» Flight / Fight

Yesterday I explained that there were many real reasons why people resist Change. I thought it might be interesting to explore these in a little more detail. So today, “Why standing still is never an option”. If you think about it, the idea we can avoid Change is ludicrous. It is happening all around us […][...] read more » Resistance: Stepping into the Unknown

con·spire (kn-spr) v. con·spired, con·spir·ing, con·spires v.intr. 1. To plan together secretly to commit an illegal or wrongful act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action. 2. To join or act together; combine: v.tr. To plan or plot secretly. [Middle English conspiren, from Old French, from Latin com + spirare, to breathe.] Isn’t it […][...] read more » It is a Conspiracy!

You may recall that we are in the middle of a major reconstruction of chez Cooke. Yesterday the kitchen looked like down-town Beirut; our sad old walls were full of gaping holes where the tiles had been pulled off and the 70 year old plaster had fallen off the lathes. It was not a pretty […][...] read more » Plastered or just covering up the cracks..

My wife came across this quote whilst writing her dissertation some years back, and the other day I found myself posting something very similar, “Change happens when the pain of staying still exceeds the fear of going forward; we all just have different thresholds of pain.” I think this is true for every person, and […][...] read more » The Risk of staying Closed

Two things happened in the last 24 hours that were nicely juxtaposed to make me ponder. The first was connected to someone whom I had reason to be highly suspicious about, this person had apparently failed to follow through with a promise that they had made. The second came as a ‘virtual’ sideswipe from an […][...] read more » Paranoid… moi?

This is a phrase that has mutated to mean something positive, as means of struggling with and overcoming adversity1; it has a somewhat stoic air about. You can imagine the lone hero manfully accepting his fate. However, if you consult the Oxford Dictionary, you will see that it has an older and truer meaning:- Coping […][...] read more » Coping Strategies

If you are a parent, then you will be well familiar with this phrase. You are trying to warn your child about something and they come back with “I know…” This potent phrase wards them from listening to a single thing you say. Truth be told, they do know: know in the sense that they […][...] read more » “I know!”

I have been watching, with huge interest, a program on Discovery called “Worlds Lost Tribes.. with Olly & Mark”. They travelled deep into West Papua and spent 4 months living with remote tribes, learning their culture and ways. Now I am something of a sucker for this kind of programme so I must have seen […][...] read more » One of Us?

I watched, with a sinking heart, the English rugby team slowly wrestle defeat from the jaws or victory on Saturday. I couldn’t understand how this side which had started so well, and had been so commanding in the first half had sunk so low in the second half. There wasn’t a single defining moment when […][...] read more » Only two things drive you CRAZY…

In yesterday’s blog I explained that despite all appearances to the contrary, we really don’t share a common Reality. Reality, despite the realness of its name, is a social construct. The fact that we share enough of this experience to work together and connect is good enough for us as human animals, but as human […][...] read more » When two realities collide … part 2