Archive | Mental Health

Vacations

At the time of this post, I am likely on vacation. After missing the opportunity to take a vacation for a couple of years, Melissa and I have been looking forward to it. The visit to this destination, Alaska, was delayed from our original plan and thus, we’ve been working on and revising the plans […]

Continue Reading

I will begin this post by saying I love to work!  One of my best friends, Bob, was my office mate (and co-conspirator) in graduate school.  He frequently referred to me as a “workaholic” because, invariably, when he called to find out what I was doing, I was working or studying.  I love my job […]

Continue Reading

Live Your Life Like Someone Left the Gate Open

I don’t remember where I saw this quote for the first time, but I instantly liked it: “Live your life like someone left the gate open.” I guess there are multiple interpretations of this sentence, however, my view of it is that, as David’s late mother used to say, we should try to “have fun” […]

Continue Reading

For reasons I won’t go into, the timing of my reading of Melissa’s post was, well, timely.  We sometimes have to remind ourselves, and each other, to have fun, find fun where we can, and to leave that gate open to get out and enjoy what there is to enjoy in life.  It might be […]

Continue Reading

If You Won’t Practice, Don’t Bother Learning

As I mentioned in my previous post, “practice makes perfect,” my childhood piano teacher, Corella Johnson, insisted that all her piano and organ students practice their instrument(s) at least 30 minutes a day. The first thing she did at every lesson was ask her students to play the piece of music they were learning, so […]

Continue Reading

Childhood music lessons didn’t work well for me.  I tried guitar and piano but found I’d much rather go fishing or tromp through the woods than hone those skills.  Perhaps it was also because my early music lessons focused too much on fundamentals, rather than playing a song, these music experiences were not attractive to […]

Continue Reading

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice makes perfect. How many times have we heard this phrase? I have heard it too many times to count! I started playing the piano when I was 6 years old. I started playing the organ when I was 11. My piano and organ teacher was a wonderful friend and neighbor, Corella Johnson, who had […]

Continue Reading

I can attest to Melissa’s commitment to practice.  She takes it seriously and is religious about it, as long as her “day job” doesn’t interfere.  But practice gets a bad rap, that is a bad name.  Melissa’s practice time is often better characterized as “playing” as in “playing the bass.”  Practice seems repetitive and punitive.  […]

Continue Reading

It’s Okay to Have Regrets

I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal that focused on the “no regrets” philosophy that has become a cultural goal for many Americans. Supposedly, a life without regrets has been touted as a goal for people to attain, much like the concept of “bucket list” (of things we must achieve before we […]

Continue Reading

In his signature song, My Way, Frank Sinatra sang the words written by Paul Anka: Regrets, I’ve had a few But then again too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exception Paul, and/or Frank, claimed to only having a few regrets having achieved what each of […]

Continue Reading

Refocusing “on the Fly”

As the saying goes, the best laid plans… Change is part of our everyday existence as litigation consultants, especially in our world of keeping up with lawyers. We’re down in the chain of command, thus, when things change for our clients, they change for us. Just today, a lawyer calles about a change in his […]

Continue Reading

David and I have written about the need for flexibility in our world of work in prior posts.  Flexibility, and along with it, the willingness to change plans on a moment’s notice, are job requirements for everyone who works at Magnus.  I often find it difficult to explain to the “uninitiated” about why I never […]

Continue Reading

Technology and Workplace Violence

In this, final, post about workplace violence that was inspired by my recent mediator re-certification training, I will discuss another reality of life in the modern world, workplace violence involving employees who work remotely. Workplace violence is not limited to in person interactions; in fact, cyber violence is commonplace. The pandemic that began in early […]

Continue Reading

It is somewhat overwhelming to consider the lengths to which “bad actors,” a/k/a criminals, in some situations, will go to in order to attempt to bully, harass, or perpetrate violence.  We at Magnus, are somewhat sheltered in our work environment.  But, to consider the ramifications of remote working, telecommuting, etc. and how that pandemic forced […]

Continue Reading

Employers’ Duty of Care of Employees

The lecture I recently attended on workplace violence included information regarding employers’ duty of care of their employees, with the goal being to foster an environment of zero tolerance for violence. The first component of every employers’ duty in this regard is, of course, to have a written policy that prohibits all forms of on […]

Continue Reading

Employers’ responses to harassment or violence send strong messages as to whether behaviors are tolerated.  In the instance Melissa mentioned about being grabbed from behind, that was an act committed by the attorney/client when she worked in her first trial consulting job.  Because he was a client, she didn’t respond with violence and hit him, […]

Continue Reading

Workplace Violence

This is the first of a series of 3 posts concerning workplace violence. As part of my Continuing Mediator Education required to maintain my certification as a Civil Court Mediator in Florida, I attended a lecture on workplace violence that was taught by an employee of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Unfortunately, most of us […]

Continue Reading

It is disturbing that workplace violence, in any form, is enough of a problem that it was included on the agenda for Melissa’s mediator continuing education. This fact is enough to give one pause, and it makes me think how different things are in the world at large than in our small business.  I certainly […]

Continue Reading

Those little annoyances

Someone told me long ago that he lacked the personality characteristic to be able to tolerate performing mundane tasks, including dealing with automated telephone systems; working out problems with a bank; balancing a checkbook; etc. I share this absence of the personality trait that obviously includes having patience to handle being placed on hold for […]

Continue Reading

It’s not easy being OK to Handle.  I think we’ve written about that story before.  But, in the recent example, I was dealing with one of our banks.  I don’t enjoy that kind of experience, but I know I can get through it; I have to.  Melissa could not.  I just have to persevere.  This […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes