Author: Stephanie Hills

  • Helping with a house move

    Phillipa,* a sole parent, had just come out of hospital after surgery and was convalescing, when she was faced with having to move house. The people she would normally turn to for help were not available, leaving her worried about how she would cope. To her delight, several people she hardly knew stepped forward and […]

  • Ditzy Drivers

    A driving instructor was giving lessons to an extremely nervous student, who panicked whenever another car approached on a particular two-lane road. One day, however, they got to the same stretch of road and the student was completely calm. “You’re doing fine, today!” exclaimed the instructor.“Yes,” agreed the learner. “Now, when I see another car […]

  • The Chicken or the Egg? The Person or Their Opinion?

    Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Of course, there’s no definite answer, and if there was, it would make little difference. Yet last year, an argument about this very question led to an Indonesian man killing his friend. News reports never mentioned which side he took, but consider this – did killing his […]

  • Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself

    Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself                                                                                             by Lissa Rankin After qualifying as a medical doctor, Lissa Rankin became fascinated by the placebo effect. How was it possible for people to heal simply through belief? Further research led her to discover what lay behind miraculous spontaneous remissions, and why happy […]

  • Deep and meaningless

    A yogi in the Himalayas was a great spiritual leader. He walked in the mountains in bare feet. He also had a peculiar diet that made him a bit weak and gave him bad breath. You could say he was a…  super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. * * * *  When I sang […]

  • What Counts at Work…

    Have you ever thought about how your job affects your attitudes? When I worked with children in care, I came to believe that all children were passive and that every generation was doomed to be less capable than the last. Similarly, I knew a store detective whose default attitude to strangers was to be suspicious […]

  • Plalking = Picking up litter while walking

    On my way to the local shops, I was curious to see an older lady walking with a plastic bag. She walked with dignity and looked purposeful, but every time she passed a piece of rubbish, she bent down, picked it up, popped it into her bag and carried on walking. In a very humble […]

  • Clever Learners

    One day Jim and John were taking Jim’s dog for a walk. “I’ve taught my dog to whistle,” Jim said proudly. “What do you mean?”, said John, “He’s not whistling”. “I know”, said Jim. “I said I’d taught him. I didn’t say he’d learned”. * * * * * * “My sister and I have […]

  • What the World Needs Now…

    I once led a dedicated team, who worked well together and had each other’s backs. One day, every team member suddenly became difficult to work with. In their own ways, each person started looking out for themselves, rather than thinking of the team. It didn’t take me long to realise why. A new manager had […]

  • Born for Love

    Born for Love. Why empathy is essential – and endangered by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz Brain experts Perry and Szalavitz explain how our social experiences affect the way our brains develop, showing how harsh environments breed children with easily triggered stress systems, while stable nurturing grows empathy and rational thinking. With fascinating case […]