It was when I was walking to my office, trailed by three young people whose ages ranged from 16 to 25, flowing down the corridor behind me like the tail of a kite, that I thought of it for the first time.
This could be because I am not actually a mother. Until recently, I was not a "real" stepmother either. But I have been living with the man who is now my husband, Bernardo for 10 years and in those 10 years, not only have his younger daughters spent every other weekend and half of their school holiday with us but also his son has lived with us full-time. In fact, when Bernardo asked me to move in, he asked his son for permission first.
Being a step mum is hard enough but being a sort-of-step-mother is about the most awkward position a mature woman can find herself in. With my sort-of-steppies, I have occupied a place of influence, power and sometimes extreme anger by turns. I have stepped on a delicate path between being a grown-up friend, a bridge of influence with their father, the woman of the house, and a figure of authority – but not too much.
Love the kids or hate them, you must always remember that no matter how much you cook, clean, hug, comfort and discipline, you will never actually count.
To survive, I trained myself to love the stepkids as hard as I could, but not to care. It's a handy piece of good mental health trickery I recommend to anyone in my position. I can help with homework, yes, but not bother about the results of that homework. I can teach them good manners, but not care about the bad habits they learn at home. Semi-detached is the position.
Japan has made a lot of noise in recent years about removing the traditional view that women should stay at home while men go out to work. So it was shocking when, on August 7th, Tokyo Medical University (TMU), a distinguished medical school, admitted marking down the test scores of female applicants to keep the ratio of women in each class below 30%.
Their defence was that women are more likely to drop out to marry and have children. To judge female applicants to medical school purely on their academic performance would leave Japan with a shortage of doctors, they said. The admission has caused outrage.
"Doctoring has long been a male field. But it is not the only one. Discrimination is common in banks and trading firms, where stamina (耐力) and loyalty, qualities somehow associated with men, are prized," says Mari Miura, a political scientist at Sophia University. All this embarrasses a government that has promised to make women "shine". The policy seems based on the need for more workers rather than on genuine concern for women.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, says he wants to bring millions more women into the workforce to make up for a labour shortfall caused by its ageing and declining population. In the field of politics, the record under Mr. Abe's premiership (首相任期) is disappointing. Just two members of his 20-strong cabinet are women, including Seiko Noda, in charge of women's rights. Ms. Noda, who makes little secret of her ambition to beat Mr. Abe in a leadership contest next month, has just published a book called "Grab the Future", her public declaration for pulling Japan into line with "global standards". She has almost no chance of winning.
Emoji might not be your first choice of communication in a disaster, but researchers feel they could make a difference during emergencies, where every second counts. Now, the Emoji-quake campaign is lobbying for an earthquake emoji to be added to the Unicode set — the standard group of icons available on digital devices worldwide. The campaign aims to find an earthquake-appropriate design to be submitted to Unicode.
"Approximately up to one third of the world's population are exposed to earthquakes," explains University of Southampton seismologist (地震学家) Dr. Stephen Hicks, a founder of the campaign. "So we really want to be able to communicate to all of those regions, all of those different languages, and an emoji is an amazing way of doing that."
Unlike many other weather and climate related events, where longer warning times or visible signs are available, earthquakes move incredibly quickly and are difficult to measure while they are still occurring. Populations in areas like Japan and Mexico are dependent on earthquake early warning technology, which issues an alert on digital devices and broadcast media. "You may have seconds to get under a table or to protect yourself," explains Dr. Hicks. "That can be life saving in many cases. Naturally you don't want too much wording in the warning message."
Pictographs (象形文字) and other visuals like emoji have a track record of being faster and easier to understand than written information. Dr. Sara McBride, a communications specialist, who is also part of the campaign, told BBC News, "Emoji can cross the boundaries of written languages, helping communicate valuable information to people who may struggle to read a certain language."
The potential usefulness of emoji in emergencies could extend well beyond earthquakes. A team of designers also came up with emerji—an entire set of emoji dedicated to climate and environmental events.
Stress occurs when you feel that demands placed on you — such as work, school or relationships — are beyond your ability. However, untreated long-term stress can result in serious health conditions including anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system. Everyone is different, and so are the ways they choose to manage their stress. Some people prefer pursuing hobbies such as gardening, playing music and creating art, while others find relief in more solitary (独自的) activities: meditation, yoga and walking.
Do some exercise. The research keeps growing — exercise benefits your mind just as well as your body. We keep hearing about the long-term benefits of a regular exercise routine. But even a 20-minute walk, run, swim or dance session in the midst of a stressful time can give an immediate effect that can last for several hours.
