Tag: PMA

The True Power of Positive Mental Attitude

The True Power of Positive Mental Attitude

I get a lot of comments on my tattoos. Sometimes they’re positive, sometimes negative. You get used to it after some time, and the explanations can become jaded. But a nice woman came in to get a room, and asked me what this tattoo was all about, because it looked cool.

I don’t know what possessed me, but I decided to give her the actual meaning behind it.

I asked if she was familiar with YouTube, to which she said she was. I told her there was a man, named JackSepticEye, who does a lot of charity work, who makes people laugh, who publicly fights depression, and maintains a message known as PMA.

“What is PMA?” She asks. Her questions are genuine.

“Positive Mental Attitude.” I explain, “As a person who suffers from a mental disorder on a daily basis, I got this tattoo to show my support for him, his movement, but also a reminder to myself when things get bad.”

She’s fallen silent. I look up at her, having been busy looking down at the computer screen checking her in. Had I gone too far?

She breathes what I can only describe as a sigh of relief and says “I’m going to have to tell my husband to look him up. He’s bipolar, and he could use a bit of positivity in his life like that.” I looked at her, and we had an unspoken understanding. Mental illness is hard on everyone. It’s hard for the person dealing with it, and it’s hard for those we love. I set my professionalism aside, and told her she was awesome.

I’ve had people walk out of my life, cast me aside, because they “couldn’t handle” my “crazy”. Indeed, I’ve destroyed friendships with my “crazy”. To have her standing in front of me, and tell me of her husband’s condition not because she was ashamed, or because she hated him, but because she saw someone who understood from both sides how stressful and difficult it could be… I told her she was awesome, and thanked her for being a good person.

A man was sitting in my lobby at the time, and overheard everything. He’d needed a place to stop to change his daughter’s diaper. As soon as the guest left, he approached the counter and handed me $20. I was shocked and said “Sir, you don’t have to do that.” He shook his head, waved his hand, and said “Thank you for letting us stop. Keep up that positive mental attitude.” Then he walked out as I thanked him.

THAT’S the power of Positive Mental Attitude. That’s the TRUE POWER OF PMA.

The Fridge Project

The Fridge Project

So, I wanted to share a bit of a story with you guys. A YouTuber I watch, named Markiplier, started this thing called Kick Cult. We were all going to spread positivity, joy, be happy, etc. But with all things Markiplier does, there is always a plot twist. He started a chat server on Discord.

During Markiplier’s Kick Cult craziness, I stumbled into one of the discord channels known, at first, as Yippee. It became Congay, a safe haven for all members of the LGBT community to join. We became fast friends, the chat was very chill. But the plot twist came when one by one, Mark began closing the channels. As the channels began to die, Congay members rushed to create new servers, spamming them as fast as possible to continue the friendship a little further. I clicked on one, and after a short time I began to realize….I was probably the oldest one there. Let me tell you. If you’ve never experienced this for yourself, it is a very awkward situation.

I thought about leaving. After all, what do I have in common with a group of teenagers? I’m old to them! So, I observed. And I noticed something interesting. Many of them were in bad places, with parental figures who didn’t support them. They’d been betrayed by family, by friends. Most of them just wanted someone to be proud of them. I realized then… I had EVERYTHING in common with them. Not only that, but I was in a unique position to share with them my experiences and…being an adult, I could help them. I could spread some of that JackSepticEye PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). I became the mother of the group. It started off simply with reminding them they were loved, telling them I was proud of their accomplishments… But I had no way of showing it. I’m a firm believer in actions speaking louder than words…but how? How can I show almost 300 people that I cared.

Then it hit me.

When I was a kid, every time I accomplished something, my mother would put it on the refrigerator for all to see. So. I went to the store.

And bought 1,000 post it notes. I posted a message to the server.

And waited. It didn’t take long before something amazing began to happen.

These kids, some of whom had so many self esteem issues, were finding positive things about themselves so they could get on the refrigerator. They were going out, trying new things, and telling me about them. Not just that, but they started nominating each other. Encouraging each other. Tagging me left and right to make sure I saw the accomplishments. I started carrying a notebook around with me so that even at work, I could keep up with messages.

I got many of their birthdays and added them to my calendar.

(August is a slow month. September and October are where the party is!)

And I’m just so blown away by all of this. Somehow, I managed to become the mom to so many people…But I realized I wasn’t just helping them. I was helping me, too..I was able to tell them all the things I wish I’d heard, or all the things I wish I’d known. I want to push myself harder to help them see they can do AMAZING things!!

The protect has only been going for about two to three days, but this is what my refrigerator looks like now.

(Pardon the stains, it was a hand me down). More and more messages come in and I’m so…happy… And my “babies” helped me more than I could have ever imagined. I went from being a very lonely, sad individual to the mother of a bunch of people… I matter. I make a difference.