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Category: Self Development

9/11 – Have a Gander At This Gander Story

9/11 was of course one of the worst tragedies in my lifetime. Like most people, I can recall where I was and what I was doing when the news first broke. This story headline intrigued me when I saw it. What has Gander, a small town in Newfoundland, got to do with 9/11? So, let’s have a gander at this Gander story – This incredible story is from a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15: On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic. All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that…

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Money Grows On Trees

“Money doesn’t grow on trees” is an expression I heard many times during my formative years. It is intended to send the message that reward comes through hard work and effort. This post combines many of my interests and/or my situation, namely: I write I am interested in self development I am a retiree who likes and needs to supplement a pension income I am an expat and a digital nomad I promote ethical affiliate links in order to supplement my income That introduction leads me to ask you to take a look at this book ‘Kindle Kash.’ As a writer who has had  a book published on Kindle it grabbed my attention. I have checked it out and the author and content is 100%…

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Happy Saturday – Be Inspired – One Legged Footballer

I found this article and video clip about a one legged footballer  after trawling the web for some ‘feel-good’ news.  We are all in need of some inspirational news from time to time no matter how resilient we like to think we are. This young man is certainly an inspiration in providing answers to life’s problems. I re-produce the article I found in full below. And, enjoy the goal! 🙂 His highlight reel soccer goal would have been the talk of the town anyway, but the fact that Concord-Carlisle senior Nico Calabria was born with only one leg makes it that much more amazing to watch. Calabria, who plays on crutches because he says prosthetics weigh him down, was on the field during a varsity…

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Happy Saturday – Be Inspired

Happy Saturday to you all! Saturdays used to be the happiest day of the week for me as a young guy. Played football in the afternoon and had a few beers with my mates in the evening. Sometimes it involved watching Liverpool FC instead of playing. And, occasionally the enjoyment of a few beers was added to by an interest in a young lady 😉 Happy days! Life is way too serious now. So let me bring you a story that’s bound to make you happy and it’s also an inspiration to all. This article first appeared in the Huffington Post Good News section on May 26, 2016. I love the story … and the pictures.   This powerful image encapsulates one graduate’s overwhelming feelings…

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Why Self Development Articles Can Suck

This is the last in my series of self development articles. There are a number of reasons why I have decided to withdraw from writing about self-development. Firstly, I’m not at all sure my loyal readers want to read about it. Second, the articles attract no feedback whatsoever. Third, I have overstretched myself lately in terms of writing and blogging commitments. Something has to give. But the final straw came when I discovered this article in researching self development articles on the web. Please don’t carry on reading if you are offended by strong language. In fact I will place an image below this sentence so you can avert your gaze and get the f*** outta here 🙂 No, I’m serious! Please don’t read on…

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Self Development Articles: Saturday Review 05/21/16

This is the week’s final article in the series of summaries of self development articles. You can view all the previous summaries in the series by clicking on this category link. Self Development Articles: Saturday Review it’s  Saturday,once more! I  will take my usual glance back at the week with a fresh but brief overview of those summaries.  It will be so brief that I will often confine it to picking the “quote of the week.” The Saturday review will also feature a story that illustrates the benefits of self improvement. That story may come from within these pages or somewhere else out there in this wide world of ours. And, I will pick an inspirational quote for the week starting with the one below.  …

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Male Introverts – Don’t Be Shy!

Sensitivity has been a theme running throughout all this week’s summaries. Under the spotlight today is the subject of male introverts.

Today’s Article – The Silence of Male Introverts & HSPs?

Today’s article  The Silence of Male Introverts & HSPs? appeared first on Medium. If you need reminding, HSPs are highly sensitive persons or people.

Favorite Quote from the Author In the Article

male introverts

 

 Summary of the Article

In a nutshell and unsurprisingly the articles deals with male introspection. That and males who are a HSP. The author explores the online visibility of such males and queries why so few are seen in contrast to women. He believes the answer lies in men typically not wishing to be viewed as vulnerable.

Reading Time of the Article

6 minutes

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About the Author and Lesson(s) Learned From The Article

David Johnson is a Mindfulness & Confidence Coach. His bio on Medium adds this – Introverts & HSPs. Informed by Buddhism, Ecopsychology, world travel & probably a few other things. You can find his website by clicking here.

The lesson I learned was that the author is displaying all the signs of being a highly sensitive male. Let me explain that. Johnson seems to take the stance that it is unusual for a male to display signs of introversion as it signals weakness.

Only fools or bullies would interpret male introversion or vulnerability as a weakness.

My Take

I couldn’t help myself! I have already given you a clue as to my take in the lesson learned above. Male introverts and sensitive males have existed since the beginning of time. I do believe Johnson is barking up the wrong tree at times.

I also have difficulty in following some of Johnson’s thought processes. I know what he is trying to say but the message isn’t made any clearer by prose such as this:

“With both introversion and sensitivity there can be the sense that they are personality traits and ways of being that we choose to adopt and live by. These are meanings and values that have been put on those words by society at large, I would say especially in the west.”

Sorry David, that is such a complex structure. I don’t understand it!

There are passages in the piece that I plain disagree with. Johnson writes:

“When the requirement of men is to be loud, demonstrative, physically strong — as that might be perceived as the only way of getting results, of winning — then any quieter way of being will not even be given a chance to shine and will possibly be ridiculed. And if introverted men believe that they have to act in a way contrary to what they are comfortable with, their health and well being will suffer — I write that based on experience.”

Clearly I respect his experiences. I cannot disagree with what he has personally experienced. But I disagree with his starting point – “… the requirement of men is to be loud, demonstrative, physically strong …” It’s a stereotype! Why reinforce it?

Men and loudness is not a prerequisite of maleness. This concept irks me!

Conclusion

It’s a messy article. That is a shame as the message is a worthwhile one. But it needs clarifying.

I do hope you find this series of self development articles useful. If so, then bookmark this page.

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Why Sensitivity is Key in the Workplace

Julie Boyer’s Medium article is the subject of today’s summary in the series of self development articles. She writes about an employer who explains why sensitivity is key in creating “magic” in the workplace. Sensitivity has been a theme running throughout all this week’s summaries. You can view all the previous summaries in the series by clicking on this category link. And here is a link to my Personal Development page for your convenience. The series of summaries of self development articles works like this – I find an article on the web using the tag ‘self development articles’ and I summarize it for your convenience. It is intended as an aid to find worthwhile self development articles on the web and condense them for…

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Why Highly Sensitive People Need Boundaries

Highly sensitive people, or sensitivity,  is again the focus of today’s summary in my series of self development articles. The term highly sensitive people (HSPs) and empath appear to be used by some writers interchangeably. I remain to be convinced that the two are the same thing. Indeed, I remain to be convinced that there is such a thing as an empath (my visual editor is of the same opinion – a red squiggly line appears under that word). Believe me, I don’t intend that in either a derogatory or skeptical fashion. As far as I can see, the jury is out on that issue. You can view all the previous summaries in the series by clicking on this category link. And here is a…

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The Cost of Sensitivity

“Get over it!” A sign of sensitivity – not! That is what I wrote yesterday in another summary of an article in the genre of self development articles. I think this week looks like turning out to be an examination of the topic of sensitivity. Through personal experiences, it is a subject that fascinates me. You can view all the previous summaries in the series by clicking on this category link. And here is a link to my Personal Development page for your convenience. The series of summaries of self development articles works like this – I find an article on the web using the tag ‘self development articles’ and I summarize it for your convenience. It is intended as an aid to find worthwhile…

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