Picture if you will: It’s early October. The smell of autumn is brisk and sharp in the air, breaking through the oppressive humidity of the last few weeks. You no longer arrive at work with your head all sweaty, looking like a used hankie. Your shoes have stopped sticking to the street. Thank god for [...]
Posts Tagged ‘life’
Just When You Thought You Were Over Him …
February 12, 2010Heartbreak, What Sets It Off
February 12, 2010Oh, just about anything—depression never needs a formal invitation in order to come a-calling. For some women, heartbreak is the perfect topper to a general feeling of malaise. “I think it was just the drudgery of dating that made me think that I missed him all over again,” says one twentyeight-year-old woman. Says another, “I [...]
Do you feel guilty towards parents?
January 15, 2010Guilt is a feeling of self-blame. How can adult children blame themselves for having certain obligations to their family or for harbouring feelings of irritation which they’ve had for twenty- five years or more towards their parent? Feelings are neither good nor bad, they are facts. It is a fact that you feel A or [...]
What about the parent who has sacrificed a life for her/his child, and the child abandons the parent?
January 15, 2010“Sacrificed a life“! Weighty words indeed. What do they mean? Sacrifice means to “give up” — but has this parent given up a life for a child? Or has the parent devoted his/her life to the child? I would assume that the latter is what is meant. Unfortunately, this does happen. Unfortunately, because the parent [...]
Why old(er) people are not like children continued
December 13, 2009Older people and children are often sick As a basic principle we should not ascribe any deterioration in health to a specific age group. We have been brainwashed for years to believe that children are forever vomiting, teething, snivelling or running temperatures, while older people have arthritis, fragile bones, stiffness, as well as poor sight [...]
Why old(er) people are not like children
December 13, 2009It is often said that older people are like children. There is as much truth in that as there is in saying the moon is square. I think what is really meant, is that older people sometimes react in ways that seem irrational — and this is equated with the reactions of children. It is [...]
Why is my parent/my child only difficult with me and not with others?
December 13, 2009How often have I heard that said! Parents were astounded when I said little Jack was no problem to teach – in fact, a pleasure to have in the class. I was assured that that was not the case at home. Little Jack was difficult, rude, disobedient.
Marriage Doubts
December 4, 2009Marriage is like a cage; the birds outside are desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out. Unlived life is a destructive and irresistible force working quietly but relentlessly. The result is that the married woman begins to doubt marriage. The unmarried woman believes in it, because she desires marriage.
Elderly Parent Social losses
November 23, 2009The emotional world of the elderly parent is continually threatened with impoverishment by the loss of siblings, friends and spouse. These losses are compounded by the loss of social functions. Loss of a familiar world and its bonds and loss of recognition aggravate the situation. These losses hurt far more than the pain endured by [...]
Parent lives too far from me
November 23, 2009No doubt the parent hasn’t complained, but you find the distance too great. Let me point out what relocation means to the elderly and then assess whether it is worth it. Relocation has an enormously unsettling effect on the aged. Considerable statistical evidence has been accumulated that shows a connection between the relocation and institutionalising [...]
