Hide and seek.. Will playing games appeal to underage smokers?

Following recent legislation tobacco displays will be banned from shops. This is another government attempt at cutting down on the number of smokers in England. The last initiative worked- as far encouraging people to quit smoking and protecting the health of non- smokers goes. The smoking ban DID however have a massive impact on small business’s, especially on pub trade. As the smoking ban was enforced pubs have lost trade.

And with the news laws to ban all tobacco displays plenty more small businesses feel that this will cut their sales so significantly that it will cause them to struggle.

It has been questioned whether this is a good time to bring in the new laws. The country is in recession and small businesses need as much help as they can get as many of them battle through the current economic crisis.

But, I feel that regardless of the pubs that have lost out since the smoking ban, and the shops that will probably lose out due to the ban of tobacco displays. The nations health should surely be the government’s first priority.

They feel that the ban will prevent children from smoking. As there will be no point of sale advertising. I have my doubts about how effective it will be as many children choose to smoke because its dangerous and risky, and the fact that it is frowned upon (for good reasons) by many adults makes it ‘cool’. I worry whether hiding tobacco products might increase the appeal for children. Children may now feel that smoking is an even greater risk of rebellion.

Nobody likes a stresshead: My incredibly cheesy rant!

Today’s blog will reflect my week.
I am writing about stress. The issue that many of us; actually hopefully (so that I don’t feel like a complete freak), all of us adults, feel. So what makes us feel stress and how do we release it?

I am writing to those that let stress take over their lives. It’s apparent that many people do. The key is to deal with it effectively. After living with my incredibly stressed out father I’ve realised that the mood gripping tension that we have to deal with on a daily basis, should (for the sake of those that have to be around us) be dealt with in a reasonably human like manner. My father still hasn’t realised this, so has effectively been pissing people off for more than 50 years! Victoriously celebrating his resemblance to Victor Meldrew and Basil Fawlty… ‘I don’t belieeeeveeee it!!!’

It is incredibly effective to take a deep breath in before we realise that our problems are insignificant compared to life’s capacity of worries and negative issues. I desperately want to promote the power of positive thinking. It is a simple theory, and an extremely healthy mindset that could efficiently change the way that many of us live.

The fact is - although it feels normal and part of day to day life. Stress makes us ill. It also causes unhappiness. The way in which we deal with stress usually includes lashing out on those close to us and therefore affecting important relationships, it also encourages unhealthy eating habits such as binge eating and under eating, and in many circumstances stress is used as an excuse for smoking and drinking (I emphasise ‘excuse!!!’)

Therefore, stress management is important!
Speak to friends, colleagues, management at work and family about your problems. It really does help to get a problem off your chest. I hate to sound cheesy but… ‘a problem shared…. IS a problem halved’

Think positively. Turn negative thoughts into positive energy. Make time for yourself. Your happiness is important. Realise: Life can be as good as you want it to be, or as bad as you make it.