Mental Health - Widower Experience (WX)

In today’s world, feelings of isolation run deep, and generations often feel disconnected. Yet, there’s a wealth of wisdom to gain from other -  to learn from someone who is just slightly ahead on the road of life! International Mentoring Day shines a light on the beauty of young people forming meaningful connections with those who possess more experience and insight. Let’s embrace the heartwarming and transformative power of mentoring, whether as a guiding mentor or an eager mentee! The International Mentoring Day, celebrated on January 17 each year, has several purposes: Raising Awareness - The day aims to raise awareness about the importance and benefits of mentoring. Mentoring can help individuals develop their skills, gain confidence, and advance their careers or personal growth. Celebrating Mentors - It's a day to recognize and honor mentors who have positively impacted the lives of others. This can encourage more people to become mentors. Promoting Mentoring Programs - The d...

Anything to raise awareness about mental health is important and I do welcome days like "Mental Health Awareness Day" - and as every year on 10th October is World Mental Health Day - but it can't be allowed to be a day where companies, organisations, brands even, think they can pay lip service to it for a day and then forget all about it for the rest of the year. Sure it is good to have a dedicated day in the year - a day when we throw a spotlight on some of the biggest societal challenges that pose a threat to people’s mental health ... but - the mental health conversation and the mental health support required need to be ever-present.  World Mental Health Day is happening on Thursday 10th October 2024. The official theme is set annually by the World Federation for Mental Health. And the theme, as chosen by the World Federation for Mental Health is: “It is time to prioritize mental health in the workplace”. With worldwide issues like the Covid pandemic, social injustice...

My stoic mantra ... Go as far as you can. When you get there You will see how it goes on. Your path and purpose will become clear and become yours - when you begin to trust yourself. The path - your path is the destination. Live your life for you with self-awareness, trust und confidence You have to trust in yourself - trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, good in others ... whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. When you look to the past, don't sit and dwell on your regrets. Instead, focus on the things you learned from each experience and how they may enrich your future. Use the past not as something to hold you back, but as a method for reaffirming the drive to move forward on your chosen path. Live your life for you and not to please expectations Social pressure is deceiving - we all become influenced without noticing it. Before we realize we lost control of our lives, we end up envying how other people li...

From time to time everyone questions life, and how they live their lives, ... Are you feeling like your life is passing by and you’re not making the most of it? Do you wonder if there is something more? Have you asked yourself, “Is this really all there is to life?” Those are totally normal thoughts and part to get aware of yourself, of life and people around you. But if you want to try to get the most out of your life, start to think about it - check out yourself,  how to live life to the fullest. If you asked thousands people, you might get the same number / variety of different answers about what it means to live life to the fullest. For some, it might successful in business, it might involve traveling, it could mean raising a family, or inventing of something, and and and. Still others may be on a mission to solve some important social problem. What’s common among these definitions is that each one involves finding meaning or purpose in what one is doing or how one is spending ...

Identifying and understanding your values might be or most often  is a challenging and important exercise. Your personal values form a significant aspect of who you are, and who you aspire to be. By being more aware of these significant elements in your life, you can use them to make the most suitable decision in any situation. Some of life's decisions revolve around identifying what you value the most. When multiple options seem plausible, it is comforting and beneficial to rely on your principles as a strong guiding force to steer you in the right direction. What is the significance of holding values? Your values are the beliefs and ethics you deem significant in influencing the course of your lifestyle and work. These principles should ideally govern your priorities and guide your choices as well as your behaviour towards others. When your actions align with your principles, life seems rewarding. Why are personal values crucial? Recognizing your values could signi...

Now more than half a year after my wife left / died with dignity. I learned for myself how to see grief - this is certainly not generally applicable, but maybe one or two will find their way to deal with grieving and mourning. Grief is the visibility, feeling of love, often a huge deep love for a person who died, a beloved one who has gone and is no longer tangible. Love stays and.... Bang! Pow! ... the other one of your love is gone - but love remains. One feels the love / is even more overflowing with love than before.  The longer you are with another person, love changes into a very strong fabric / structure of trust, respect, cohesion and emotional chaos. When the other person is gone, the emotional chaos remains and unexpectedly and out of the blue this 'love' is back - back in your heart and in every part of your body. But what now? Now there was no one left to say that you love the other! No one else is around - to whom you can give or show this love! I was told I could ...

Happiness is an emotion that all people desire, actually all the time, and at the same time most find that they experience it all too rarely. Poets and philosophers focus on the question "How can I be happy?" for centuries - and don't we all concentrate on this question in the last few years or centuries? For decades, however, scientists from other disciplines have also taken it up. Nobody knows a simple recipe for a happy life. Last but not least, this may be due to the fact that we are chasing “a false kind of happiness”. Joy - Happiness - Contentment What we generally and our Society understand by the term happiness - and the related terms "joy" and "contentment" I am unable to say or interpret. But I can share what I understand and feel when I think about happiness, joy and contentment. Joy is a strong feeling that usually occurs in response to a pleasant situation and moment. Joy is rather short-term; a feeling of being alive and vital. Happiness...

