Noticing others’ burdens helps us to keep our own in perspective. It is nearly always possible to find someone who is facing a more difficult storm than you are currently. However, it’s not about minimising our own hardships or even trauma, it is about realising that we are not alone.
Perhaps, instead of popping into the garage shop for a bunch of flowers on the way to your mum this Sunday (hopefully not to a meal she cooked), or sending an expensive gift, why not think about what she needs?
We are not a patient generation. We are too accustomed to immediate gratification. Everything is instant.
What is happening? Why are we seeing more worker protests now - relative to the last few decades -despite global economic output increasing over that time? The answer lies in the way economic growth has been distributed. More of the spoils have ended up in the hands of the financiers and entrepreneurs, and less and less have gone to the middle and lower-class workers.
The problem is structural. The odds have been stacked against workers for the past few decades.
Sadly, few people practise hobbies these days, although many want to. Work has encroached on all other spaces in our lives, and screens take up most of our time when we do have time off.
