Can Health Insurance Companies Charge The Unvaccinated Higher Premiums?

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Insurance. “Can health insurance companies charge the unvaccinated higher premiums? What about life insurers? 5 questions answered” by Kosali Simon, Indiana University and Sharon Tennyson, Cornell University

The current COVID-19 wave in the U.S. is mostly affecting unvaccinated Americans, who represent more than 95% of current cases of hospitalization and death.

Given the average cost of a COVID-19 hospitalization in 2020 ran about US$42,200 per patient, will the unvaccinated be asked to bear more of the cost of treatment, in terms of insurance, as well?

We asked economists Kosali Simon and Sharon Tennyson to explain the rules governing how health and life insurers can discriminate among customers based on vaccination status and other health-related reasons.

insurance1. Can insurers charge the unvaccinated more?

This is a really interesting question and depends on the type of insurance.

Life insurance companies have the freedom to charge different premiums based on risk factors that predict mortality. Purchasing a life insurance policy often entails a health status check or medical exam, and asking for vaccination status is not banned.

Health Insurance

Health insurers are a different story. A slew of state and federal regulations in the last three decades have heavily restricted their ability to use health factors in issuing or pricing policies. In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act began prohibiting the use of health status in any group health insurance policy. And the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2014, prevents insurers from pricing plans according to health – with one exception: smoking status.

2. Are premiums or coverage being affected yet?

Fortune recently reported that while several of the biggest U.S. life insurance companies aren’t yet asking customers for their vaccination status, a few insurers told the magazine they are doing so for people at high risk. It wasn’t clear from the article whether this is affecting premiums.

Life Insurance

A recent study comparing life insurance policies from 2014 through February 2021 found that premiums and coverage didn’t change a lot during the pandemic. The study did find some evidence that policy terms for the oldest individuals and those with high-risk health conditions did worsen.

The authors of the study suggested that the rapid development of vaccines may be why life insurance markets haven’t yet shown a dramatic response to COVID-19, but their work does not distinguish the vaccinated from the unvaccinated.

It’s important to note that no matter what, premiums and coverage on existing life insurance plans won’t change, so a death due to COVID-19 will definitely be covered. In general, denial of life insurance claims is rare and occurs only for specific documented reasons.

insurance3. So smokers may pay higher premiums?

In life insurance, smokers definitely pay higher premiums, as do people who are obese.

ValuePenguin, a unit of LendingTree that provides research and analysis, found that smokers typically pay over three times more for life insurance than non-smokers.

The site also found that obesity increases premiums by about 150% – or more if the person also has medical conditions associated with being overweight.

As for health insurance pricing, the Affordable Care Act allows insurers to increase premiums by up to 50% for smokers. The difference between what smokers and non-smokers pay may actually be higher because the former can’t use a key government subsidy to pay for the smoker surcharge.

The ACA makes no similar exception for obesity.

4. How about discounts for the vaccinated?

There are tools health insurers – including self-insured employers – have to lower premiums to those who are vaccinated: wellness incentives.

Just as insurers and companies offer discounts for things like trying to lose weight or stop smoking, they are also permitted to reduce the health insurance premiums that vaccinated employees pay.

In 2019, the average maximum incentive offered by employers for workers to participate in wellness activities was $783 per year.

Some employers are already incentivizing COVID-19 vaccinations this way. For example, Missouri State University offers a $20-a-month discount on health insurance premiums for employees who got a COVID-19 jab. Others are considering similar discounts.

And so, even though insurers can’t charge the unvaccinated higher premiums, people who refuse to get a shot can end up paying more than their vaccinated colleagues.

insurance5. Do insurers consider other vaccine or flu shots in rates?

To the best of our knowledge, insurers haven’t specifically used vaccination status or getting a flu shot in setting premiums.

As part of having access to your medical records, life insurers might get to know whether you received vaccinations, but there are no systems in place to verify each year whether you got your flu shot. Health insurers can’t ask about vaccine status for the reasons listed above.

Employers can offer incentives to get a flu shot through their wellness programs.

Credits

Kosali Simon, Professor of Health Economics, Indiana University and Sharon Tennyson, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Cornell University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Is Your Workforce Resilient? Here Are Some Tips To Make It So

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Michael H. Ballard

Workforce resiliency – what is that?

Resiliency is defined as, “Our capacity to bounce back.” I define it as “Our capacity to increase the quality of our experience and the outcomes.”

