Do you find it hard to forgive? You aren’t alone. Many people feel the same way, and some psychologists even say our brains are hard-wired not to forgive as a way to protect ourselves from perceived danger. Yet, even if this is true in the short term, several studies have shown that long-term effects of being unable to forgive could … Read More
Life Lessons From a Cat #1000Speak
Yesterday was Sunday, yet Amazon’s delivery company was working overtime and a parcel arrived. It contained gifts from friends halfway round the world. I took the packages out and put them beside the others by our tree, and then I went back to working on a post I was writing for our 1000VoicesSpeak blog. My husband brought a cup of … Read More
Is it Okay to Appreciate Yourself?
Most people like receiving thanks for what they do, and for who they are. In fact, many of us feel annoyed, taken for granted and grumpy if our efforts or gifts aren’t met with thanks. Marriages break up because one spouse doesn’t feel appreciated by the other. Parents and children, siblings and siblings, friends and colleagues fall out because people … Read More
Can You Feel Gratitude in the Midst of Chaos? #1000Speak
It seems almost selfish to feel gratitude at a time when the world is reeling from bombings and gun attacks, when forest fires are raging in Indonesia, sending as much carbon dioxide into the air in a week as Germany’s annual emissions and when a dam has burst in Brazil, causing a massive outpouring of sludge that has made its … Read More
How To Listen
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Steven Covey, Author of: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What is Good Listening? I used to think that being a good listener meant not interrupting, staying silent while the other person talked. I wasn’t sure if I was a good listener, … Read More
The Man Who Learned to Listen
Two years ago today, my father died. I’ve heard that it takes two years to get over the death of someone you love, but I’ve also heard you never do. What exactly does getting over it mean, anyway? Certainly not that you cease to love the person, or to miss them. Certainly not that you stop thinking about them. It’s … Read More
Why Acceptance isn’t Resignation and How to Truly Feel It
“Well I’ll just have to accept it.” When something doesn’t go the way you hoped it would, do you ever say this? Or how often do we say this about children? “She need to accept she can’t always get what she wants.” (When she wants something she can’t have.) “He needs to learn to accept that people are like that.” (When … Read More
Life Is – And that’s enough
Do you ever have the feeling that you are alone in the world? Everyone else is off having some party to which you weren’t invited? They are all more successful than you, have more friends, more fun, more everything? Or, do you sometimes sit alone and imagine millions of other people sitting alone too? Do you wish you could somehow … Read More
Gratitude, Attitude and a cat
Confession: sometimes I find writing about gratitude really hard. To be even more specific, sometimes I find writing posts for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop really hard. With the Thankful hop, the difficulty is often logistical – because it’s the weekend and I’m busy doing weekendy things with my family or with friends. Other times though, the things … Read More
Thankful for moments
I’m sitting in departures, ready to fly home after a busy weekend. As if anyone in 1000 Voices Speak or Ten Things of Thankful don’t know that already – Lizzi and I met in real life. We did. The two originators of 1000 Voices Speak For Compassion met for the first time on Saturday. We had an absolutely wonderful time. … Read More
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