approved credit. weekly lease offer applies to ainsurance, new 2018 Civic Sedan and SE FC2F6JEX/2018 Accord LX CV1E1JE/2018 LX 2WD RW1H3JES for a payments 60-month Sedan SE/2018 Accord Sedan CR-Voffers LX 2WD is $24,045/$28,145/$28,885 freight and PDI#The of $1,655/$1,655/$1,795. License, registration taxes are extra and maySedan be required at the time ofCR-V purchase. */#/**Prices and/or period, for not a total of 260a payments $68.93/$81.96/$81.94 at 2.99%/3.99%/3.99% APR based on applyingtax $220/$55/$420 dollars"fee (which are applicable) deducted from the negotiated selling priceatafter ‡Down paymentcharges of $0.00for firstdealer weeklyadministration/ payment and shown do include PPSA lien of registration fee of $30.31leased and lien registering agent's fee of $5.25, tire/battery of $25, or air"lease conditioning (where of $100, all of which are due timetaxes). of delivery. Additional $0 security deposit due at lease inception. Total lease obligation is $17,921.80/$21,309.60/$21,304.40. Taxes, license, insurance and registration are extra. 120,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. **Selling price for the 2018 Civic documentation fees, waste disposal fees, environmental fees and handling charges (all of which may vary by dealer and/or vehicle) may apply. Dealer may sell/lease for less. Dealer trade may be necessary on certain vehicles. Offers valid only for British Columbia Sedan SE/2018 AccordDealers Sedan LX/2018 LXsubject 2WD isto$24,045/$28,145/$28,885 including freight andvalid PDI till of February $1,655/$1,655/$1,795. License, insurance, registration taxes arewe extra and may required at the time purchase. */#/**Prices and/or payments residents at BC Honda locations.CR-V Offers change or cancellation without notice. Offers 28, 2018. Terms and conditions apply. None ofand the features describe are be intended to replace theofdriver's responsibility to exercise due care shown do not include a PPSA lien registration fee of $30.31 and lien registering agent's fee of $5.25, tire/battery tax of $25, or air conditioning fee (where applicable) of $100, all of which are due at time of delivery. Additional charges for dealer administration/ while driving. Drivers should not use handheld devices or operate certain vehicle features unless it is safe and legal to do so. Some features have technological limitations. For additional feature information, limitations and restrictions, please visit www.honda.ca/ documentation environmental fees and handling charges of which varyfor byfull dealer and/or vehicle) mayis apply. Dealer mayasell/lease Dealer trade may beisnecessary vehicles. Offers validInc. onlyOnly for British Columbia disclaimers andfees, refer waste to the disposal vehicle's fees, Owner's Manual. Visit www.bchonda.com or see(all your Hondamay retailer details. Apple CarPlay provided by, and trademarkforof,less. Apple Inc. Android Auto provided on by, certain and a trademark of, Google compatible with residents at BC Honda Dealerssystems. locations.Cellular Offers data subject to change or cancellation without notice.roaming Offers valid till February 2018. Termscharged and conditions None of the features describe arelogo intended replace the driver's responsibility exercise due care certain devices and operating and/or voice charges may apply, including charges and/or 28, other amounts by your apply. wireless carrier. Use of the we Apple CarPlay meanstothat a vehicle user interface meetstoApple performance while driving. Drivers should not use handheld devices or operate certain vehicle features unless it is safe and legal to do so. Some features have technological limitations. For additional feature information, limitations and restrictions, please visit www.honda.ca/ standards. Apple is not responsible for the operation of this vehicle or its compliance with safety and regulatory standards. Please note that the use of this product with iPhone, iPod, or iPad may affect wireless performance. disclaimers and refer to the vehicle's Owner's Manual. Visit www.bchonda.com or see your Honda retailer for full details. Apple CarPlay is provided by, and a trademark of, Apple Inc. Android Auto is provided by, and a trademark of, Google Inc. Only compatible with certain devices and operating systems. Cellular data and/or voice charges may apply, including roaming charges and/or other amounts charged by your wireless carrier. Use of the Apple CarPlay logo means that a vehicle user interface meets Apple performance standards. Apple is not responsible for the operation of this vehicle or its compliance with safety and regulatory standards. Please note that the use of this product with iPhone, iPod, or iPad may affect wireless performance.
Our Team
Publisher’s Note
Simmy Cheema
Marketing Team Sunny (Manager) Chris Anna
Chief Editor
Harvinder Sandhu
Editor
Raj Nagi
Art Director
Jasneet Samra
Photographers
Aziz Photography
Contributing Writers
Alysha Gill Cassandra Chantel Goswami Dileep Nigam Gaurav Kaila Ira Saini Jaedyn Hallier Mai Le Preet Sanghera Shannon Permal Shansha Datt Sikh Youth Of Victoria Simran Sandhu Universal Peace Wisdom
Everything I have achieved or what I have become now has come out of adversity. Many times I thought, this is it, but then again, God gave me a reason to live, a sign to hang on. People who have criticized me, insulted me, and hated me are no longer in my life, I thank them. I wouldn’t have reached my full potential without them. I consider them my teachers. In this issue, Close Look magazine is trying to bring your attention towards mental health, which we often hate to admit exist or don’t want to talk about, especially if a Youth is suffering. If our child comes to us and says, “I am feeling depressed mom”, what would be your reaction? I have heard people say, “Depression in this age?” My humble request, please take them seriously.
Our Previous Issue
I thank supporters and sponsors who believe in my vision. I especially thank God, my team, my family and friends for being part of my journey with Close Look. I hope this issue is able to make a difference. “ All participants have done a great job, so lucky to see them on stage and sharinng their passion.” - Nimavat
Contact Info Ph: 604-999-1433 www.closelook.ca CLOSE LOOK
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FEATURE STORY THE JOURNEY I WAS GIVEN PG.28
CLOSE LOOK IN ACTION PG.26
MONEY MATTERS STARTING A HOME BASE-BUSINESS PG.22
WORDS OF WISDOM BALANCE: SPIRITUAL LIFE WITH MATERIAL PG.20
INSPIRATIONAL STORIES JOURNEY TO RECOVERY PG.18 RUNNING AROUND THE WORLD IN 12 MONTHS PG.24
TALENT PREET SANGHERA PG.10 SIMRAN SANDHU PG.12 JAEDYN HALLIER PG.16
SECTION
CAREER/EMPLOYMENT FAILING FORWARD TO SUCCEED PG.46
BODY, MIND & SPIRIT WARRIOR SPIRIT PG.42
MAKEOVER BEAUTY TIPS PG.40
SPEAK UP SOUL SYNTHESIS PG.39 MENTAL HEALTH & YOUTH PG.49
THE KINDNESS CIRCLE PG.34
I SUPPORT SIKH YOUTH OF VICTORIA PG.32 SOCIETY OF PUNJABI ENGINEERS & TECHNOLOGISTS OF BC PG.36 THANKS MOM! PG.38
Endorsements “I would like to congratulate CloseLook on their efforts to showcase youth voices in our community. Providing a platform for youth to share their stories is powerful not only because of the positive experience and skills that the participants gain, but also because their stories can inspire others to make a positive difference in their community and lives. All the best to the CloseLook Team!”
