Reasons to be cheerful.

By Jane Comben

Count your blessings, gratitude or being thankful: call it what you like – being grateful can make us happier.

Some events in life change you

By Justine Brooker

Some events in life change you and your perspective on things, whether it be meeting someone totally amazing, the death of a loved one, a traumatic event or even going to a powerful seminar.  You really never know what lies around the corner and what you're going to learn from it.

Our lives were seemingly perfect. Three lovely boys, wonderful husband, cat and dog, wrapped us up nicely. I guess you could have called us a typical family and then life threw us a curveball.

In June 2009 we discovered I was pregnant with our 4th child. This was most definitely not what we had planned but after some initial shock we were excited to be adding to our family. Our other children were born prematurely, so we had expected a bit of an early delivery but nothing could have prepared us for what lay ahead. It wasn't an easy pregnancy and at 13 weeks, I was advised to go on bed rest. I really do mean bed rest, not just a little bit of rest and with three young boys to look after how on earth do you do that?

Personality type – what personality?

 By Angela Bensemann

Most of us think we’re pretty nice people really and get on well with everyone. But then again we can all recall times in the past where we’ve had really bad run-ins with people.

In one of my early workplaces I worked with a woman called Pam (not actually her real name).  At the time I was a young fresh-faced 20 something forging my way in my first communications role working in health.

Pam would have been in her 50s.  I can’t remember the details of what we fell out over.  It could have been when I crashed her car at the very start of a work road trip, or maybe it was that we butted heads over every single idea either of us put forward.

Whatever the reason I vividly remember my manager’s solution to repair the relationship.  He sent us away on a course together and we were sharing a room as well!

I really didn’t think it was going to go at well at all. Call it gut instinct but when I offered Pam a stick of chewing gum and she said ‘oh that sounds like fun’ (fun - how can chewing gum be fun?) I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Mucking in – the volunteer way

By Angela Bensemann

Many organisations are finding it harder and harder to get volunteers.  Sports teams often struggle to find coaches and schools find it more and more difficult to interest parents in helping out with fundraising and fairs.

Those of you who are passionate about giving back may find a way to volunteer regardless of your circumstances but let’s face it – if you are working full time it is difficult to find the time to fit in yet another commitment.  It can also be hard to find the thing that really appeals to you.

You also need to be realistic, sometimes volunteering won't be fun. Part of the challenge is to find a role that suits your personality. Jane from WorksWonders once did a stint as a Kea Scout leader and no, she's not a born leader of small, noisy boys.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of persevering to find the right thing.