The Positive Pathfinder

I (along with 14 other classmates) took a Mental Health First Aid course on April 22 & 29th. I learned from the course that kindness goes a long way. You notice that someone is in distress. You stop and ask how they are. You listen non-judgementally. You assess if the other person is a risk for suicide or for harming others. You give reassurance.  You advise about seeking appropriate professional help. You provide support. Mental health first aid suggests an approach (modified slightly) that all of us can use in our daily lives.     We can be a little more caring towards each other. Stop and ask how someone is. Listen non-judgementally. Provide support. We can be a little more caring toward ourselves. We have to find some “me” time once in awhile to re-charge. My classmates suggested some things that they do like play with their kids, play a musical instrument, play with a pet, socialize with friends, go for a walk or to the gym. For me, I journal. Peopl

We can be kind to someone by just being in the moment and noticing. My friend George Khalife sent an update to his LinkedIn network recently. George mentioned that he was having a “bit of a challenging day” one day.  He was in the washroom when someone he did not know noticed something about George -- maybe something about George’s facial expression or body language? In any case the stranger offered some encouraging words: “Hey man, cheer up!”   The rest of the exchange was that George asked him how his day was going to which he replied: “It’s the best day of my life.” It goes to show you that we can choose to be in the moment, maybe notice someone is in a bit of a funk and offer a kind word. In George’s story, the stranger said just 4 WORDS, and I imagine that helped George to feel a little better in that moment. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but decided to go to work. I have an eye infection (it’s much better today, thank you). I was feeling groggy

Yesterday I attended Day 1 of a two part Mental Health First Aid Course . Day 2 takes place next Saturday (April 29th). Day 1 gave me an idea of how we can give people a voice. We give people a voice when we initiate a conversation with them. The instructor told us about self-care and mental health. In order to provide support to others, we have to take care of ourselves first.  In an airplane when there is a problem and the personal oxygen masks drop down, a caregiver should make sure that they put the oxygen mask on themselves first and then look after the person they are caring for. The caregiver won’t be able to fulfil their caregiving role if they put the oxygen mask on the one they are caring for first and the caregiver ends up succumbing from a lack of oxygen.   The instructor asked the class what they do to take care of their mental health. I heard a lot of great answers like play with their kids, socialize with friends, play with a friend’s dog, exercise,

The other day a pensioner called at work. I happened to have picked up the phone.  He was very passionate, and I gathered that he wasn’t happy with the amount that he was receiving in old age pension. I asked if he called his MP’s constituency office. No, he hadn’t, because it wouldn’t help.    I sensed that this person didn’t feel that he had a voice when it came to his pension. Nowadays you hear headlines where robots are taking over jobs in the workplace. I think some employers would concur with the notion that employees should be seen rather than be heard. And like a robot they have no voice. For most of my working life, I went along with the notion that employees should be seen rather than be heard. In January 2013 I lost my job.     I found my job search to be a challenging time.  Out of resignation, really, I decided to write a LinkedIn post at a friend’s suggestion.   A light switch turned on when I wrote my very first po

In 2016 I connected with “John” on LinkedIn. You see I’ve never met John. I only know John through the LinkedIn posts that he writes on entrepreneurship. I like John’s conversational style of writing.  His posts are very informative.        I’ve commented and liked John’s posts.   And he’s commented and liked my posts as well.        Recently, at work, I was asked to organize a speakers event. We were looking for two volunteer speakers to come to our office and speak about their experiences in starting up a business. I thought of John. I knew that he would be too busy to volunteer his time, and so I asked him if he knew of anyone who would be willing to volunteer and speak at our event. John referred me to “Michael.” I spoke to Michael on the telephone for 10 minutes. Michael was willing to come to our office and speak. Unfortunately by the time I spoke with Michael, I already arranged for two speakers. I circled back to J

The word “spice” seems to be cropping up all around me lately. My colleague Joe Kwon wrote a post called “ Spice Up Your Value .” Joe’s title is very clever. Spice used to be used as a currency. Currently there is discussion about robots taking over jobs. And so, Joe tied the two concepts together of how you can up your value (or currency) with respect to AI and robots taking over jobs. Joe started a trend, because I started to think about how “spice” applies to me. Last week my manager mentioned how a slight change in routine can be good for your brain. I admit that I have definitely fallen into a routine. In the morning, I park my car at the Warden subway station and take the subway to work. Once I arrive at Wilson subway station, I catch a bus. The bus drops me off steps away from the office. I’m noticing that I when I arrive at the Warden subway station, I’ve been parking in the exact same parking spot for the last couple of months. I’ve also been notic

We are preparing a free workshop for older job seekers next month. A social media expert will come and speak about LinkedIn. We will show a video that we hope will resonate with our workshop participants.  A couple of weeks ago my manager mentioned that she had some documentaries on DVD’s that we could show at a workshop.    I gave myself a homework assignment and asked to see those DVD’s. The video that I really like is called “Employment Matters.” “Employment Matters” is a 2015 documentary by Brandy Yanchyk, who is a Canadian filmmaker. You can watch this 45-minute documentary for free on the CBC web site . This documentary tells the stories of 6 young adults with intellectual disabilities who find their niche in the working world.   In the first few minutes, I was entirely hooked on this documentary. I was inspired by the young adults’ joie de vivre. They enjoyed their work and it gave them a sense of purpose. One of the subjects said that whe

I read a fantastic paper recently by Duleesha Kulasooriya and Maggie Wooll called “ Unlocking human potential…Proactive practices for individual elasticity .” They suggest that for optimal learning we engage in roots and shoots activities and like yin and yang, you can’t have one without the other. Roots activities involve taking time for ourselves and stepping back from the busy-ness of life. Examples of roots activities include reflecting and doing yoga. In a podcast (which you can find within the paper) the authors suggest that when we engage in roots activities, we allow ourselves the time to figure out the meaning (and inter-connectedness) of things.  Shoots activities involve doing things that promote learning and growth like taking a course or going out of your comfort zone and taking an improv class or attending a meet-up. I was encouraged by the paper to try out more roots activities like thinking about your core values. Thinking about your cor

I’ve been practising yin and yang since 2013 and didn’t even know it. Yesterday I put myself in an uncomfortable situation. I attended a meet-up yesterday on mental health. I knew I didn’t fit in on a number of levels. Age was one of the things that didn't make me quite fit in.  Everyone was younger than I and we had different perspectives. Meeting people with different perspectives is a good thing. It expands your horizons.   I attended an 8-week improv course that ended in March 2017. This was an uncomfortable situation. Week after week I’d get nervous before class. What if I become tongue-tied? I did. And I got over it. I take time to reflect. Every morning I say positive affirmations to myself while focusing on my breathing.  An example of one of my affirmations is “Do whatever makes you feel uncomfortable.” This daily ritual helps to slow down my mind and I feel ready to tackle my day. Another activity tha

I was having a happy, free-wheeling conversation with a friend last week who had recently retired. Inevitably we started talking about work. He was lucky enough to stay at one employer for his entire career. That is quite an accomplishment! In the context of work, he mentioned that he was a “follower” as opposed to say being a manager. At the time, I weakly said that he was probably a little bit of a follower and a leader rolled up in one. The verb “follow” sounds OK to me. You can follow your passions. You can follow a company on LinkedIn. You can follow your instincts. You can follow instructions. You can follow protocol. But to be a “follower” at work just doesn’t sit well with me. It sounds like blind obedience. I have a “rebellious” streak and like to change things up.  For example if I were to drive to work, I’d park as far away from the entrance as possible just so that I could get some exercise. Or if there was a recurring me