Creating and maintaining a resilient workforce takes vision, mission, diligence and resources. In a world of work that is experiencing global competition, key issues include:

  • Attracting top talent
  • Keeping talent engaged
  • Moving from training to talent management
  • Treating career development seriously
  • Acknowledging the costs and efforts to manage mental health and chronic health issues
  • Changing HR function

Workplace Productivity

The potential organizational paybacks of having resiliency as a key set of factors are impressive. They enhance workplace productivity and lower costs for:

  • Recruitment
  • Safety
  • Retention
  • Lowering the cost of physical health issues

In the world of work keeping staff and organizations on an even keel takes time and effort. Each client I have worked with has been on a path of diligently working to gain staff, management and supplier engagement. As well, they are ensuring high quality and congruent approach. They have ranged in size from a small software startup with a staff of seven, to an international firm with an excess of 10,000 employees. Also, I have worked with governments, NGO’s, health care and educational organizations and they all are challenged by this.

Workforce Resilience: How Is This An Issue?

One international client started off locally by hiring several facilitators. They had 900+ employees brainstorm the key factors they wanted to have introduced, changed or released in the workplace. Spouses were also invited to participate. They were prompted to discuss workplace culture and “missing links.”  Spouses were asked to add insights on the next steps that would make their partners in being happier and more productive.

One of my smaller clients in retail made a bold category-busting move. They decided to break all industry pay-scale standards. Over time, they started rewarding staff who had stayed more than a year, about 20 – 60%, above industry standard. Productivity went up significantly and retention soared. The last time I checked, the owner reported that his business was at a factor of six times the national average for productivity. It was at only 9% of the national average for damaged and broken products.

The clients that made successful use of technology to assist in their business, felt this helped better engage their employees. One had a toll-free line installed so staff could call to learn late-breaking corporate news. There they heard from the President, all VPs and on occasion. Also, a few key customers took turns sharing brief 30 – 120 seconds thoughts on current corporate and marketplace news.

An example of one client’s approach

  • Staff developed mini educational programs 12 minutes in length, which they present at weekly meetings.
  • Leadership developed a tightly woven vision statement. It was created as a powerful message that drives the three key points of their mandate to their staff, suppliers and management team.
  • All employees conduct 15-minute meetings at the beginning of every work shift to recap key issues.

workforceHow Is This Helpful?

Having and creating from the bottom up and the top-down, plus having suppliers and spouses on board helps. This is particularly true when:

  • Spouses understand that safety in the workplace is not just “talk” and that in heavy-industry lives are at stake and that things change.
  • Sales teams are on board with the approach.
  • Quality Control understands that its role is about how products need to be perfect.
  • People need to strive for excellence things change for the better.

The use of encouraging language brought everyone into the loop on the “Language of Resiliency” and using it to change for the better.

For my clients the payoffs have included: reduced cost of production, increased quality, higher sales, more stable market share, reduced absentee rates and according to one General Manager, “more happiness” in his offices.

The cost of ignoring the warning signs and not becoming a resilient organization has many potential outcomes. All of them are expensive. I do know that organizations and individuals that embrace resiliency in the workplace respond to and resolve issues faster with less turmoil.

So until next time, Imagine Yourself with more Resiliency for Life.

Michael

Share our story!
Posted in Resiliency | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Would A More Literate World Look Like?

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Literacy. “What would a more literate world look like?” by

Let us suppose for a moment that there is a magic bullet for curing illiteracy. In fact, what if we were able to take the global literacy rate from 84% worldwide to something closer to 90% or even 99%?

What difference would it make? And what might the world look like?

Literacy At Home

Here in Australia, we know that functional illiteracy has a big impact on lots of Australians. To be functionally literate you need to be able to read and understand the things that get you through everyday life, including being able to understand this article.

Functional illiteracy is strongly linked to some of our big problems in health, employment and welfare dependency. The current discussion about endemic illiteracy in Tasmania also highlights these concerns.

But while there are problems, globally we compare well.

The results from the recently released Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) sees Australia coming fourth among OECD countries – following Japan, Finland and the Netherlands for literacy – performing well above the OECD average. Younger Australians (16-24 years) not only scored well above the OECD average in literacy but were significantly higher than older Australians.

For other countries, it’s a very different story.

literacyGlobal Literacy Rates

Despite improvements in global literacy rates over the past two decades, over 774 million adults (over 15 years) are still unable to read or write. Two-thirds of them are women.

The highest rates of persistent illiteracy are in sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia. And in much of the world, girls in particular face huge inequities in access to schooling, as the story of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai shows.

