Friday, 20 May 2022

Learning to be Hopeful

We often think of hope as optimism, but researcher and author Brené Brown explains that hope is a way of thinking – a cognitive process. The great news is that hopeful thinking can be taught. C. R. Synder refers to the hope trilogy: 1. We know how to set realistic goals...

Friday, 13 May 2022

Tiny Seeds of Hope

The smell of vine-ripened tomatoes will always send me back to my childhood in Papua New Guinea, and holding on tight to my dad on the back of a motorbike. As the rays of golden hour streamed across the road, we would make our way through the dusty streets to...

Friday, 06 May 2022

Turn Off the Technology

When I think back to my childhood, I was riding bikes, playing games, going for bush walks, and having a lot of fun face-to-face with my friends. I then look at my own children today growing up in a society full of digital technology, social media, and multiple ways to...

Friday, 29 Apr 2022

Faithfulness

I once worked with someone who used the phrase, ‘Leave it with me'. And he meant it! If he committed to doing something, experience taught me that I could have full confidence in him and know that he would follow through. I no longer needed to worry about or plan...

Friday, 08 Apr 2022

Chocolate and Other Easter Joys

I LOVE chocolate but when my youngest son was a pre-schooler I made the decision to avoid giving him chocolate and other sweets. However, when Easter rolled around, his Nana presented him with a chocolate bunny wrapped in brightly coloured foil. He clutched his new treasure tightly and, when I...

Friday, 01 Apr 2022

Patience is a Virtue

Have you heard any one of these phrases before? From William Langland phrase, “patience is a virtue”. Or perhaps one from a poem by Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie, the phrase, “all things come to those who wait”. In the olden days, these thoughts were often said to encourage and cultivate...

Friday, 25 Mar 2022

Positive Antennas

My three children are all very different. My middle daughter is quite the pessimist. She tends to go straight to the worst-case scenario in situations. I remember once she was at the airport, about to fly to Perth with her Dad, and she phoned me and said, “I want you...

Friday, 18 Mar 2022

Strawberry Milk and Phone Calls

“There is no good news!” exclaimed my wife as she switched off the TV. “There’s strawberry milk in the fridge, mum”, came the calming sage response from my son. It made us laugh and reminded me that there are still lots of good things to be grateful for. As Mrs...

Friday, 11 Mar 2022

Building in a Pause

COVID-19. Floods. War. Personal and work stressors. The list continues of current affairs which consume our conversations and saturate our thoughts. Just listing them makes my blood pressure rise. I was talking to a family member about the devastating events unfolding in Ukraine, when my four-year-old daughter in the room...

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