Ken Hardie
“Kudos to Close Look’s dynamic team for raising critical awareness about youth mental health issues and fostering community conversations to help prevent tragic incidents. Your mission to educate the young about alcohol, drugs, self-esteem, mental health and suicide is to be lauded.”
Jinny Sims
“Mental Health conditions can affect different people in different ways. We need to talk about it, help those with the condition and remove the stigma. Kudos to Close Look Magazine for carrying on the conversation with the youth.”
Kanwal Singh Neel, PhD, LL.D. Coordinator, Friends of Simon Faculty of Education, SFU CLOSE LOOK
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TALENT
PREET SANGHERA An Eye For Perfection
Preet has always had a special eye for detail and especially a very different and unique perspective about photography. Through her lens, she is able to portray and capture how she views the world. With only having started photography under a year ago, she has been exposed to all kinds of photography. From fashion, lifestyle and portrait photography she is always eager to learn and try something new. Being in the market for only a short period of time, Preet has gained much traction in the market and is a very sought out photographer. As a creative person, Preet settles for nothing less than perfect which allows her to continue to do what she is passionate about.
Raman Cheema
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TALENT
SIMRAN SANDHU Passion For Music Simran Sandhu was born with a passion
for music. Her singing journey started when she was 10 years old after her mother signed her up for kirtan classes in order to stay connected with her heritage. As she grew older, her interest in music grew but it was not until high school that she realized she wanted to share her love for music with others. She began to sing in English, Punjabi, and Hindi and began to perform whenever she got the chance. She created a YouTube account under the name of Cinnamon Sandhu, and has been known by that name on social media ever since. As a social media influencer, she promotes music, positivity, and shares her opinions on social issues. She carries an enthusiastic and bright personality. Simran has received awards in academics and arts as a child, and has been an active member in her school community. Her poetry has been published in books. Her leadership skills have developed over the years through her participation in Air Cadets and a Vancouver Fire
Fighters Ignite Camp. Growing up Simran was involved in giddha and bhangra which sparked her interest in Punjabi music later on in life. After realizing her love for performing, Simran entered a few competitions. She won 3rd place in the BC Mandarin singing competition and performed a Chinese song in a few events. She was a Red Fm Idol finalist in 2015 and was called back to perform in 2017 to sing in a collaboration. This year she was chosen as a finalist for the an indian reality TV singing show “I’ll make you famous.” She continues to perform in her community and was honoured to be asked to perform at the Vancouver South Asian Film Festival closing night and also at a private event in front of Sarah Mclachlan. During the summer, she shared her music at SAFA’s India live event in downtown Vancouver and performed for the Students for Humanity Mental Health Awareness Night in Surrey. Recently, she performed in Closelook Got Talent in 2017 and was awarded 1st place CLOSE LOOK
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in ethnic singing. She really appreciates that the Close Look United Foundation holds events like these to provide a platform for youth to showcase their talent because there’s not many opportunities like these that happen around Vancouver. She is currently a health science student and continues her music on the side. She hopes to one day release her own album and has a dream to bring more value to Punjabi music by taking it to heights in Bollywood. Her message to youth and especially to south Asian youth is to find a way to connect with your culture. Don’t be afraid to speak your mother tongue and be proud of where you come from. We live in a country where diversity is a fact but inclusion is choice so if we choose to be proud of our culture and share it with others, everyone else will do the same. She constantly posts Instagram and youtube videos online so if you’d like to connect with her, you can follow her! @cinnamonsandhu
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TALENT
JAEDYN HALLIER
It’s All About Passion At the young age of 7, Jaedyn started
guitar lessons. While taking guitar lessons, she did voice lessons and dance classes. She did Kiwanis Festival with the Pardalis Music Studio and in 2015 received a medal for the overalls for outstanding contemporary song. In 2014, she made it to the finals of the BC junior talent search and placed 4th out of 10. Since Jaedyn was young she has always wanted to be a singer or an actress. She began acting for the stage at 10 and has since then switched over to acting for screen.
“Talent is everywhere, it only needs the opportunity.” - Kathrine Switzer
Jaedyn Hallier was one of the winners in CLOSE LOOK GOT TALENT, the talent contest. She has recently started taking voice lessons and using the scholarship money she won towards it.
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INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
This is a powerful opportunity to
thing to make amends. share my story with youth and young adults struggling with addiction and Complete honesty and reaching out to behavioral problems. others by being assertive and willing to accept any outcome or consequence Being sober today for over eighteen became one of the key answers to my months, I cannot express my gratitude recovery. enough. First, for myself for being willing to enter a long-term program to In my addiction I felt stuck; I felt the stop the pain, and second, for everyone same record playing over and over involved in supporting my recovery. It again with the same out-come, if not takes absolute courage and strength worse. My lack of approprito make the commitment ate boundaries deteriorated to change your life. It is “Driving a life of my morals and self-respect. important to put purpose fear in the drivers I allowed others to walk all seat with guilt riding in your day followed by shot-gun and shame over me. I trusted no one, nor gratitude. I am grateful for tagging along in the could anyone trust me back. I a place like the John Volkwas broken, ready to die waitback seat.” en Academy that provides ing eagerly to fall asleep and a safe place to heal. I could not do it not awake from complete psychosis. I without the other sisters here holding would pray only on two types of occaeach other accountable with positive sions, one being when I was completemotives, love, and respect. Here is my ly done and hit rock bottom, or two story of addiction and recovery. when I was so high I thought it would
JOURNEY TO
RECOVERY
Deep down it was the underlining feeling of wanting an escape from being vulnerable. I desired to escape the hurt that had robbed me of my innocence. I know for myself my negative behaviours consisted of isolation, people pleasing, procrastination, victimization, and aggressive bullying behavior. I blamed others, mostly my family, for choices I made as an adult. I avoided using my voice and built resentments and false realities. I heard Ted talk by Dr. Brené Brown once that talked about living a life of fear in the drivers seat with guilt riding shot-gun and shame tagging along in the back seat. That was me. Never did I think to stop and take responsibility for my own actions, nor admit my own wrongs of CLOSE LOOK
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be a miracle if I woke up the next day.
Growing up, my parents separated when I was three. I learnt about my family through gossip. My mother was unable to provide the emotional support I needed while my father was absent. In grade 6, I started slipping in my connections with others. My confidence lowered and my thoughts ran my world with false realities and irrational beliefs. I met a friend whose parents drank like my father and I tried my first mixed alcoholic drink with all sorts of liquor mixed together from their liquor cabinet. By grade 8, I started smoking marijuana and drinking on the weekends. My first overdose did not stop my need to escape and my drinking and drug use progressed into experimenting with chemical drugs
“I soon lost everything. I was no longer functional”
like MDMA and ecstasy. I started dating men that treated me equally to my own level of self-love. Men that were verbally abusive, men that started out with physical abuse, but escalated to verbal, physically, and sexual abuse. I first reached out for help in counselling at a women’s safe haven, where I regained some self-love. My drinking continued as a social endeavor, however, and I next shook hands with the devil - cocaine. I thought I could handle it. I ran with pride having false willpower to stop. After turning to IV (intravenous use), I soon lost everything. I was no longer functional; I literally had nothing to loose and I was on a suicide mission. I entered the John Volken Academy (Volken.org) in June, 2016. In this therapeutic community, my peers and I achieve recovery through leadership and life skills training. Together we go through the hardships we face. However, I alone must take responsibility to change. Getting better is not easy. It is about facing my fears head on. The challenge is letting go of my past addiction and negative behaviors. John Volken himself sets a good example by the selfless act of using his finances to help young men and women work towards living a life with the tools and coping strategies to stay sober and clear minded. May your future unfold with abundance, as it is right here waiting for you to make that choice. If I can do it, so can you. I am a Survivor and I am OK. Much love, Cassandra
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WORDS OF WISDOM
spirituality is something that uplifts other aspects of our lives. It is supposed to be a creative force not destructive. Obviously, I wasn’t doing something right. It was the choices I made.
