I hadn’t got far into Parenting with Purpose before I knew that I was going to like it. In the first page of her introduction, Nina Garcia says: “We’ve got this discipline thing all wrong. We assume discipline is about punishment… We mistakenly believe that the main purpose of discipline is to stop tantrums at all costs, as quickly as possible.” … Read More
When You Think You Can’t Forgive
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
One Side – A #1000Speak Forgiveness post.
Her eyes dart away, and her legs shake. She walks past him, slouched on the sofa. She looks away again, doesn’t look in his eyes. He grabs her wrist, and looks up. “Please, Shelley, I didn’t mean it. I’m so, so sorry. Forgive me, please.” His voice tails off, his head bows. “Please.” A whisper. She doesn’t look at him. … 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
Mothering Through the Darkness – a Review.
Review of: Mothering Through the Darkness: Women Open Up About the Postpartum Experience , edited by Stephanie Sprenger and Jessica Smock My first attempt at reading Mothering Through the Darkness stopped after three essays. The weight of these women’s struggles seemed overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure I could carry on. It didn’t help that I am in the midst of … Read More
What if?
What if? What if we stopped seeing success as material wealth? What would that look like? Would the beggar you passed yesterday be more or less successful than the film or pop star who died this year or last of a drug or alcohol overdose? Would the woman picking tea on the foothills of the Himalayas be more or less … Read More
Can You Let Go of Self-Judgements?
It’s a strange irony that we spend most of our lives not living them, but trying to change what has gone (the past) or control what isn’t here (the future.) The mind is very, very sneaky. We can see where other people do this – and where other people are too this, too that, too something other! But it’s far, … Read More
The Refugee Crisis: Compassion Must Extend to Those Who Don’t Feel It
You will have seen the photo of a little boy lying face down on the shoreline of a Turkish beach, or one of the policeman carrying him away. You will know that he drowned when the boat he and his family were in capsized, an overcrowded boat trying to reach Greece. You may know his mother and older brother also … 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
Can We Create a Culture of Compassion?
Earlier this month, a British politician died. Charles Kennedy was only 55, and died of alcohol-related causes, having struggled for years to overcome alcoholism. He was also widely loved, and not just by those of his political party. It’s common for people to speak kindly of those who have died, yet everyone seems in agreement that this time, they mean … Read More
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