by David on August 24, 2008
Image by rich115 via Flickr So thats it for another four years. Boris has got the flag, the flame is out in Beijing and television schedules will return to normality. The 204 competing nations will go home - 81 with at least one medal.
Was it all worth it? Fortunes have been spent getting athletes into finals and for some a gold medal. National pride, the “feel good” factor is said to permeate through those watching. Its interesting that China, the worlds most populated country with 1.3 billion people, topped the medals table. But India, second most populated with 1.1 billion, celebrated their first ever gold medal at the games and finished with a total of three medals.
“You are role models for the youth of the world”
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by David on August 10, 2008
Does taking risks build confidence became too long to add a reflection on my family holiday(vacation) to Gozo. Although I was being critical of the risk taking (see Comments below), I’m not advocating remaining within our comfort zone. In the case of our holiday, the comfort zone was swimming, sun bathing, reading, walking around the local area, eating in the many restaurants. All very pleasant.
But my lasting memory of the holiday is when [click to continue...]
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by David on August 3, 2008
Back to work and usual routines after our vacation, although as I write the house is quite. My eldest daughter flew back up north to Yorkshire on Friday to attend a wedding and our 17 year old twins have invaded Cornwall, south west England, to stay in a caravan with friends.
Holidays give you plenty of time to reflect. I know when I was the age of my children I certainly lacked the confidence to do the things they are currently doing (and planning!). Yet we constantly hear stories on the media about how over protected children are in modern society. They get driven to school and we don’t let them out of our site to play with friends for fear of abduction.
Schools and local governments become more risk minimizing and ban many activities for fear of being sued if accidents happen. Councils cut low branches off trees to prevent children climbing them, schools put bubble wrap on sharp corners of tables to prevent injury!
Despite all this my children seem to be emerging into adulthood far more confident than I did. I’d agree that in many ways they have been more sheltered than I was, but I don’t think that paints a true picture.
Do we have to put ourselves at risk to gain confidence?
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by David on July 27, 2008
As I write this I’m ending a frantic week trying to get everything together before we go on holiday (vacation) to Gozo. As you read this (if its around 27th July) I should be totally chilled (but also very hot!) as I relax on holiday. So with that in mind I thought I’d write a quick checklist of things you can do if to keep stress at bay and feel more relaxed.
Stress is a bit of a fashionable buzz word. There are similarities and links between stress and anxiety - both can lead to unpleasant, disabling symptoms. When we feel stressed we often feel out of control of the situation - which undermines our self confidence.
So try these ten easy relaxation tips to feel more relaxed and in control.
1. Take a short break and leave a stressful situation. If you are at work, offer to run an errand or go for a short walk. A few minutes away can help you think clearly and the walk will get rid of some of the tension in your body. [click to continue...]
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by David on July 13, 2008
I use Firefox as my browser - which I would recommend to anyone as it has many useful pugins you can add. Its also supposed to be safer than Internet Explorer. One feature you can use on either Firefox or IM is Google/ig. This allows you to create a personalized home page and populate it with a variety of features - from games or news feeds to RSS feeds or weather forecasts.
I enclose a screenshot of my “IG” page - which includes a feed from Google news. As well as “Top Stories” and in my case “UK” and “Health”, I can add interests like “Self Confidence” and “Self Esteem”.
Some of the stories classed as “self confidence” have little merit But just looking at this mornings pick, the feed leads to some fascinating and informative stories.
I’m no great tennis fan. My colleague at work had Centre Court tickets in the first week of Wimbledon, which left me cold. But I did see a large chunk of the mens final, and cannot help but admire the skill of the Nadal & Federer.
The link from Google News is to an article in The Times (London) reflecting on Wimbledon [click to continue...]
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by David on June 29, 2008
My twin daughters are both learning to drive at present. I’ve only just recovered from helping my elder daughter learn, two years ago! If you drive, can you remember how strange it felt at first, how much concentration it demanded. Synchronizing gear and clutch, regulating your speed and direction, being aware of other road users and predicting their next move.
Today, I don’t consciously engage in the task of driving - likewise I don’t consciously think about how to tie up my shoe laces or walk (try thinking about how you walk and tell yourself out loud what to move!). Reflecting at my keyboard its quite frightening how we rely on our unconscious mind and embedded habits to propel a large metal box at great speed.
I have repeatedly touched on how much of what we do is habit. Our brains process millions of messages a day - putting most of our activities on automatic pilot makes us more efficient. If we did have to consciously engage in tying our shoe laces, or driving, then we would end up exhausted. [click to continue...]
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