P.S. Think about it

There is a very troubling trend among drivers, everywhere that there are impatient or uneducated drivers, this is a problem. Tailgating or having too short a following distance to safely avoid a collision in an emergency braking situation is unfortunately the norm BUT! YOU don't have to follow trends, I'm here to tell you that there are three really really good reasons why you should chill out and follow a lot further back than the average driver.  This simple approach will help you relax, reduce your risk AND spend less money on fuel by curbing consumption, all the while arriving at your destination no later than you originally would have anyway; too good to be true? Not so! All you have to do is chuck out a 'couple of bananas'. And what I mean by that is, give yourself a little extra space between you and the car in front. When I was learning to drive, my dad would always tell me to 'Count Bananas' to see whether I was at a safe following distance ...

Inadequate comparisons isolate people with depression and other chronic illness.  Let me tell you a bit about my experience with chronic illness. This was going to be a generic, well structured article about how to interact with someone who has a chronic illness and you don't understand but it has morphed into a bit of an explanation of my own life journey and my own struggles with mental illness. I’ve done a lot of growing in the past few years through this, I think it has softened me a lot and given me a unique empathy for the suffering of others — and a humility I never had before. Everyone has their own struggles, their own heartbreaks, illnesses and lows. They are all legitimate and deserving of their own time, energy, and respect, but when we’re trying to understand others’ highs and lows this can naturally lead us to relate it to something we have experienced ourselves. But we have to be careful with this, because bringing our own stories and experiences in ...

I am continually astonished by the way I see people treat others, particularly those in service-type roles. Bus drivers, mail deliverers, kiosk workers, retail attendees, janitors, airline flight attendants and supermarket check out assistants are among the biggest targets for rude behaviour and this has to change. I used to commute to work by taking a train and then taking a bus service; It is a very popular bus (I worked at a university) and there were always lines of people standing - bored, untalking, unmoving, at the train station bus stop waiting for the bus to the university and, of course, there were always lines of people at the university waiting for the bus going back to the train. Day after day I commuted with dozens of passengers and day after day I watched most of them get on the bus without making eye contact or acknowledging the driver, and at the end of the trip they got off silently, as if the bus was merely an inconvenience, an obstacle in their schedule an...

Cancer. It's a horrible word, and a horrible concept linked to so much fear, uncertainty, heartbreak and loss.  Cancer is most likely the scariest bodily illness we face in modern western society, it scares us so much because it comes from within us, can strike anybody and can be so totally overpowering and have shocking ramifications on our lives. It is also notoriously difficult to treat, control and recover from and leads to a huge amount of mortality, morbidity and disability each year here in Australia.  Cancer is a dirty word  and rightly so. The methods we do have to control cancer are extraordinarily uncomfortable and difficult to cope with. We are all quick to join our friends and family and make it clear that we are against cancer and we want to help bring an end to it. Cancer-related charities are among the most popular that we raise money for here in Australia, which is fantastic! I myself shaved my hair off to raise money for a Cancer foundation in...