Author: Stephanie Hills

  • Silly advice?

    A friend suggested putting horse manure on my strawberries. I’m never doing that again! I’m going back to whipped cream. My mum told me to put on a clean pair of socks every day. By the end of the week I couldn’t get my shoes on.

  • Fear of trying new things

    I heard on the radio recently that a significant number of New Zealand 12-year-olds refrain from an activity they would like to do, out of fear that they won’t be good at it. That’s sad, not just because kids are missing out on something they might enjoy, but also because avoiding things you’re nervous about […]

  • Finding the way

    A little boy waiting for his mother was approached by a man who asked, “Son, can you tell me where the Post Office is?” The little boy replied, “Sure! Just go straight down this street two blocks and turn to your right.” The man thanked the boy kindly and said, “I’m the new pastor in […]

  • The Resilience Project; Finding Happiness Through Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness

    by Hugh van Cuylenberg In this heartwarming book, author Hugh van Cuylenburg tells how he went from a typical Australian kid with no understanding of his sister’s struggles with an eating disorder, to a man with a passion to help young people become happier and more mentally well. His own reflections and his experiences teaching […]

  • Humour as a Re-visioning Strategy

    One of the ways that people make us laugh is through observations that highlight the absurdity of a situation. Example: I want to be unique and different, just like everybody else. Humour approaches a subject from an unexpected angle; it’s a form of lateral thinking. As such, I’ve found that it can be a powerful […]

  • Happiness at (insert name of…) Your Workplace

    This half-day workshop gives an overview of happiness research and why happiness is important at work. Practical exercises are used to infuse participants’ own work with meaning and fulfilment, and to generate ideas to lift workplace cheerfulness. Content can be tailored to your unique work situation. Contact us to find out more, or to order […]

  • Three Bits of Silliness

  • Support at the Supermarket

    Keisha writes: “I had to run to the supermarket to pick up a few items. I noticed the woman ahead of me paying with her benefits card begin to put almost two bags of items back on the conveyor belt, while the cashier deducted the items from the total. Her back turned to me, as […]

  • Humour at Work

    Isn’t it uplifting when you work alongside someone with a sense of humour! Some people have a natural gift for making you laugh at just the right moment; others are great at appreciating humour, sharing cartoons and lightening the mood with their laughter. (Of course, I’m talking here about upbeat or silly humour, not the […]

  • Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out

    by Marci Shimoff, with Carol Kline Being truly happy means: having a sense of lightness or buoyancy; feeling alive, vital, energetic; having a sense of flow, openness; feeling love and compassion for yourself and others; having passion about your life purpose; feeling gratitude, forgiveness; being at peace with life and being fully present in the […]