Happiness and the power of choice
It appears that by far the major part of our happiness is determined by the way we process the external world and the way we program ourselves with our thought and belief systems. A large body of researchers from the school of positive psychology concludes that it is possible to completely transform a life for the better by changing one’s attitude to whatever you have experienced.
The happiness illusion
Our culture has been indoctrinated with the happiness illusion with the self-help industry promoting the image of the perfect human being, successful in all areas of life and beaming a happy smile on social media outlets. The “happiness” and “positive thinking”...
The herd-madness of the crowd
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”― C.G. Jung There is a famous picture of a single individual with his arms crossed in defiance amid a sea of German dockworkers giving a...
A mental health challenge
The other day I observed a heavily-masked woman in a supermarket in no uncertain terms telling off a customer to keep his distance. A passenger on the plane refused to take his window seat when he found another person sitting next to him. Many people are currently...
A year to remember or forget?
Reflecting on the past year a scene that remains particularly poignant is the Saturday morning in May when children were allowed out onto the Spanish streets for the first time after six weeks during one of the strictest Corona lockdowns in Europe. It was that dazed,...
Christmas: A message of Hope
People are crowding the streets, buying foods and other goodies at the elaborately decorated stalls of the Christmas markets. There is a hurried frenzy in the shops with choirs and musicians performing carols in the town square. That was Christmas last year and most...
The pandemic: A Blessing?
For the first time in our lifetime humanity is faced on a global level by a life-threatening virus. Some people have lost loved ones or all their material resources. So how can a crisis be a blessing? Any type of personal tragedy is always followed by a period of...
Truth and the tribal bubble
"Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed." --Friedrich Nietzsche. There is a story that when Christopher Columbus arrived on the shores of Latin America the local people were unable to see the sailing ships...
Shifting from the blame game
Sam went into early retirement some years ago and is battling financially in making ends meet with his small pension. I've known Sam for several years and decided some time ago to shift him from friends to a distant associate. Who is abusing you as an emotional...
How do you start your day?
How you start your day determines how you end your day. A typical start of the day for many people in the modern digital age is stumbling out of bed, grabbing the i-Phone to check for important emails with the news channels blaring negativity in the background. Are...
Building resilience during times of crisis
I've just been on my first trip since the lockdown that was imposed in Spain March 14th, walking through an almost empty airport terminal in Palma that would normally be bustling with people during the main summer vacation season. Different pandemic responses While in...
Walking through the pain
But nothing is solid and permanent. Our lives are raised on the shakiest foundations. You don't need to read history books to know that. You only have to know the history of your own life.” ― Ron Rash One of the misconceptions of the booming self-development industry...
Be kind to yourself
A key measurement of your stress-coping strategy or resilience level during times of crisis is how kind you are to yourself. It is an ancient wisdom that is often confused with narcissism and vanity. In our performance-driven society success is mostly defined in...
Why I despise racism
Born as a white person, I never questioned why blacks did not attend the same good schools that I attended, why blacks were refused entry to restaurants, had a different entrance at the post office, were arrested for breaking a night curfew in white areas or could not sit on the same benches as white people in the parks.
Have we lost the ability to communicate?
The current wave of protests against lockdown regulations is indicative of how deeply divided our societies have become. There is a dangerous groundswell of anger easily manipulated by professional deceivers and political demagogues. With a presidential election...
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