Monthly Archives: February 2023

Arts, Literature

Secrets of the heart

YOU MAY KNOW NOT

HE was a deeply unpleasant man. He brought out the worst in many people. It was clear to see.

One day I asked him to tell me about his childhood and he ridiculed the idea that there was anything to be learned that way. Then he agreed to tell me one story of no importance or significance.

While emphasising its irrelevance, he told me the one thing that explained everything about him. My heart still breaks when I think of the loss he so flippantly described.

It reminded me of the words Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in “Hyperion: A Romance”:

“Every heart has its secret sorrows, which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.”

UNCREDITED WORDS OF WISDOM

“Some stranger somewhere still remembers you were kind to them when no-one else was.”

Those are uncredited words of wisdom read on the internet.

The sentence will probably mean different things to different people in circumstances known to them. But it reminds me of a man I met in a church café. He insisted we’d met before, even though I had no recollection of it. He told me he was doing well, working, of good health, and much happier. It was good to hear, but I was still wary.

“That was a powerful talk we had back then. Those words made the difference,” he told me.

“Remind me,” I prompted, still unsure of him.

“You said, ‘Just because you’re down doesn’t mean you’re out’. I remembered those words and built on them over the years. You gave me hope.”

Not such profound words that they actually stayed with me, but they would have been honestly meant. Whatever kindness was contained in them meant they could go on and do their work after I had left.

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Arts, Mental Health, Psychology

You May Have To Create Your Own Motivation

MOTIVATION AND HABITS

Confucius once said, “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

Sometimes you want to undertake a new project because you are excited about the challenges it holds as well as the end result. At other times you would like to achieve the end result, but you are not stimulated by the steps you will have to take to get there. This is particularly true of goals based on self-improvement such as “getting fit”. We know the end result will be good, but if we enjoyed the process we would already be doing it!

In these situations it can be useful to add motivation to your process. This can be as simple as writing yourself a list of tasks that you can cross off as you go or awarding yourself intrinsically for each milestone you achieve. Perhaps, even, you could put a small amount of money to one side, to access only when you hit a target.

Forming habits is also a key factor in being motivated which will hopefully lead to the success you desire.

Research by University College London showed that it takes, on average, around 66 days for most routines to become habit. Crucially, however, the studies found that the harder the habit, the longer it took to form and that some people simply didn’t find habit-forming easy and therefore they would form habits over a longer timescale. Perseverance is the essential ingredient.

Take it easy on yourself. Don’t worry about missing one day here and there when establishing your new routine (the same research found that this did not materially affect the development of a habit) and don’t worry if it is taking you longer to get into your new routine than you think it should – the important thing to recognise is that you are on your way to building a new habit that will help in your drive to be more successful.

(Podcast ends)

. Add A Little Nothing Into Your Day

Adjusting your schedule to allow for the time you’re going to spend on your new project or adventure is one of the first steps. But so too is finding an extra ten minutes to do nothing. For that ten minutes just sit and be idle. Perhaps you could spend this time preparing yourself mentally for the challenge ahead, or just mulling over your project.

A study published in Psychological Science found that a daily dose of doing “nothing” actually increases your productivity and makes you more likely to commit to a certain goal or objective. Allowing yourself ten minutes of downtime to be mindful and restore your energy will make you more effective when you actually get down to work.

. Be Firm Yet Flexible

You will have good days and bad days, and discipline is finding a way to persevere regardless of what kind of day you are having. Set yourself an upper time budget and a lower time budget so that you can flex your schedule around the realities of your life.

The upper time budget is for the good days, so you can take advantage of days when you have plenty of energy and enthusiasm and do a little more without burning yourself out. Conversely, the lower time budget is for days when you are tired or down. It may be less time than you think you need, and it might not make a huge contribution to your project, but doing at least something, however little, toward your project will help you to form your routine.

Completing a task is much easier when it is a habit.

. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is internal motivation. It is when a person is driven to achieve a goal for its own sake and feels that the completion of the goal is its own reward.

Extrinsic motivation is motivation driven by an external reward. An example of this might be practising your baking in order to win a baking competition.

Research shows that extrinsic motivation works well to inspire shorter bursts of productivity, while intrinsic motivation is the most effective in driving your long-term goals.

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Arts, Drama

Lateral Thinking Drama: The Office

‘The Office’ – using your detective sleuth skills and abilities of language and comprehension, who is the murderer?

SETTING & SCENARIO

“I can’t believe poor Tommy is dead. I just had coffee with him not two hours ago.” Dr Adamson certainly seemed distressed. “He and I co-own this building, along with Michael Taylor on the second floor.”

Chief Inspector Bryant nodded. “So I understand. I believe Mr Talbot was a private investigator?”

“Yes. My practice is on the first floor, Michael has a law office on the second, and Tommy’s office is up top. We shared the mortgage payments equally between us. He never seemed to have any trouble keeping up his share.”

“Did anyone?” asked Bryant.

“Well, Michael has been having a rather tricky time recently, and I know he’d like us to sell this building so he could move somewhere cheaper. Tommy and I had offered to let him reduce his share a little for a few months, though, until things picked up. I don’t know what will happen now. How did he die, may I ask?”

“Our investigations are ongoing,” Bryant said.

The victim’s receptionist, Annabel Mortimore, knew exactly what had happened. “It was poison,” she told Bryant tearfully. “He and Dr Adamson had just finished their morning coffees. Tommy went into his room, and made a call. He got as far as “Good morning”, when he gasped and started wheezing horribly. He started to stagger towards my room. He looked terrible. Then he fell to his hands and knees, crawled a few paces, and . . . and . . . he died.” She burst out weeping again.

Chief Inspector Bryant offered her a handkerchief and gave her a few moments. Once she had recovered a little, he smiled at her encouragingly. “What happened then?”

“I screamed,” Annabel said. “Then I ran downstairs to find Dr Adamson. He had got out, but Helena, his assistant, called the police, and looked after me until you came. It . . . it must have been Dr Adamson! They’d just had coffee. But why would he kill Tommy? He seems so nice.” She broke down again.

“Perhaps,” said Bryant gently. “Where was Mr Taylor in all this?”

“Oh,” she sniffled, “Mr Taylor was here early, and I could hear that he was disagreeing with Tommy about something. But then he left to go to meetings across town, so he’s been gone for hours. No one else has come by today.”

“Thank you, Miss Mortimore. You’ve been a great help.” Bryant left the receptionist and went into the detective’s office. The room was dominated by an untidy desk bearing an empty coffee mug, various papers, several file folders, a jug of water with a couple of glasses, a telephone on its stand, an inkwell and pens, and some sheets of blotting paper. Behind it was a comfortable chair and in front stood a pair of more formal chairs for visitors. Filing cabinets lined one wall, and bookshelves the other. The building’s mortgage agreement was prominent amid the clutter on the desk.

Taking great care, the chief inspector cautiously sniffed the mug, noticing a faint, bitter hint of almond. Definitely poison, then.

He returned to the reception area and sat down next to Annabel again. “I now know enough to bring the murderer to justice,” he told her.

Who is it, and how does Chief Inspector Bryant know?

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