How? It is in-tune with its Creator who knows everything. He cannot be cheated, and, so, it cannot be cheated. Gurbani says it is not through tough penance that God is attained rather he is attained through pure love. “Jin Prem Kiyo, Tin Hi Prabh Payo.” Simply it means, that those who loved him attained him. Just love him with an innocent heart, and he will come.
For this simple understanding that One Sovereign Infinite Creator Protector and Librator of my spiritual life was supposed to be a Souls Seeking Refuge blessing for the other aspects of my life, it took me twelve years. I cannot really LIFE WITH THE MATERIAL say it was a waste of time because it led to the above realization but it also doesn’t t perhaps happens to a lot of people who mean that everyone should take as long. are spirituality inclined, that there comes a All I was missing was the realization of time they loose their balance in the world. how God is attained. I listened to GurbaIt is because they forget that this physical ni everyday but it took me twelve years to world is not real and that they still have finally get a slight gist of it. Even a slight to play a role in this illusion whilst stay- gist can change a life because Gurbani is ing detached, thus, the imbalance. It hap- so powerful. It is also so deep that it canpened to me! I was so engrossed in the not be understood with cleverness or suspiritual aspect that I forgot to realize that perficial understanding. It requires one to materialistic life goes hand in hand with be innocent, and pure at heart. No clevermy spiritual life. This lack of realization ness works before the divine intelligence caused an imbalance in my life. I began ig- because it knows everything. Everything. noring my daily responsibilities, whereas,
This reminds me of Bhagat Puran Singh Ji. Whilst walking on the road, they would be picking up sharp objects that could injure someone’s feet. Bhagat Ji believed that all feet belonged to the Lord because Gurbani says so. There was a belief in the True Guru’s words. They were all God’s feet. That’s it! See the devotion? The way of looking at things goes through a drastic change. All that appears before the eyes is just God. With this intensity of love, with such loyalty, where all just becomes him, it has to pull his heart. It has to. Bhagat Ji not only served people through making an institution for the sick and for those with physical disabilities but also wrote several books on environmental issues and how to conserve our planet for our future generations. See the balance between the spiritual and the material in their life? Living in the world and serving him with absolute love, surrender, and loyalty. www.universalpeacewisdom.org
BALANCE: SPIRITUAL
I
“Spirituality is something that uplifts other aspects of our lives.”
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MONEY MATTERS
Starting A Home Base-Business There are over hundreds of ways for any-
one to start their own business. The simplest way for a person at any age to start their own Business is a Home Base-Business. Rather feeling lost in a jungle, home base-business is a simple path for anyone to start their own business or show their talents and make money while doing so. What is a “Home-Base” business? HomeBase is a business that you operate at home. Anything you can think of as long as you operate at your home is a homebase business. The most popular homebase type of business is a website, but not just any website! Online shops are known as e-commerce. It’s a type of website that allows sellers to easily sell their products online. What type of products can you sell online? Almost anything that is legal could be sold online on your website. For example if making lucky key-charms are your favorite thing to do, creating your own craft-store can be done easily online just using your hobby that can earn you cash. Best way to advertise is using SEO.
SEO is a search engine optimizer that can market your website online, be it local or international. For those who want to save money and would like to advertise freely can use You-tube, Twitter, Instagram and many more social media apps to help your business grow. Social media is a great outlet for advertisement and many have been successful in using it to their own advantage! People are finding ways to creating their own website store, portfolio and entertainment business that is all done just at home. If your not sure how to start, that’s okay. Home base business means you can set your own time and schedule to suit your needs. Start off small, making mistakes is alright because we all learn from them to make ourselves even better. Selling doesn’t require business permit as it is an online based business only. If you’re planning on selling products internationally, e-commerce can be used as an international business. Canada has no jurisdiction over your international business as long as your e-commerce is not a .ca! So
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be extra careful when you purchase your own domain name! It is always a wise choice to do research about your business industry before you open one! You don’t want to be selling anything illegal. It is best to know what you can or cannot do! Also as a friendly reminder, don’t forget to pay your own self-employed income taxes! Happy selling! By Kadupul Website Hosting
YOUR BUSINESS OUR DESIGN www.kadupul.website
MY JOURNEY AT THETHE WORLD IN 12 MONTHS RUNNING AROUND Tong Louie Family YMCA BY CAROLLYNE WOOD
Arif used to run full marathons quite often. The last one he ran was in Chicago in 1997. He stopped running long distances to give his body a break and pursued other activities such as organized sports. About four years ago, Arif started feeling more stressed at work and was going through a tough time in his personal life. Support from his family and friends helped get him through this period but it was his return to running that really changed his life. He exclaims, “I don’t know what it is about running, it gives you time to think and you start feeling better from a health perspective. It also has a positive impact on your mind. Running really helped me deal with my life situations.” When Arif started running again, he was feeling more confident in himself and saw the positive impact on his mental well-being. He decided to make it a little more motivating and set a personal challenge for himself to run twelve half marathons in a year. To make it even more interesting, Arif has chosen races all over the world and is even raising donations for a local charity for each race. Arif Jaffer with Dallas from the YMCA Training Employment and Immigrant Services team this past November, Arif ran the Fall Classic Run, a half marathon at UBC, and chose the YMCA of Greater Vancouver as his charity. Arif raised almost $500 for the YMCA in less than one week. When asked why he chose the YMCA, Arif explains it’s because of the work the YMCA does for children and youth. “I am passionate about helping children. It’s unbelievable the suffering some children have to go through and anything I can do to help is a big thing for me.” To date, Arif has ran eight out of twelve half marathons. He ran a few races in London, England where he resides as well as other cities around England, and has also travelled to Chicago, Vancouver and Dubai. His next race will be in Spain this coming February followed by his final race in Italy in March. “There are ups and downs in this journey and when I am in the moment, I usually don’t think I can complete the race. But I feel great and motivated after when I do.”
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CLOSE LOOK IN ACTION
Us In Action! Close Look is an “AWARD WINNING” community based inspirational TV show that captures the local talented younger generation of BC to uncover their stories!
