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.
There is however a difference between medicine and markets. If a treatment is not delivering the expected results, then a doctor would do well to try a different treatment regime. Good portfolios though are best left untouched.
Most people seem hopeless. And it is depressing. You can choose to be hopeless. You can choose to spend your life hurling abuse as a spectator. It’s easy.
Or you can choose to jump into the ring if you’re not already there. You may find it rewarding
Enough has to do with our core desire for security. We all want to feel safe. We all want to survive.
We must all answer the question of ‘enough’. When we rationally have enough but we don’t feel it, and consequently don’t allow ourselves to experience it, we must do the work of healing that trauma.
At the end of the month of love, I reflect on what love means.
Love costs something. It is not only something that satiates. Nor is it something that can wait until we have satisfied our desires. I have noticed how our own desires only expand. Love comes at the cost of some of our desires.
This week we walked into our first permanent office in Cape Town. I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Again, two empty desks waited for us in a shared office space, a new blank canvas to expand our dream into the Cape region.
We should all have solid sounding boards in our life – people who can hear us out and help us to make good decisions and not necessarily affirm our views. Better yet to have professional people to advise us on tax, legal and financial issues.
Everyone will experience pain. Some more than others. Sometimes due to our own choices or others’ choices. Sometimes due to the circumstances of our birth. Sometimes due to our geography. And sometimes it seems for no reason at all.
Bluebirds are a sign that good luck is waiting.
In stark contrast to the symbolism of the bluebird, a black swan is an unknowable and unpredictable event with exceptionally negative consequences.
A lot of energy is spent trying to predict and prepare for the next black swan in the world of money. However, in reality, bluebirds are far more common than black swans.
At the start of the new year, we see the usual advice on setting and maintaining resolutions.
After the last 3 years, setting resolutions for another year is challenging. And it’s not just because we are recovering from the pandemic. It’s also that stability is slowly crumbling, like ancient structures being eroded by wind. Making resolutions feels daunting.
