by Una Hearne. It is a seriously bad idea to label yourself with a 'weakness' and then carry that as if it is who you really are. 'My problem is I always/ I never...' 'I am a terrible...' As if the way you think and behave is fixed in every situation and for life. The specific problem with viewing characteristics as strengths or weaknesses is this: every strength can be a weakness and every weakness can be a strength. It totally depends on the situation. For example you might be sensitive and see ...
by Una Hearne. With our relative wealth and health in the developed world, we should all be happy and fulfilled, right? But no, we are increasingly stressed and anxious. Why? Why are we dealing with increasing levels of mental and physical illness? What is going on in our society that is so toxic to us? Given that different things stress different people in different ways, it is notoriously difficult to research stress and how it relates to health. Yet we all know stress can be the killer ingredient in any illness. I have much ...
by Una Hearne. Isn't it wonderful when you are on the very edge of your last nerve and someone tells you to 'Relax' or 'Calm down'. So helpful. So we all know the feeling of stress. Covid-19 has raised the stress level of the entire human race all at once. That's never happened before. We are past the initial high stress of shock and we are now dealing with a lower level, but ongoing stress. Stress shows up mentally/emotionally as anxiety and/or depression and/or anger. If stress continues it will show up in our ...
by Una Hearne. In the world today, we have to adapt and change as never before in human history. Most of us experience multiple career changes and experience times of wealth and scarcity. Many of us live in multiple countries during our lives, have more than one marriage-type relationship and move house several times. We can study a huge variety of subjects, choose from a wide variety of work and organise our personal lives to suit ourselves. There is more opportunity and choice available to us than ever before and this is clearly fantastic. However, along with this choice and complexity ...
by Una Hearne. It feels great when we work with people we respect and/or like, in a job we enjoy. No job is perfect of course, but generally we know whether we are happy or not overall. If you have ever been stuck in a job where you are constantly exposed to negativity (constant complaining, put downs, bullying, politics, manipulation etc) you will know how stressful it can be. Long term stress, even relatively low grade, as we know, is very destructive for us. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. The people you work with can ...
by Una Hearne. Good news - You have the power to manage your life. YAY! Bad news - It is your responsibility to manage your life and no one else's. DOH! How are you doing with this? As we have evolved as a species, we have developed specialities. For example, early on, farmers, potters, builders, sailors and other professions emerged as the advantages of specialising in different bodies of knowledge became apparent. The whole community does better when the sum of all the knowledge and skill is more than one individual could contribute. Doctors, cleaners, ...