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Desi Close Look brings you the inspirational immigrant stories in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. Our focus in this program is people that have set an example for others, have something inspirational to share with the world or had the courage to do things that were challenging for them while they moved to a new country, which is Canada. Desi Close Look invites people of diverse occupational background like tradesmen, cab drivers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, etc. with no age bar as such. Get more information about our programs at timings
www.closelook.ca
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to stay quiet and will be a voice for other individuals who have to face these issues behind closed doors. So here it goes‌
FEATURE STORY
Journey I Was Given ? The
You may be sitting there wondering why I have decided to share my life story with you. Seeing the front of this magazine you are probably assuming I experienced mental health issues and decided to go public with talking about it. For those of you who assumed that, you are right. I am choosing to share my story with you for several reasons. I want to help others that are experiencing similar issues which I am currently still battling and I also want to create awareness about mental health. Another very important reason why I am sharing my story is because I want to inspire individuals from all walks of life to use their life experiences to reach their full potential. I believe we were taught in society to keep quiet about sensitive topics like mental health and unfortunately, many people do. Maybe they are worried about what others will think of them? Or maybe they feel embarrassed for having to go through such struggle. It is really no surprise that in this day and age there is still a stigma around mental health. I refuse
Some people deal with mental health challenges at a younger age, but for me that was not the case. From what I can remember I had an amazing childhood. I had many friends and family that I was surrounded and loved by. I had the most amazing birthday parties; I even remember how one year my parents rented a pony for mine and my siblings birthday party! Life was just great and stress free. I really enjoyed elementary school and was involved in all the clubs. I had a wonderful mom and dad who constantly showered me with love, siblings to play with and a safe and blissful home. The biggest concern I had was being late for soccer practice. Things
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in my life seemed to just get better and better as I grew older. After elementary came high school. Grade eight to eleven seemed to be some of my favorite years. I had friends; I was involved in various extra curricular activities including sports and leadership councils. To top everything off I was doing well academically. High school was everything I hoped for and more. After my successful school years I assumed my final year of high school would be unforgettable. It was ‌ but not in the way I hoped it
would be. Grade 12 was the first time I experienced symptoms of depression and anxiety. It was triggered by tension that came from having to see my parent’s marriage fall apart slowly without being able to do anything about it. I like to see myself as the superwoman in the family. The person who tries to fix the problems her loved ones around her are facing. Unfortunately, this was a situation I could not fix. I spent several months grieving my parent’s breakup and being angry to the point I would punch walls until I my knuckles ripped open and bled. At this point I knew I needed some help to manage my emotions and so I focused on playing sports, did mindfulness activities and even attended counseling. My graduation party was the first time I would experience my panic attack. I thought I was having a heart attack!
I was having trouble breathing; having chest pains, felt nauseous and my thoughts were uncontrollably racing. Luckily my counselor was at my grad party and so with her help I made it through my first panic attack! I graduated from high school soon after the first panic attack and was still struggling emotionally. At this point I knew I needed a new outlet. I attended workshops that taught me about the power of meditation. After learning this new skill, I felt like all my mental health issues were slowly disappearing. It really felt like I had learned how to cope and so I went to the next chapter of my life. I began to work security part time at the hospital and at the same time attended university full time in hopes of becoming a police officer one day. Towards the end of my university diploma my mental health symptoms started to creep back up on me. I felt my depression coming back and symptoms of anxiety were re-appearing. I would get shortness of breath, chest pains, and nausea and have moments of intense feelings of sadness and an-
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ger. It was getting hard to concentrate in school, but I managed to push through all the way to the end. I completed the next chapter in my life and it was time for the next. I continued to work full time after receiving my law enforcement diploma while my mental health seemed to deteriorate. While my friends were getting ready to start their future careers and looking for significant other to start a future with, my mental health had gotten me to the point that I was no longer functioning. I struggled getting out of bed, stopped physically taking care of myself and then eventually stopped working. EI helped me get by and once that ended
I still could not work. I then applied for and got disability. I thought things could not get worse, but unfortunately I was wrong. My mental health got to the point where I was contemplating suicide. I started to drink excessively, smoke and self harm by cutting and burning my skin. I felt hopeless and no longer wanted to be here anymore. I once pulled over on Alex Fraser Bridge in an attempt to end it all. At another time I swallowed 200 pills in hopes I would be able to end this pain permanently. Before and after these attempts I was hospitalized many times. Whatever was happening to me was something unexplainable and painful. It was so hard to explain to others what was going on with me. I mean how do you explain something that you do not really understand yourself? Now you are probably wondering
when things started looking up for me. It was not until last March. On March 20, 2017 I was in the hospital and felt the same intense emotions and felt like I was having another mental breakdown. I was pacing and banging my head in order to distract myself. Hospital staff attempted to calm me down, but nothing was working. The doctor was called and I personally feel out of frustration he discharged me in order to not put up with me. At this point I asked this doctor if it would be okay if I killed myself. His answer was, “its your decision.” When I heard the answer I lost faith in the healthcare system and felt like there was nothing else left, but to end my life. I then proceeded to leave the hospital and made my way to King George Highway, which was directly in front of the hospital. I felt like jumping into oncoming traffic would be the way I could finally end the pain. I walked to the middle section of the highway and took some deep breaths. People were wondering what I was doing and so I knew I didn’t have much time. As I took a step forward I saw a man rushing toward me to make sure I did not complete this action. When he was just a few steps away from me, I looked him in the eye, a smile showing him I was okay and jumped right in front of a car that was going approximately 40 km/hour.
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I lay faced down on the concrete in the middle of the road on King George Highway. I was conscious, but could not move at all. I heard sirens, people screaming and nothing, but commotion. I remember being in a lot of pain and was very distraught about what happened. After just what felt like seconds there were emergency responders on the scene. They provided first aid and transported me to a trauma hospital and took care of my physical state. It was when I saw the look on my family’s faces that I knew things needed to change. I knew I could not put them through this again, and in that moment, everything changed for me. I spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and was back home to my family. It is now December; it has been ten months since that time and since my last hospitalization. Things have not gotten easier, but I have sure gotten stronger. Yes I still have my ups and downs, but I have stayed out of the hospital and have found more positive ways to manage my stress. I used to be very angry that I had to experience these two painful years. Now I firmly believe I have been put through this for a reason. I feel god wants me to help those in similar positions and assist them in getting through this
painful part of their journey. I aspire to become a motivational speaker or go into a career where I can continue to help others with their mental health. As for my own mental health, I believe with continuous help from my family, friends and professionals, I now feel like I can finally end this painful chapter in my life and move on to the next! Thank you for reading my story and I wish you all the best in your journey!
If you would like to connect with me with questions, speaking opportunities, or simply just to get some advice, please feel free to contact me at Alysha. gill17@gmail.com. You can also add me on my mental health awareness page through poetry on Instagram @anxiousfighter.
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I SUPPORT
SIKH YOUTH OF VICTORIA ‘Humans Helping Humans’
Sikh Youth of Victoria started in the summer of 2017
in the capital city of British Columbia. The mission of the group is to utilize the Victoria’s youth to create positive change in our city through seva (selfless service). In one of its first activities, the youth group formed a relationship with Our Place Society on Pandora Avenue in June 2017 to provide langar on a monthly basis for approximately 400 vulnerable members of the community. “It’s humans helping humans,” says Jatinder Singh, co-ordinator for the youth group. Since that first langar, over 2000 meals have been provided in 2017. “Being Sikhs and always having a free kitchen [a langar] in our place of worship, this came naturally to us,” he says. Along with the monthly dinners at Our Place, the youth group has also partnered with the centre’s Project Connect, donating dozens of bags of winter clothing in November and in the summer, the group collected feminine hygiene products to donate to Tampons and Stuff. After the terrorist attack in London, England in July, the group provided sneakers to Threshold Housing Society in honour of #ChrissySentMe, the movement to spread acts of kindness in honour of Canadian Christine Archibald, who lost her life in the attack. Singh says a dozen pairs of sneakers didn’t seem like much to them, but the folks at Threshold, who provide support for transitional youth, were flabbergasted.
