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We love our children, everybody does. Precious, innocent miracles of life. We want to protect them, educate them and give them every opportunity to do well in life. Several months ago I watched in horror as an image of a 5 year old boy was pulled from rubble in Aleppo Syria after an airstrike. Many say the video was staged and it was all propaganda. True or not this horror story is only one of many others. I wonder how  people felt watching this. Could their reaction have been different if this was a child of the West, one with no ties to a country plagued by terrorism.  Syrian's tweeted in astonishment about 'why the world is doing nothing about the killing in Aleppo?' Sadly the fate of this boy and many other Syrian children is at the hands of world leaders. Think about your own children. Who decides whether they will be homeless, starve, miss out on an education or be killed? Usually us right? We protect our children and thank God we live in a countr...

Once upon a time there was a baby snake called Donny who was born into a home of immense wealth. He never had to worry about going to bed hungry or where he would sleep at night. Donny was born a white snake, very high on the pecking order of the empire he lived in so he never knew what it felt like to be picked on for being different or of the lesser order. Donny was a smug young snake and as he grew older, he would bully other animals that were weaker than he. If they beat him at anything he would chuck a tantrum complaining they cheated. Today Donny claims “When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same,”  Donny wanted to be like his father who was a successful snake in all the ways that were important to Donny. Donny promised himself that one day he would build an empire bigger and better than his fathers and at any cost. The empire Donny grew up in was considered the biggest and the best but as years passed that changed. Larg...

In the 1960’s film and television were culpable in how they portrayed characters with mental health issues; think Alfred Hitchcock. Five decades on we embrace characters like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory despite his obvious OCD and Asperger’s Syndrome. He is portrayed as having somewhat of a decent social life and definitely a successful career. The wonderful widespread acceptance of conditions like this has paved its way into the workplace over the years but I fear not as much as it needs to. This is a huge problem because mental illness is widespread and affects members of our families, our friends and certainly our workmates. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) around 1 million Australian adults live with depression and over 2 million have anxiety. On average, one in five women and one in eight men will experience depression in their lifetime. One in three women and one in five men will experience anxiety. Considering the enormity of these figures it’s troubling to...

Walking briskly down a street on the fringes of Sydney one early winter morning I noticed a dim light through the window of a rundown grocery store. Why I stopped I couldn’t say for sure except that I was fascinated by what I saw. There was an old man, perhaps in his eighties sitting ghostly still in his chair as he stared far away into space. Why he wasn’t in bed this early morning was anyone’s guess? I wondered why he fascinated me. He looked like my Pappous and perhaps that’s why I was drawn. But this guy had me hooked. Why was he sitting in this store that looked like something from the 1970’s? A store that had stopped in time. The old iced Vo Vo biscuits and boxes of bushels tea covered in dust decades old, on a shelf likely assembled by him back in the day when he was somebody. Why I knocked on the window is beyond telling but I was compelled to know why he sat alone in the dark by his dim lamp. I knocked louder and still he wouldn’t stir. Suddenly his head turns and I almost...

ONCE upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. “There’s my supper,” thought he, “if only I can find some excuse to seize it.” Then he called out to the Lamb, “How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking?” and so the famous fable goes. The lamb is doomed because the wolf will find any excuse to blame him and justify his killing. Poor lamb or justified wolf? The poor little white fluff ball is destined for the dinner plate but if the wolf doesn’t eat he’ll starve. Just watch anything David Attenborough films and you’ll understand the wolf must eat!! But the poor lamb did not muddy up the water because he was downstream from where the wolf was so why is the wolf making up excuses? Does he feel guilty? ‘No you humanitarian weakling’, the wolf snarls. ‘This is how I survive and I will do whatever it takes to get my meal.’ Often I quietly wonder if I am wrong to t...

It's all the rage at the moment with the US Presidential election fast approaching; Clinton or Trump on the minds of most Americans. On my mind is how the hell did he get there in the first place?? The mind boggles as I consider some of the vile that has spewed from his mouth in the past year. Trump on Mexicans 'They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapist'. His disdain for African Americans 'laziness is a trait in Blacks'. His misogyny rife as he blabs “My favorite part [of 'Pulp Fiction'] is when Sam has his gun out in the diner and he tells the guy to tell his girlfriend to shut up. Tell that bitch to be cool. Say: 'Bitch be cool.' I love those lines.” and I don't have the stomach to quote from his recently leaked audio from 2005 where he brags that he can sexually assault women. He hates Muslims to boot. I understand prejudice people will happily elect a prejudice president but a candidate with no experienc...

It used to be that if you did well in school more than likely you'd get a good job, have a successful career and make lots of money. You can have a double degree these days and get stuck stocking shelves at Woolworth's and did you know law degrees are now pretty much a dime a dozen out there. So it would seem a degree is not always enough anymore. I hear you ask what's the point of going to uni then? Why build a HECS debt for nothing? Well, I'm not saying those things are a waste of time, but you need something else. You need to be a driving force that's going to stand out in the crowd and that's where the mental strength comes into play. I read a great article in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that identified 21 signs of mental strength articulated by psychotherapist Amy Morin. I want to highlight the ones I think may help you not just in your career but also in everyday life. You Balance Emotions With Logic If somebody pisses you off for wha...

