We are a culture of wishes, a culture of creating and fulfilling them. That is what keeps us going. But no matter how many wishes get fulfilled, we still feel empty inside. Why? Because wishes have a nasty habit of multiplying. We quickly forget about what we already have and we want something else. Having too many wishes not only leaves you hollow inside, but can also lead to some foolish choices. Actually, in my case, one wish was enough to ruin everything for it was too strong. Those of you who read my book already know the story. As a foreign language student I wanted to spend a semester in a...

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 Mamma’s list might be outdated.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...

I don’t mean to criticize the younger generation, but in my opinion jogging with music in your ears through a forest is not a very good idea. Why? I have recently discovered that human beings have a need for silence. If we knew how to incorporate some silence into our lives, we would not need that much psychotherapy and tranquillizers. Really? What am I talking about? Meditation in Eastern/Asian sense is based on silencing first your surroundings and consequently your mind. The final goal of meditation, reached only by monks, is a state without thoughts. We live in a crazy world, where we have to...