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“It’s part of our culture anyway, charity, dignity, victory and as part of that tradition it’s been nice for the youth,” Singh says. 32 WINTER 2018
He adds that for many of them, seeing the level of need in their own city has been an eye-opening experience. “They may have a certain stigma about who they might be serving, but when they get there, they realize it’s a wide variety of people from all walks of life.” The group was also able to help with Our Place Society’s training of front-line staff to deal with the opioid crisis that has affected so many in Victoria. An initial donation of $500 was matched by Khalsa Diwan Society of Victoria and the group was able to provide $1000 can go towards training staff. In November, they managed the Sikh Nation Blood Drive, with over 70 people donating blood in Victoria, in remembrance of the Sikh genocide in 1984. In 2018, the group plans to expand its volunteering activities and partner with more organisations in Victoria, continuing to focus on food security, clothing and continuing to serve the more vulnerable members of the community. You can learn more about them at: FB: @sikhyouthofvictoria Insta: @sikhyouthofvictoria twitter: @sikhyouthofvic e-mail: sikhyouthofvictoria@gmail.com
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CIRCLE OF KINDNESS
By Ira Saini
Altruism isn’t for a day. It isn’t even for
cause. It really is a habit; one that spreads the smile in its own special way. It touches people. It creates an unspoken, untold bond that has the power to bind strangers, even if for just a moment, and cause the ripple effect to follow through. And this is why we bring to you the Kindness Circle, to recount the stories you can be inspired from, stories you can pass along and stories that will melt your heart. This goes back to the time when we were really new to Canada, and had left our previous home in the midst of very difficult circumstances, to say the least. I came here with two kids and a husband. Five days after our arrival, when we had barely settled in to the country, my husband met with an accident and was told to rest for at least two months to ensure complete recovery. MSP hadn’t even kick in yet, and so moving here was already starting to feel like a big mistake. I was sitting outside the hospital, crying in the rain not wanting to be seen in that state in front of my children. It just so happened that a lady walking
by at the moment noticed me and asked if I was ok. Between stutters and sobs, I told her what had happened and she just hugged me in support. At this point, I didn’t even know her name but she said her husband owned a restaurant and she could ask him to give me a job as a server for a few months until I was able to find something that matched my qualifications better. She gave me her business card and told me to come whenever my husband
have been more grateful. If it were not for them, I don’t know where we would be today, but this was absolutely the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. It made me fall in love with this country, it’s people and everything about being here. I hope to pass the kindness on to many others in the future. - Neelam, 28
“It creates an unspoken, untold bond that has the power to bind strangers.”
Author Bio: Ira is a freelance writer and traveller, who works to inspire and be inspired everyday. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Information Technology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Vancouver and has been involved in organizing, leading and winning contests at Model United Nation conferences at an international level. These conferences aim to simulate United Nations sessions and engage youth in coming up with ideas to resolve world issues. A philanthropist at heart, she truly believes in helping people grow and aspires to be a motivational speaker one day.
was discharged and I could make the commute. Luckily, the restaurant wasn’t too far from where I was and I was able to go there within a week of getting everything at home setup. I worked there for six months and was able to keep my family afloat. the couple who offered me the job became our very first friends in Canada and I couldn’t CLOSE LOOK
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Society of Punjabi ENGINEERS AND TECHNOLOGISTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (SPEATBC)
My Name is Gaurav Kaila and I am
me. This scholarship will also motivate 26 years old. I am currently pursuing me to provide similar kind of scholarmy Masters in Chemical Engineering at University Of British Columbia. I come from a very humble family. My father is a retired banker who worked for 35 years in Canara Bank in India and retired in 2009 and my mother is a housewife. My father always taught me the true value of money and how to stay away from the greed of it, so that you don’t deviate from the real goal of your life. I started my undergraduate degree in 2009 itself the year my father retired. I studied hard to get into one of the best colleges in our country i.e. NIT Jalandhar and have completed my education on a study loan, so that I can waive of the burden from my father’s head. I eventually paid my loan after my degree through my Job salary. In my masters I have also taken loan and will eventually pay my loan after completing my studies while working. I feel that this scholarship will also help me in a monetary way to remain motivated more towards my goal. The way SPEATBC is helping young individuals is commendable. The value of this amount of money certainly waive off burden from young individuals like
“Get out in open and never stop learning because learning never ends.”
ships personally or to young individuals like me in future (if I would be able enough) who have a bright shine in their eyes to make difference in the society. I am really proud to be associated with organization like SPEAT BC and APEGBC who offer support to individuals like me. Future Goals: Being a chemical Engineer, I am deeply interested in the energy conservation. My work experience of 4 years has a deep inclination towards process and energy improvements in the processes. I strongly feel that energy literacy is needed in India to increase people’s interest towards resource management and energy conservation. My main purpose to leave my job and come for higher studies was majorly CLOSE LOOK
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motivated by my interest towards contributing and increasing energy literacy in India. Canada being an energy literate country was my first choice to achieve my goal. So I applied in one of the best universities and have designed my degree towards studying energy improvement and data analytic courses. After completing my degree I will gain a relevant experience in Canada in the energy conservation and consultancy field and after a relevant time will move back to India to contribute towards my goal of making India an energy literate country. Community Service and Hobbies:I always had a goal in my mind to increase the literacy in young individuals because education is the key towards true success and it is how an individual can make a difference. So keeping that in my mind, I and my friends took up the responsibility of teaching poor children of construction labor in my college. These kids of 5-7 years of age were normally helping their parents in construction work because they had nothing to do back in the home. We went and convinced the parents of these kids that we will provide free education in college ground for 2 hours every day. I was associated from 2012
to 2013. After I left my university this small initiative was funded by some professors from our college and some brilliant kids were sent for formal education to local government school. Even today, this small initiative is in place in our university and some humble young graduates like me provide free education to poor kids. I also used to teach children from humble background back home. Free of cost during the weekends. I was associated with them from 2009 to 2012. Currently I am associated with Canadian Red cross Society and the Salvation Army as a volunteer and give my time whenever I can in their social events. I have contributed in the cover the cold event of Red Cross society (in which we collected clothes from local households and businesses and distributed them to poor people) and the Santa scuffle event of Salvation Army. I have also registered myself with big brothers of Greater Vancouver and have given an
interview to them for volunteering for the position of Math Tutor to school kids in Vancouver. I will try to make a difference as much as I could by my efforts. Message for Youth:Ships are Safe in Harbor but that is not what Ships are for, they are there to explore, complete their journey and make a difference. So explore yourself, get out in open and never stop learning because learning never ends
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give
Mom gave you life, thank her by giving life to others.