It is shocking to consider that according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), children born to illiterate mothers are 50% less likely to survive past five years old. In Latin America, children of mothers who have had some secondary schooling remain in school for two to three years longer.

On current trends, there will still be 743 million adults who are illiterate in 2015. And two-thirds will still be women. This comes at a purported cost of US$1.14 trillion to the global economy each year.

What Might Living In A More Literate World Look Like?

Based on our understanding of the effects of greater literacy, our hypothetical, more literate world would look quite different.

The number one thing to notice is the shift towards greater economic prosperity. There would be lower unemployment rates, higher salaries and greater career flexibility. These would work together to create an innovative, self-directed and highly motivated workforce that is adaptable and highly skilled. Higher levels of professional development and continuous learning would also result.

At the moment, illiterate people earn, on average, between 30%-42% less than their literate counterparts around the world and are more likely to depend on welfare or unemployment payments to make ends meet.

Increasing literacy rates leads to increased productivity and efficiency for small businesses, along with reduced rates of employee absenteeism.

Health outcomes would also improve as a result of full literacy and economic prosperity, with better food and diet awareness, family planning and preventative lifestyle choices.

For example, poor health literacy is linked to higher death rates from heart disease. Those who are unable to properly read and understand preventative and treatment medications and instructions are at significant risk of failing to care for themselves properly. Similarly, low literacy levels impact diabetes prevention and care. And literate women are three times more likely than illiterate ones to know that a person in seemingly good health can be infected with HIV.

literacyChild Mortality Rates

The huge disparities between high and low socioeconomic health outcomes would be largely removed by improving literacy rates. Child mortality rates would decline and life expectancies would increase.

Participation in the political process would also be boosted significantly, along with a better-informed citizenry. Communities would thrive as community participation and investment grows. Tolerance and compassion would increase.

We also know there are strong links between literacy and crime. For example, prisoners who are still illiterate upon release are more likely to re-offend. In our more literate world, violence and crime would decrease.

Large-scale issues, such as famine, war and climate change, would also be able to be more effectively tackled by a much larger group of committed people around the world. The levels of ignorance, misinformation and political spin would be countered by an informed and critical global population.

The focus would shift to social equality, environmental sustainability and energy renewal, population dynamics and water conservation. Women and girls would be given equal opportunities, while indigenous, migrant and refugee populations would be afforded more equitable social and economic outcomes.

A World Away

Unfortunately, this world is still far away and there is no simple cure for illiteracy.

Foreign aid and international organisations certainly play a crucial part, and Australia has and will continue to help make progress (although there will soon be budgetary setbacks).

More is being done to improve literacy levels at home. There are many projects and initiatives currently underway, including the Tasmanian Adult Literacy Action Plan; the federal government’s Adult Migrant English Program, Skills for Education and Employment, LiteracyNet; and many more.

On a global level, UNESCO is leading the way through policy, research, advocacy and close networking with governments and NGOs around the world. But there are many other organisations that work in various ways to address illiteracy, including World Literacy Foundation, the Global Literacy Foundation, the Global Literacy Project, and LitWorld.

But if we are going to come even close to meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals aim of “meeting the basic learning needs of youth and adults through the functional literacy approach and reducing adult illiteracy rates by 50%”, we still have a lot of work to do.

As UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said:

Literacy is much more than an educational priority – it is the ultimate investment in the future and the first step towards all the new forms of literacy required in the twenty-first century.

While we might not live in a fully literate world, through efforts overseas and at home, we may one day come close.The Conversation

Credits

Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Grieving: What’s The Point Of Grief?

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Grieving. “What’s the point of grief?” by John Frederick Wilson, York St John University

Grieving is an experience almost everyone will go through at some point in their life. And is something we often have no control over.

It isn’t just humans either. There is plenty of evidence, albeit anecdotal, that other mammals, particularly primates, stay close to their dead relatives or babies – even carrying them around for a time before descending into a period of depression.

In terms of evolution, if grief were not helpful, it would long have been bred out of our species. The real question then is not why do we grieve, more what purpose does it serve?

Stages Of Grief

People often talk of the “stages of grief”. The “five stages” model is the best known, with the stages being denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – though these were actually written to describe coming to terms with dying rather than bereavement.

For many working in the area of bereavement of counselling, the stages of grief are little more than of historical interest now, as the stages are seen as too rigid and not individualised enough – grief don’t come in fixed stages and everyone feels things differently.

In fact, most of what we understand about grief today, is down to psychologist, John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Essentially, attachment theory focuses on the “psychological connectedness between human beings”.

