Representative Chad Weininger (District 4) presented Sydney with the award during a session of the Assembly in front of State Assembly Representatives, family members of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, and another former Green Bay Packer, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who was on hand to give the opening prayer before the session.

Sydney and My Brother’s Keeper, who has mentored more than 9,000 boys and men since 2003, received two standing ovations during the award presentation.

I’m still coaching 2

Packer Report, Nov. 2007. CLICK LINKS TO VIEW.

Green Bay Press-Gazette opinion column mentioning My Brother’s Keeper. CLICK LINK TO VIEW

Pierce Manufacturing Newsletter, Jan. 2009. CLICK LINK TO VIEW

Green Bay Press-Gazette, April 13, 2009. CLICK LINK TO VIEW

Packers Plus, Aug. 20, 2009. CLICK LINK TO VIEW

Bay Business Journal, Oct./Nov. 2005. CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW.

Packer Report: Dec. 23, 2003. CLICK ON LINK TO VIEW.

By Harry Sydney

I think when domestic abuse happens, it is when parents or people in a
relationship fail to communicate the right way. When they don’t communicate the right way, they start communicating the wrong way with yelling, screaming and physicality. They are trying to send the message with their hands instead of their head.

There are a lot of things that go into domestic abuse, just like with drinking and drugs. There are a lot of things that someone wants to say, so how come they couldn’t say them? So with domestic abuse there is a lot of miscommunication with the people involved, and the problem goes back to the feeling of why do they feel they can’t communicate it in the right way. Are they afraid and why are they not able to talk about why they are afraid.

A lot of clients will come in here and say “the wife won’t talk to me.” I will say “did you ask her why she won’t talk to you? What are you doing so that she is afraid to talk to you? What you are doing to make her feel uncomfortable?”

Because domestic abuse comes from a lack of communication, then you stem emotions, drinking, drugs, failures, all those in there to make a combustible situation. I see many women expressing their fears mentally, and men expressing their fears physically. And all that stems from a lack of communication, or lacking the skills to communicate.

For more information, or to make an appointment with My Brother’s Keeper, call (920) 884-1150.

By Harry Sydney

When we deal with anxiety, what is happening is that we are having storms in our head. The storms come from different areas, usually with issues from the past. We are worrying about that so much it is hard for us to see the future. When we are worrying about the past and panicking about the future, we are not doing the one thing we can do, is controlling the present.

When we talk about anxiety, we talk about what is causing that anxiety and what can we do about that. Is it anxiety that exists or that we put there? Are we setting ourselves up for failure, because if we are staying in a world where we “can’t”, nobody is expecting us to “can.”

What we have to do to deal with anxiety is to set realistic goals to get it out of our way. Anxiety is worrying about a whole lot of things we can’t control. And because we can’t control them, it paralyzes us
from controlling the things we can, both physically and mentally. It paralyzes us from the present, because it makes the present not seem real.

When the storm comes, the things we know we can do, all of a sudden become things we can’t do because they become too hard. To me that is what anxiety is, is allowing our brain to go into overdrive. We are going 75 mph in a 35 mph zone. When that happens the lights come faster. Also we think nothing can be good, and when it is good, we can’t see good.

To summarize, the best way to deal with anxiety is figure out what you are anxious about. Is it something you can control? Are you wasting time? Are you expecting an outcome when there is no outcome that will happen? Find out what it is that is making you go too fast, and find a way to slow down and control the present.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment with My Brother’s Keeper, call (920) 884-1150.