life 2018
Sat, May 5 10am-9pm | Sun, May 6 10am-9pm Guildford Town Centre
Get Cheeky, Get Swabbed! Thanks
racial background. A biological fact, tified as a match for Daljit just before not anything else. Mom Give Life 2018 Campaign Christmas 2014. On February 3, 2015, Fifteen minutes – that’s all it takes to Patients of South Asian ancestry are she received a life-saving stem cell start the journey to save someone’s life! much less likely to obtain a stem cell transplant from her unrelated donor. Daljit calls this day her “new birthday”, Daljit Sanders is alive today because a match because potential donors of this receiving a lifetime of hope. stranger took the time: 15 minutes to ethnicity compose only 6% of the Oneregister as a potential stem cell donor. Match registry base (see chart) where- More diverse donors are needed on the as there are many more potential Cau- registry to reflect Canada’s diversity You can too! casian donors (almost 70%). Hence, a and so if you are between 17-35 and Thanks Mom Give Life is a 100% vol- Caucasian patient has up to 80-90% healthy and willing to be a potential unteer group raising public awareness chance of having a match whereas an donor, come out to swab and register about the vital importance of Cana- ethnically South Asian patient has with OneMatch. dian Blood Services. The theme is: much less of a chance. It is even less for For more information go to “Mothers have given us life and we, in other groups. www.thanksmom.org turn, can give life to others” through: Registering to be a potential adult stem • Blood donation • Potential stem cell or bone marrow donation (if you are a match) • Umbilical cord blood donation (otherwise thrown away as biological waste) • Potential organ donation
cell donor is simple: answer a healthrelated questionnaire and do a simple cheek swab. Only fifteen minutes of your time! Your data is entered into a worldwide registry and only IF you are a match are you asked to donate stem cells. Like hair and whole blood, Thanks Mom Give Life campaign co- stem cells grow back. You can Give Life incides with Mother’s Day and this without fear of losing stem cells. coming year, it will be held at Surrey Daljit was a student when she was Guildford Town Centre on Sat. May 5 diagnosed with acute myeloid leukeand Sun. May 6, 2018. The focus of the mia in January 2014 and told that she event will be to register potential adult needed a stem cell transplant to save stem cell donors with Canadian Blood her life. None of her siblings were a Services. Unlike blood, where ethnic match and there was no match among background does not matter (only the more than 27 million potential doblood type is matched), stem cell do- nors registered around the world due nation is dependent on matching HLA to her South Asian Indian ancestry. (human leukocyte antigen) which are Her best hope was a complete stranger the special immune system proteins. who shared her ethnic background. The best chance of a stem cell match In the meanwhile, #arealman swabbed is with someone from the same ethnic and registered in the UK and was idenCLOSE LOOK 38 WINTER 2018
SPEAK UP
l u o
s i es
h t yn
S S
There are many parts to any given re-
lationship. Whether its regarding friendship, work related, professional, or even personal. All kinds of bonds are built, based on three key foundations. Trust, honesty & respect. If one component is missing, then doubts tend to incline. Of
Tr u s t Honesty & Respect
course, maintaining these three key elements is difficult to uphold. There are external factors to understand and reflect from. For an example, Friends, colleagues and family. All individuals have different values and it plays a major role as being respected for your own views, thoughts and perceptions. Some may brush it under the
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table, to avoid conflicts, or confrontations, others may voice it out, and compromise, while some might just give up and say,” Hey, I don’t have time for this, it’s repetitive behaviour or action,” and end that particular relationship and leave. However, not many of us get that closure. You start to think what if this, what if that. You multiply your thoughts at night, to play a different scenario over and over again, to help you go back to sleep. Afterall, you’re human. Best remedy for becoming whole again, is to spend that extra energy and time you had set aside with that certain individual and replace with an activity that exerts it. Such as, joining a gym, volunteer in the community, catch up with current events around town or even learn to add a new hobby. Commence focusing, pampering and upgrading on yourself. It won’t happen overnight, but with time, you will feel it was worth it. Everything happens for a reason, and the most important reason to change starts from you.
Shansha Datt MA, RCHt. Clinical Psych-Therapist
MAKEOVER
Beauty Tips
Being a hairdresser and a makeup artist is very rewarding
for me. I started this journey in 2007. I never thought, this would be the career path that I would be successful in. When I was growing up, my parents never allowed me to wear any makeup. But like many young girls, I had great passion for makeup. Since I wasn’t allowed to wear it, I would put makeup on my dolls. As I got older and got married my loving husband supported me for fulfilling my dream and pursue it as a career. I am always inspired to try new and different makeup trends and hair styles. I use these looks on my clients who are unable to do it themselves. My clients love my creative styles and ideas and I love it when they shower me with beautiful compliments. Here are some tips for all the beautiful women who are reading this article…. Tip #1 If you want to have the illusion of bigger lips without any surgery or botox, take any lipstick and put it on your lips then apply one shade lighter in the middle of your lips. Tip #2 To keep your skin fresh looking all day, wash your face twice a day with cold water. Washing your face with cold water before applying makeup helps your skin get rid of access oils and will set your foundation better. Don’t forget to moisturize your skin. Also using primer (any brand) will help set your foundation better. For more information or to book an appointment please contact Sheetal (Chantel) Goswami Phone/Text: 6042207911 / Email: Sheetagoswami@hotmail.com
There are many more tips and tricks to enhance your natural beauty....
“A woman is most beautiful when she smiles” - Beyoncé
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Share your beauty tips with us. Ph: 604-999-1433 www.closelook.ca WINTER 2018
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BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
WA R R I O R S PI R I T By Paul Nijar “Recognizing and talking about your problems is not a weakness. Doing nothing about them is.” - Christopher Butler Many of us hide our emotions because we may feel ashamed or judged. The longer these painful emotions linger around, the worse they get. Sometimes we need help gaining support and an alternative perspective on our issue. As we avoid speaking up on our issues, we fail to realize that we are not alone and that many of us have shared similar experiences. The problem with not talking about it is that nothing ever gets resolved. “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” – Albert Einstein When the mind is plagued by great sadness, it’s hard to find a clear solution to the problem. This is like trying to find your way around a new room with a blindfold on. In such a case, it’s best to have support and guidance from another. Many of us have issues within our own selves that we battle with day to day. We don’t need
to go through them alone. The extent problem needs to be answered in some of these negative thoughts vary from way. We tend to question everything, each individual. and in doing so we build a lack of trust. Osho once said, “Life is a mysWe all battle A.N.T’s tery to be experienced, not a problem - Automatic Negative Thoughts. to be solved.” Every emotion and every experience in life is serving a diOn average we have 50 000 – 60 000 vine purpose. Trust. thoughts per day that switch every 1.2 seconds. A large percent of these Obi Wan Kenobi ONE. thoughts are negative. As we dive deeper into these thoughts, it becomes There is a grand plan for each moment harder to pull ourselves out of them. we encounter. The lessons we take When this occurs, we become so blind from each moment reflects our spirituto the rest of the World around us that al maturity which will ultimately lead we feel hopeless. There is hope in ev- us to enlightenment. Enlightenment ery situation, it just takes someone to occurs when the soul has transcendhold our hand to help us find our way ed all layers of the human mind and out. merges with the “Source.” It is within this time that we feel our oneness with “Admitting that you need help… the entire universe. We no longer feel doesn’t make you broken. It makes the separation of us all, but rather see you fixable.” - Charlotte we all are connected. We are all one. As things become darker and darker in our minds, we begin to believe that death is the only way out. At this point, we’ve become so plagued by the illusions of our minds and the darkness of our emotions. The human mind has been conditioned to believe that every CLOSE LOOK
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Every moment of your life helps build a winning warrior spirit. Each life we live is like a battle we must win in order to ascend us higher as spiritual beings. The harder the mission, the greater the glory. Some peo-
ple seem to live easier lives than others, the harder the life, the greater the lessons and the more advanced your spirit will become. It’s like taking all the easy classes in college and expecting to have the same intelligence as a person that challenged themselves. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.” – Erol Ozan
Before our soul comes into this body, it creates a contract of everything it must go through in order to advance spiritually. Ending one’s life doesn’t fulfill the requirements of the contract. So while the individual may think that they are being relieved from their soulful obligations, they are not. The soul must come back to finish off their journey in another life and start all over again. If it’s hard the first time, it doesn’t get any easier the second.
