If, as I have done, you peruse the internet in search of quotes which relate to expectations you will find they can be categorised quite neatly into three areas: commerce, competition and autonomy/personal growth. The commerce ones invariably rotate around exceeding the expectations of customers. The competition ones involve defying everyone’s expectations in order to […]
Tales of the Unexpected Read More »
Would it be fair to say that we all have good days and bad days? Surely the odds dictate that, to quote the song, into each life a little rain must fall. Nobody walks through life without getting at least a little wet. Nobody spends every single day basking in the glories of Creation (well,
Several years ago an old university friend and I shared a hotel room at the stag do of a fellow alumnus. We had returned to our accommodation for some respite after an afternoon of paintballing hi-jinx which had left many of our party black and blue and some even righteously indignant at the unfettered immersion
It’s not me. It’s you. Read More »
It was hot in Melbourne yesterday. Thirty seven degrees (99°F). Not off the charts hot but hot enough to make you sweat doing nothing at all. And if you weren’t doing nothing at all? If you were pushing hard in the heat with demands being made of you, emotionally and psychologically? If you were pushing
Compounds, negatives and positives Read More »
A friend asked me today if I was happy. No big deal. A straightforward question to which the easiest answer is of course ‘yes’. Naturally, that didn’t enter my head for a second. I suppose for many this is a relatively innocuous enquiry akin to “how’s it going?” or “all good?” or “how’s tricks?”. Something
Evil does not exist ontologically. And that’s why it’s so powerful – because it’s so parasitic on our deepest desires – and why so oftentimes the most profound evils that are perpetrated are done in the name of the good. If God does not exist – at least the God we worship and Jesus Christ
In preparation for a class last night I found myself reading the thoughts of Paul Jose, a New Zealand-based American psychologist, on the psychology of happiness. He divided people into two groups – the ‘savourers’ and the ‘dampeners’, their names reflecting their relationship with positive experiences. Very simply, the happier among us savour the positive
My world has changed. Three and half weeks ago I sat with my barely born daughter clutched to my chest and wept tears of joy, relief and awe at the gift that had somehow been delivered safely to our care. While my wife was in recovery I was led to a nursing room and directed
Want to change the world? Read More »
When writing for this blog I typically start with the kernel of an idea in my mind that I trust will carry enough discursive and imaginative heft to justify the thousand or so words that follow. What I have discovered though is that by the time I press ‘publish’ that kernel may not be in
Has there ever been a Miss World candidate who hasn’t declared her wish for world peace? How admirable, how marvellous, to behold the nobility and compassion of the bikini-clad, doe-eyed tiara-aspirant! Such ambition! Such gravitas! Such shiny teeth! But imagine the ripples through the universe of beauty pageantry if one of these paragons of female
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