When the days are getting shorter - it is normal and extremely common to feel a kind of autumn or winter blues - many people feel sluggish and down during these months. With decreased sunlight and shorter days during the winter, our vitamin D, serotonin, and melatonin levels can become low, which exacerbates depression and other changes of their mood. When the weather is cold, people tend to stay indoors and become socially isolated especially or even more during the still ongoing time of Covid. They may also get less exercise, which can cause weight gain, lethargy, and lower mood. What can you do to beat the blues when the short, dark days are getting you down? A few hints I like to share ...  1. Practice gratitude and awareness Our thoughts precede our emotions and behaviors, so keep your thinking positive. Did you ever thought about autumn and its beauty? Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go. Autumn can be seen as a second spring - when every leaf is a ...

In the recent weeks I had to learn again - or let me phrase it that way - life reminds me that nobody cannot protect themself from sadness without protecting themself from happiness. So be happy having happy moments and accept and deal with the sad ones. Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, grudges and grief. Don't be pushed around by the tears and fears in your mind. Life is too short to be unhappy. Be led by the dreams and the love in your heart. Never let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what feels good for you, do what makes you feel alive and happy.  Sure you should take the expectations and ideas of others into account - but they should never ever limit who you are or who you want to be. And never ever let others tell you who you are. There is more to life than pleasing people or society. All too often it's the case that there is so much more to life than what ...

International Migrants Day, observed annually on December 18, is a global event recognized by the United Nations to acknowledge the contributions and experiences of migrants worldwide. Established in 2000, this day aims to raise awareness about the rights, challenges, and contributions of migrants, as well as to promote their fundamental freedoms and protections. The purpose of International Migrants Day is multifaceted. It encourages dialogue and understanding between migrants and host communities, fostering social cohesion and intercultural harmony. Additionally, it serves as a platform to highlight the positive impact migrants have on economies and societies. Migrants contribute significantly to global development through their skills, labor, and cultural diversity. The day also underscores the need for international cooperation in addressing the complex issues surrounding migration, such as human rights abuses, exploitation, and the challenges of integration. International Migrants...

In contrast to animals, we as human beings can be and do many things in our lives and have many great options to choose from in order to find luck and happiness.  If we make decisions here and there that we doubt afterwards, that we would not make the same way with more knowledge and experience at a later point in time - that is no reason to grieve. Life is an open-ended experiment. In fact, it would be a shame if we didn't design our personal experiment ourselves, not only "just let it happen". We are experiencing extremely challenging times and I can no longer count the additional challenges I face in the recent years. Especially in these challenging times, the question of what makes us happy is more important than ever. In my opinion, human life is about much more than just living without fear or fulfilling an 'achievement' or, in the worst case, just existing. At least I think that people want to find themselves - and everyone wants to live in a good partnersh...

I am very sure that all people long for happiness - a fulfilling feeling of life - most people certainly agree on this. What happiness is and what it means for oneself and for other people, everyone probably wonders, so many people have asked themselves, people have asked themselves across all times and philosophy since ancient times: An inner contentment is the form of happiness that everyone is seeking and trying to find. I see conscious living, conscious enjoyment as the happiness of life and the meaning of life, and it is also an attitude of appreciation and gratitude towards pleasures and joys. The modern consumer society and business world ... What I observe, or as I see it, is that the modern consumer society often leads to the point that people are dissatisfied because they are constantly striving for external things to find their happiness. Often, however, they are not aware of what they really want and what would truly fulfill them - fulfilling them really,  inside themse...

My life changed since my wife died. And since then I wonder and explore ways to be happy alone and live a full life   Consequently , I felt and partly still feel that I have also lost my purpose and, certainly - if I like or not, I'm confused about what role I might play in the world going forward. For example, I am no longer a husband, but I still feel like one. Through my fog of grief, it was nearly impossible to envision a life without my wife by my side. So came the question: “What do I do now?” compounded by the inevitable one of: “Who am I now?” While I had to and one may have to figure out “what to do” rather quickly, figuring out the “who you are now” is usually a slow process. Consequently , I discovered the dynamics of old time friendships began to shift. I had the luck that only a few friends seemed to fall by the wayside – a few because they feel uncomfortable with the situation. Keep in mind that change is not a dirty word - each's life is full of changes! I...

In this article I will focus and deal with suicides triggered by depression or other psychiatric propensities. And I like to start off with a quote by  Barack Obama: “ To anyone out there who’s hurting — it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It’s a sign of strength. ” Many people get depressed at one point or another throughout life. Whether it’s caused by death of a family member, environmental stress, or mental illness, feelings of depression can become difficult for many people. Unfortunately some people get so depressed as a result of their mental illness or life circumstances, that they consider suicide as an option to escape from their emotional pain. I had a number of challenging moments, experience and time of life I was and I am  able to live well without them 😊 on the other hand - after all these high and low tides in my life I learned or became to the conclusion that  the only cure for a bad day is to make a cup of coffee or tea, having a good piece of...