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“Suicide is a permanent solution to a As soon as we allow ourselves to trust temporary problem.” in the universe to take care of us, we – Peter Lynch can start to truly live. Life is an adventure that is meant to be explored The issues we see as infinite obstacles in great detail. It’s like when a person are but only for the moment. Remove goes on a long awaited travel, they the first letter of “emotion” and you get will try to absorb every fine detail of “motion.” Motion means to move, and their surroundings before they have to so teaches us that our emotions are not return home. It’s this ability to analyze set in stone. They serve a purpose for the finer details that will leave an imthe moment. Until we understand the print of our adventures in our memory lessons seeded in the moment, they can- that we will carry with us. The emonot move. This moment can go on lon- tions we experience help us draw atger than necessary if the individual cuts tention to those important moments their life short. Allow your soul to expe- in our lives that we are meant to learn rience each journey to its fullest. Each from. It is our duty to live through each moment must play its course in time. of those moments with full entirety. “Some beautiful paths can’t be dis- “I try to get through emotional pain covered without getting lost.” and not go around it always ends – Erol Ozan sooner that way. I also use chocolate.” – Christina Perri Each experience we go through is seeded with emotions that will inspire When one lives without trust, they may knowledge and understanding. The key contemplate suicide. This puts them on is to allow our emotions to bring forth edge; a constant state of unease, makthe lessons we need for our spiritual ing it harder to transcend each chalevolution. The most glorious moment lenging moment. Trust comes from of our lives is when we conquer an ob- letting go and embracing whatever is stacle we thought was impossible. Each presented in front of us. When this ocmoment can be received with love if we curs, we become free. Each moment of understand the ultimate journey we are freedom is a celebration. on. When we understand that the good, the bad and the ugly are all leading to “The key to immortality, is first something magnificent beyond our living the life worth remembering.” comprehension, we will then start to – Bruce Lee live life with trust. No matter what our story is, there is always someone, even a stranger, who Trust the process. is willing to love you. We must first open up and let people know what we
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are going through. At this time, the universe will connect you with the right people that you need. We live life amongst each other every day, not as individuals existing on selfish means, but as unity where everything is shared. Through this support we will gain the strength to endure the battles of life and truly make an epic tale of our adventures.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul Nijar is a local author and yogi. He dedicates his life toward helping people reach their fitness goals through his specialized style of yoga called “Yoga Do.” Paul uses his method of training to seed his personal development techniques into his clients, so they may unlock an unseen potential within. Through his methods of teaching and writing, Paul’s provides spiritual insights to help others navigate through their life struggles. Train with paul at Yogadojo.ca or email paulnijar@hotmail.com.
“Each experience we go through is seeded with emotions that will inspire knowledge and understanding. The key is to allow our emotions to bring forth the lessons we need for our spiritual evolution” WINTER 2018
A New Year, a Fresh Start… Make 2018 Your Best Year Yet with Five Easy Ways to Invest in You
With the New Year now upon us, you may be thinking about making some healthy positive changes for 2018. Whether you want to get in shape, make your school’s track team, run a marathon or jump out of your comfort zone by trying something new, now is the best time to make a commitment to YOU! Here are five easy ways to invest in your health and wellbeing for 2018.
Take Your Confidence to the Next Level
January 17–March 14 | 4:30pm–6pm | Surrey Arts Centre
Is your New Year’s resolution to speak with more confidence or connect with people more easily? We have just the solution for you! It’s called Drama Mindcraft – an innovative program for youth ages 13–18 that uses theatre games, character creation and scenario development to help participants build confidence and communication skills in a fun and supportive environment.
Free Cirque Surrey Mentorship Program
January 9–March 6 | 6:30pm–8pm | Surrey Arts Centre
Youth ages 12 to 19 are invited to take part in an exciting opportunity to learn all about what happens onstage and behind the scenes at the circus. Instruction will focus on juggling, stilt-walking, diablo, devil sticks, plate spinning and more. You’ll even learn about character development and costume design. All experience levels welcome. Register early to secure your spot!
Learn and Earn
Adventures in Babysitting
Are you considering a babysitting job to make some extra cash? The City of Surrey’s Babysitter Training course for youth ages 12–18 is here to help. In fact, it’s a rite of passage for youth wanting to learn the essentials of the job. You’ll learn how you can help prevent injuries and promote the responsible management of common situations that may arise while children are under your care. CLOSE LOOK
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CAREER/EMPLOYMENT
FAILING FORWARD TO SUCCEED DILEEP NIGAM Success Coach, Trainer & MotivationalSpeaker
Paradigms towards Failure need to be shifted Let’s pause a moment and ask “Where do these perspectives and paradigms towards failure come from?” Our education system is designed to declare success based on grades and percentages. If a person does not achieve good grades, he is assumed to be mediocre. The entire focus lies on accomplishing good grades and that’s what defines success in schools and colleges. Likewise, even in our family, our parents put all their energies and efforts to focus on helping us getting good scores and grades.
“We too had our share of failures. Don’t worry, failure is just one step forward towards success.” Invention, Innovation and Failure are intertwined For innovative companies, the words innovation, invention and failure are intertwined. These companies are tolerate towards failure and know that to be able to invent something great, you will need to go through stages of failures. But they don’t call it failure. They call it a success journey. They call it data collection. They call it version 1… version 2 of the research process. Thomas Alva Edison failed 10,000 times before the bulb was invented and Col. Sander’s of KFC brand received 1009 “no”s before his fried chicken recipe was CLOSE LOOK
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accepted and KFC was born. Can we make a change in our thought process today? Can we develop not a failure tolerant but a failure encouraged environment in our homes, to help ourselves achieve excellence in our life and career?
Story of Elon Musk- never give up, move on to win Elon Musk started a company called Paypal in early 2000. A couple of years later, he was ousted from his own company as CEO. He decided to move on in life, got some money from the sale of Paypal and started another company called SpaceX. The first three rocket launches of SpaceX failed and SpaceX was almost at the stage of bankruptcy. The company had money left for only one rocket launch. At this stage, Elon Musk had a couple of options
missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”. Do you remember how your mother taught you to walk when you were a toddler or how you learnt to ride a bike? You fell and got up, fell and got up and continued to practice till you succeeded. That in true essence is failing forward.
1) To shut down the company and say, “I give up” or 2) To learn from the mistakes of the past three launches and go for the final launch with belief that it will succeed. He chose the second option & succeeded in his fourth launch. It was a huge success, to the extent that NASA engaged SpaceX as a commercial space launcher to send satellites to space and awarded them a contract for $1.6 billion. What do we learn from Elon Musk’s story? We have two choices in our life—either we embrace failure and just resign to it and say, “I’m done with life” or we learn from it and move on.