It may seem difficult to get away from a big work project, a crying baby or a growing credit card bill. But when you give yourself permission to step away from it, you let yourself have time to do something else, which can help you have a new perspective or practice techniques to feel less overwhelmed. It's important not to avoid your stress (those bills have to be paid sometime), but even just 20 minutes to take care of yourself is helpful.
Smile and laugh. Our brains are interconnected with our emotions and facial expressions. When people are stressed, they often hold a lot of the stress in their face. So laughs or smiles can help relieve some of that tension and improve the situation.
Try meditation. Meditation and mindful prayer help the mind and body to relax and focus. Mindfulness can help people see new perspectives, develop self-compassion and forgiveness. Much like exercise, research has shown that even meditating briefly can bring immediate benefits.
A. Take a break from the stressor.
B. Get some social support from whatever sources you can access.
C. Too much stress can affect body systems and cause mental problems.
D. Here are four healthy techniques that may help reduce stress in the short- and long-term.
E. But by finding positive, healthy ways, many of these negative health consequences can be reduced.
F. When practicing mindfulness, people can release emotions contributing to the body physical stress.
G. Some stress can be beneficial at times, producing a boost that helps people get through tough situations.
During the early 1980s, I was a sales manager for a large training company. One of my 1 was to train people on how to sell. I taught people that lack of time and opportunity were only excuses for not producing 2.
My mother is a Greek immigrant with 3 formal education. Her high point of each week was Sunday when she 4 take an hour-long bus ride to church, where she and her friends would 5 and exchange gossip and stories of their families.
When the committee members decided to 6 money for a new Greek church, my mother jumped at the chance to 7. Her plan was simple: talk to as many people as possible about buying tickets and make them feel 8 if they didn't.
That was 9 I came into the picture. She said I was a big shot and gave me ten booklets of ten tickets, each one worth one dollar, 10 up to a total of $100. A week later, I showed up with the 11 half. "I simply didn't have the time." I 12 to my mother.
"You either do something or you have all the 13 why not," my mother shot back and started to cry. I was 14 and quickly agreed to buy the rest of my tickets myself. She stopped crying 15 and said, "When you want something, then you do 16 it takes to get the job done, even cry." With a 17 she said, "I knew that crying would work with you, and for being so sad with your excuses, here are ten more books." As a sales manager, I paled by 18. It 19 that my mother sold 7,000 tickets, 200 ahead of the second.
I learned a new level of distinction between 20 and results. Soon afterwards, I quit my job and started my own business, training people in time management.
The British Museum, (locate) in the Bloomsbury area of London, is the first national public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture. Its permanent collection numbers some 8 million works, making one of the largest in existence. It has been (wide) sourced, and documenting the story of human culture its beginnings to the present. As with all other national museums in United Kingdom, it charges no admission fee. Its ownership of some of its most famous objects originally came from other countries is controversial, particularly in the case of the Parthenon Marbles. Today the museum no longer houses (collection) of natural history, and the books and manuscripts (手稿) once it (hold) now form part of the independent British Library, it still keeps its universality in collections of artificial works (represent) the cultures of the world, ancient and modern.
These days our society develops rapidly and forces people to rush. It appears that people have got used to being in a hurry. However, it's better for people to take their time and live their life at a slower pace than to hurry to get things done.
The main reason that convinces us to oppose doing work in a hurry is the possibility of doing wrongs in a rush. When people do their jobs or take action in a hurry, they can't make a sound decision and probably regret later. As the saying goes, 'Haste makes waste.' We should think carefully before making a decision and do our work less quickly. We should not make mistakes by doing work hurriedly.
Slowing down the pace of life helps people enjoy their life better. For example, taking a train to some place certainly will take more time than taking a plane. However, taking a train makes people have enough time to get to know a lot of new friends. Besides, it allows people to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. On the contrary, being in a hurry will make us lose chances of enjoying our lives.
Finally, slower life pace provides better health conditions for us. As is known to all, taking action in a hurry bothers people and raises their stress. People think if they are not in a hurry, they will become a loser and that annoys them. But being in a hurry can hurt people both physically and mentally. According to some studies, people who have a slower pace suffer fewer diseases, tend to be happier and live much longer than those whose life is tense, even if the former finish jobs more slowly than the latter.
In short, working quickly will bring about more material benefits to make our society more advanced. Yet, much stress can't bring enjoyment, friends and health, which are much more important than money and other material advantages. Therefore, take your time and live your life at a slower pace.
