Some time ago I got this idea that life as such could be compared to a math task. We all get an individual task to solve of course. The starting data differs from person to person. One either has had a happy, a mediocre or a difficult childhood. They say everyone is born with a talent, but we have different ones from having a leader personality to the delicate capabilities of an accomplished bobbin lace weaver. Some people end up being single, while the others struggle with the complications and joys of a partnership. Each and every person on Earth gets a unique task and has to sail through sunshine...

It is very human to analyze our lives and make a list of mistakes. It is also very human to try to teach our children not to make the same mistakes. What we do not realize, in my opinion, is that our mistakes were only mistakes in that specific situation. They might be the right decision for our children, because the situation has changed in the meantime. Mamma’s list might be outdated. So may papa’s list. Let me name a few examples. A young man wants to be a postman. He works as a postman during summer holidays while in high-school. Parents insist he should get more education, because...

A while, not very long ago, I took a train to the Gorenjska region of Slovenia, EU. I saw a kestrel flying over a corn field and I remembered a kestrel nesting on our balcony years ago, when I was still working in the city, commuting by train every day. The year I started to work at home on the slightly remote outskirts of the city, the kestrel chose another place to nest. Probably due to being too timid. I saw a farmer digging out potatoes. And I thought to myself: Is he going to sell them on a farmers market? Or is he going to cook enough jota* for all the perky grandchildren? What you really need...

If any of the international bloggers writing about mental health and other psychology issues knows about lack of compliments ─ than it is me. Why so? Because I am Slovene. If you give a compliment in Slovenia, you are most likely going to sound suspicious. People fear that you have something up your sleeve. No wonder there are so many extreme sports people in Slovenia, but also many alcoholics. Nothing can supplement the lack of compliments from parents in childhood, except maybe if we learn to compliment each other on a daily basis. We can re-learn our habits. I am sure there are compliments...