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Knowing that failure is a part of the success journey.
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Embracing it with a positive spirit, learning lessons from it and moving on to accomplish your goals.
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Maintaining a positive attitude and persevering.
Taking responsibility for your failures and learn from each mistake.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR A Mechanical Engineer by training, Dileep has deep passion for coaching, mentoring and helping people overcome the issues pertaining to life and career. He is CEO of SimpliExcel Training International, a company focused on coaching and leadership training for youth/future generation and corporate leadership training. Dileep is a certified John Maxwell Success Coach, Trainer and a Motivational Speaker. Dileep firmly believes that true success of life is “not about material wealth but how many people are better off because you lived”.
Elon Musk’s story teaches us not to give up, learn from our mistakes and move on to succeed in our mission.
Failing Forward to Succeed Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and CLOSE LOOK
Failing forward means:
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Mental Health & Youth By Shannon Permal
Did you know that up to 70% of young adults living with
mental health problems report that the symptoms started in childhood? Why is mental health so important? Doing things to help maintain and improve your physical health is essential to your well-being, and the same applies to mental health. Your mental health is just as important - if not more - as it has the ability to affect your physical health as well. In the words of Michelle Obama, “whether an illness affects your heart, your leg, or your brain, it’s still an illness and there should be no distinction.
The Effects of Social Media on our Mental Health Being a youngster we find ourselves constantly being scolded by our parents that being on social media and our phones too long is “bad”. We may see this as a lame excuse however, it turns out just maybe our parents are on to something… Several previous studies claim that the increased use of social media affects our mental health in the following ways. Social Media Makes Us Restless When the internet connection is weak or not available, it feels like we are stranded on a deserted island. We result in having difficulty relaxing or partaking in other activities when we don’t have access into our social media accounts.
Mental illness can occur when the brain is not working well or in the right way. When the brain is not working properly, different functions of your brain will be disrupted. The six functions are: thinking, perception, emotional, physical, signalling, and behavior.
It Can Lead To Social Distrust Unknown online users may indulge in aggressive or offensive behavior. Those that have experienced being approached by this kind of behavior online can result in developing misconceptions that nobody can be trusted.
How to Identify the Problem… Symptoms and their extent vary for each individual but nonetheless can include sleep problems, lack of concentration, extreme emotional highs and lows, and abnormal brain functioning.
Social Media Decreases Our Productivity As much as we like to think we are good at multitasking, we aren’t. When we check our Facebook messages while working on a task, it actually divides our attention and causes us to focus less on the task at hand.
Ask yourself some of the following questions to determine whether you may face poor mental health.
Social Media Leads Us To Compare Our Lives With Others If things are going particularly well for the people in your newsfeed, while you’re having a rough day, this will be likely to negatively affect your mood.
Do you…. - Often feel angered, frustrated, and/or upset? - Do reckless things that may cause harm to yourself or others? - Think your mind is controlled or out of your control? - Exercise, diet, and/or binge-eat obsessively? - Use alcohol and/or drugs as a coping mechanism?
Social Media Can Make Us More Anxious And/Or Fearful Seeing your friends posting about their day can actually create fear in us. More specifically, the fear of missing out. We feel out of the loop when this occurs.
If you can identify yourself with any of these, then you may need to seek help. A simple first step to take would be to talk to someone you trust. For example, a friend, family member, teacher, or school counsellor can all lend a helping hand. If you are truly comfortable with going forward to see a mental health professional, I strongly urge you to do so. Living life as an adolescent has never been a smooth ride. It is absolutely normal to feel stressed and/or pressured socially, academically, or family wise. If you feel extremely upset, hopeless, or worthless, then this may be a sign of a mental health issue. CLOSE LOOK
Social Media-Like Anything-Has Its Good And Bad Aspects It simply depends on how we choose to use it. If we spend an extensive amount of time staring at our phones or computer screens, we will become more susceptible to these mental health concerns. The key is to create a healthy balance. Social media can be good in the ways that we become more connected to new people and we can share our ideas on a new online platform. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to how we choose to spend our time and how we let it affect us. If we look to our likes, comments, number of friends or followers
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as signs of validation, then we may need to re-evaluate how we view ourselves and our self-worth. The Rise in Student Apathy Study apathy is an issue that continues to grow exponentially throughout an individual’s studies. Student apathy is the lack of passion students have towards academic achievement. In other words, they simply do not care about their education. Aside from student apathy, many students say that they are highly discouraged in their academic journey and this eventually results in losing their passion towards education. There are a number of contributing factors towards student apathy. In an effort to dig deeper, I decided to ask students what their experiences and opinions on this matter were, and I received a number of comments regarding the rise in student apathy.
something psychological, seeking help from a mental health professional is a vital step to bringing yourself to your full potential.
• If you ever wonder why you are learning a particular sub-
ject, ask your teacher. The most irrelevant, “boring” things you learn in class could be a big role in future careers you might be interested in pursuing in ways you are not aware of now.
• Speaking of careers, try to find your passion. If you have a goal you genuinely care about, it can get you motivated to do the best you possibly can.
• Remember that you are doing this for yourself. The one
who will benefit the most from putting your all into your education is yourself.
• Academic competition is intimidating in itself, and the idea • Don’t put yourself down by comparing your work to peers, that self-worth is only attained through academic achievement is what leads to student apathy.
everyone has their own weaknesses and strengths.
• Some teachers appear pessimistic in terms of the real world
Things we think are issues can actually be for our betterment but it takes a new perspective and outlook to make the most of it.
• Students are easily discouraged from tapping into their
and life after high school which not only puts students down in general, but it allows students to set lower expectations for themselves. potential if something does not come into their favour, or if they make a mistake along the way.
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The curriculum and material students are supposed to learn can be irrelevant at times. Many students do not feel the exact material they are learning can help develop skills in real life.
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Particular teaching methods and learning materials are outdated. Moreover, there is little room to provide input with regards to the educational system itself.
• In some situations, there is inadequate support for students who struggle academically and/or behaviourally.
Many students can say they have reached a point of not caring anymore. Others can say that they feel discouraged from learning, while another group can say they are “burnt out”. All scenarios are unfortunate and can cause further issues to a person’s mental health and personal outlook. So if you ever feel discouraged, anxious, or apathetic towards your education, keep some of the following tips in mind.
“Don’t put yourself down by comparing your work to peers, everyone has their own weaknesses and strengths”
• Students should know that although grades do not define
their self-worth or intelligence, trying their best in school is something that should always be strived for.
• Mistakes are nothing to be ashamed of. Rather, they should be seen as learning experiences. You can’t improve if you do not falter along the way.
• If you suspect the reason for your lack of motivation is CLOSE LOOK
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Written by Shannon Permal
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We offer creative dishes from various regions of India. Every item on our menu is prepared with authentic Indian herbs and spice and prepared in our kitchen with extreme care to ensure that you are served consistently good meals.
CATERING/DINING/TAKEOUT Phone : (604) 372-0033 UNIT# 102 15325-56 Ave, Surrey, BC V3S 0X9 Email : spicekings56@gmail.com www.spicekings.ca CLOSE LOOK
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CLOSE LOOK
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