The question of what's the cause of social ills in terms of drug addiction, suicide, mental illness – much of it comes back to the loss of community.
To keep quiet about sexism and verbal put-downs is to condone violence. This complicit silence is acted out thousands of times a day – the turning of a blind eye to abuse that we know deep down is unacceptable. Soft-pedalling on abuse arodes our collective capacity to exercise compassion and respect, as well as guaranteeing the safety and wellbeing of everyone, especially women and girls.
As adult women, we’re better able to protect ourselves emotionally. We understand we don’t need to spend time with people who don’t make us feel good. We recognise that some people have bad energy and we know we don’t want that in our lives. Instead, we choose to spend time with people who love us and treat us well and make us happy. There’s no doubt that shows on your face.
Self belief is just one of the reasons we’re younger and looking better today. We’re also better educated. We know more about the environment and how it impacts on us, we understand more about nutrition and diet, and how it can affect our health too. We’re also aware that what we think can affect us and so we try to think positively.
The mind has an incredible capacity to both limit us and to set us free. The mind has the capacity to enable us to do what at first might have seemed impossible.
The mind exists in close relationship to our body, but it is not our body, not even just the brain. The mind functions in relationship to all around us. It is affected by the environment we are in, the animals and the people we interact with. The mind regulates all our vital functions. It collects, stores, retrieves and uses information. It controls the energy that flows through us: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Truly, it is the mind that changes everything.
Our vision is for a world where no one is needlessly blind, and Indigenous Australians enjoy the same health and life expectancy as other Australians.
If one’s spiritual life is clear and sound, then every other level – mental, emotional, physical – falls into place.
Whether rich or poor, it's the ability to make sacrifice real that is the key to life and health.