In this series of short blogs Martin Stepek has selected thoughts from some of the great thinkers who've had a huge influence on his own...

My colleague and friend Morna asked me to write something on this topic but I was reluctant to do so. But as usual she persuaded me that...

We joke here in Scotland that we can get all four seasons in a day, and on a particularly volatile day we can get all four in the space...

It’s that time of year when many creatures start to look for new habitats, or are instinctively compelled to build new homes. We see the...

I was walking this morning. Not for fitness. Not to think things over. Not to do anything, actually. I was walking to experience the walk...

There are in my experience two types of anger; or rather two sources of anger. One is the one we tend to think of most often. Someone...

Some emotional reactions or moods are easier to manage than others. This will vary from person to person. One person might find anger...

We all know it’s better to be happy than unhappy, positive than negative. But it doesn’t really work out that way all the time, not in...

We tend to get caught up in the moment when something unexpected happens, good or bad. Yet there’s a very different way of looking at...

People have had great insights about our nature and our feelings for thousands of years. These pop up in our everyday language. Three of...

Life is precious. We all know that. And yet… Life is made up solely of moments and we certainly don’t treat all of our moments as...

My automatic mind is incredibly judgemental. Incredibly, in two ways. It judges all through the day. And it judges very harshly. When we...

Things happen. Unexpected things. Unhappy things. As I write this, in late November 2020, we’re into month nine of the coronavirus...

Well it’s been with us now for a long, long time. Covid. Covid-19. The Pandemic. Whatever you prefer to call it, it has dominated our...

Most of us are kind when we see people in need. Most of us are polite too, which is in itself a form of kindness. Opening a door for...

Some gives you a nice present. You are delighted and say so. You tell them how thoughtful they are and how grateful you feel. It’s a...

Right now there are two things alternating in my mind, neither of which I chose. One is negative and therefore unhelpful. The other is...

We tend to think of ourselves as stable, at least relatively so. You are something called you, and I am something called me. We would...

When a person is tired what are they to do? The most obvious thing is, rest. Do nothing for a while until you feel less tired. We can...

How are you feeling right now, reading this? Good, bad, or indifferent? It has to be one doesn’t it? Or to be more specific all you can...