After more than two decades of working in Human Resources I feel like I've seen it all. It's just my opinion when I say the modern day workplace may not be the nicest place to spend a large chunk of your life. My observations of the modern day workplace are these. Fit The Mould Or Else You Are A Bad Employee I was blown away the other week as I watched Anh Do interview Dr Charlie Teo on 'Anh's Brush With Fame'. Dr Teo, a high-profile Australian neurosurgeon clearly does not fit the mould when it comes to the modern day workplace. He lives by the principle that 'a doctor should always treat his patients as he would a member of his own family'. On the show Dr Teo makes no bones about the fact that many neurosurgeons won't operate on patients where there is a risk and they hide behind the excuse that their patients tumour is inoperable. Bottom dollar is these surgeons don't want to risk getting sued if something goes wrong and the hospitals h...

I'm sure you've heard a horror story or two about how families change when it comes to inheritance. Many times close knit families become the biggest casualties. Those decades of family gatherings suddenly end never to happen again. And then come the lawyers, smelling money like a pack of wolves closing in on their weak prey. The lawyers will tell you to fight for what's rightfully yours never disclosing they stand to gain the most. So what drives families to fight over their loved ones final wishes? Greed? Sense of entitlement? Spouses sticking their noses in where it clearly does not belong?  Perhaps all of these things? I think it's more than that. I'd add emotion is the biggest driver of destruction. Emotions like anger and vengeance come into play. Add to that jealousy, bitterness, and a need to reclaim a sense of  importance, love, and self-esteem. You wonder how this has anything to do with money? How could it? But it does. If a kid feels unloved g...

Some people are lucky and they love their jobs. They love going to work and can't believe they get paid to do it. It leaves you wondering 'why them and not me'? But there is a choice in all of this. You can just leave the dreaming for others and choose to face the daily grind or you can be a dreamer and chase your passion. Both choices have good points and bad, here's what I think. Suck it Up and keep Your Day Job Because somebody needs to pay for electricity, gas, food etc. A struggling Actor won't pay the bills. In the words of Obama 'A Great Education Helps to Create Ladders of Opportunity - a good education for your kids costs money. You'll have a better chance at paying off the mortgage - if you live in Sydney selling your house when you retire leaves a far bigger nest egg than Super (retirement fund). And if you have a big enough nest egg then you can finally chase your dreams. It builds resilience to help battle adversities that may cros...

I'm turning 50 this December and the thing that worries me most is I have no idea how to celebrate it. I'm the unassuming type, don't like to be the centre of attention BUT I have always celebrated my milestones. When I was 16 and 18 I had a big party at home with family and many dear friends in attendance. For my 21st I struggled a little but in the end I celebrated my 21st by having a BBQ in the park with family and friends. I had to do something different though, so I stayed sober that entire day and night!! Simply Un-Australian. For my 30th I had a big dinner with family and friends and for my 40th a friend and I celebrated jointly at the Casino. Now I know about the wonderfully exciting list of things you can do for your 50th but none of that grabs me. Yes I know I can visit the Big Apple or go to some other exciting far away land OR pick 50 exciting things to do the year I turn 50 OR have a big party where I can pretend it's the 80's all over again BUT I ...

Over the years my husband and I have visited Oahu many times but this time we had our kids so our approach had to change. Traveling as a family is more expensive and you can't just do what you want, the super active kids with no attention span need to be considered. Cheap Airfares Our kids are 11 and 14 so that meant 4 adult tickets. We had a wedding to go to so waiting until the 11th hour for a deal was no option. But if you can wait Jetstar (sign up) will send you notifications each time a deal comes up. If we had the time we could have paid as little as AU$2,400 in airfares for the whole family! Getting there We flew Hawaiian and they were great BUT not a cheap option for the budget traveler. Jetstar is a good option, leaves you extra money to spend when you get there. My advice is take the overnight flight there and back as 10 hours flying time for kids during the day is testing to the say the least. Airport to hotel  Don't bother with a shuttle as taxi's are c...

My husband comes from a tight Italian American family from Upstate New York. The extended clan often come together for a week or two every second year or so. It's both fun and suffocating for someone like me. See I come from a family that never took holidays ANYWHERE, in fact we never once went out to eat at a restaurant. My parents came to Australia in the 1950's escaping a beautiful Lebanon battered by poverty. We never followed rules (social ones I mean), I don't recall sitting at the dinner table because we usually ate in front of the telly (television) or out in the back yard. Don't get me wrong we had fun playing out on the road, jumping off the garage roof, swimming ALL DAY at Ryde pool on those sweltering hot summer days, hiding in the cornfields dad planted in our backyard!! Endless fun that cost not a penny. As a grown up I have traveled extensively, eaten at numerous restaurants, and enjoyed the spoils of good living BUT it never feels the same as that simp...

Have you ever felt like a rat running on a tread mill that just never stops? This is how it usually goes. You wake up at the crack of dawn to exercise (it relaxes you, makes you look and feel good, heals your partners wondering eyes or/ and you're just bloody stupid). You race home from the gym, shower, cuddle kids, and help them get dressed, eat, pack school bags and if you're lucky enough you're partner will help and even better take them to school. Half crazed you race out the door with a mouthful of porridge in your gob (still swallowing) run like mad to catch your train a kilometer down the road because your household only has one car. Finally you get to work maybe a few minutes late and nervously wonder if anybody noticed. The "how was your weekend" from colleagues just reminds you how hard it was (cleaning, grocery shopping, kids sports/ birthday parties, visiting frail parents who also need your help). You work hard and wonder if you'll ever d...