The theory looks at the quality of the intimate bonds we make during the course of our lives, with a specific focus on parent-child relations. And it seems that grief is the flipside to these very close attachments we, as humans, are able to form.

Every parent knows the ear-splitting protest when their infant is left alone. If they return quickly, peace is restored. Bowlby concluded that this behaviour evolved to keep the infant close to parents and safe from predators.

If for whatever reason, the parent is unable to return, Bowlby noticed that after a prolonged protest, the child became withdrawn and despairing. Colin Murray Parkes, the guru of bereavement theory and research, and a colleague of Bowlby’s noticed the similarity between this behaviour and grief.

grievingScience of Grieving

As a bereavement counsellor and researcher, this is something I see in my clients. Initially, they cry out in protest, but as time passes, they begin to despair, realising their loved one has gone forever.

Grieving isn’t just a mental experience either. It also has a physiological effect as it can raise the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This may explain why many of my clients experience stress reactions in the form of panic attacks, particularly if they attempt to bottle up their emotions.

Modern techniques in neuroscience allow us to see grief in real-time. In MRI scans, a brain region called the nucleus accumbens, which lights up when we talk fondly of our loved ones, also glows at our grief at losing them.

These reward centres in our brain that make us happy together, keep us bonded by making us sad when we are apart. In this sense, evolutionary biologists have suggested the protest phase of grief lasts long enough for us to search for our loved one, yet is short enough to detach when hope is lost.

The despair phase, a form of depression, follows – and may serve to detach us from the one we have lost. It saves us from an energy-draining and fruitless search for them. And in time, emotional detachment allows us to seek a new breeding partner. It has also been suggested that both protest and despair may function to foster family and tribal cohesion and a sense of shared identity through the act of shared grief.

A Changed World

Most people associate grief with losing someone they love, but in reality, people can be grieving for all sorts of reasons. In essence, knowing what to expect and feeling secure and stable is important for our survival – so when a loss occurs in our lives, our world shifts and is turned upside down.

In grief and trauma work, is also known as “assumptive world theory”. In the face of death and trauma, these beliefs are shattered and disorientation and even panic can enter the lives of those affected.

Life is split into two halves – before the loss and after the loss. We grieve for the loss of the safe and familiar and it feels as though things will never be the same again. The loss of a loved one triggers both the grief of separation and the loss of our assumptive world in which they were apart.

But over time, we adapt to our new world. We relearn the world changed by our loss. Indeed, one of the privileges of working with grief is watching how so many clients learn and grow from the experience and emerge from their grief better equipped to deal with future losses.The Conversation

Credits

John Frederick Wilson, Honorary Research Fellow, Director of Bereavement Services Counselling & Mental Health Clinic, York St John University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Power of Words: Do You Know The Might Of Your Speech?

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Michael H. Ballard

Power. That is the best way to describe our speech.

It happened many many years ago. Long before I was born. Yet it impacted my family in a very profound way. One nasty comment changed the course of many lives.

powerThe Power Of One Nasty Word

It seemed one man felt superior to another. He told my Grandfather to “know his place”. Ouch. Seems he felt my hard-working Grandfather should not attempt to better himself and a lot of his family.

That comment along with a few other factors meant Granddad and Grandmother booked a one-way ticket with their family and made their way to Canada.

Fast forward and one of his Grandchildren (not me) has a business that employs over 67 staff. So think of what that one hateful comment contributed to. My Grandparents changed countries in part due to that nasty rhetoric. Now his former country and part of my heritage are short 67 taxpayers. Then again on the other hand Canada is 67 taxpayers ahead because of one of my grandfather’s children. I know another one (not me) who helped a firm of 25+ move from bankruptcy into profitability and they now employ over 25 people.

Discussing Hot Button Issues

So, when we discuss hot button issues and topics the opinions of others are what they are. However when they demean, reduce, objectify, sideline (and so many other things) use caution on how you deal with them.

Others are entitled to their opinion. However, agreeing with opinions that reduce others will in the end reduce what others think of you. In some cases, they can cut you right out of their lives. That is the power of words. Collaboration and cooperation are powerful and uplifting ways to live.

Our world is currently running on FEAR. Many when operating on fear react and reduce or stop thinking based on facts. Instead, they operate far too often on feelings. Rhetoric and misconceptions become the keys to how people act and react to each other and the news of the day.

powerSo use extreme caution when those you listen to, influence you and share time with you use hate and language that divides to build engagement with you. It tells me quite a bit about what sort of person they are and the values and morals they have. They are not using language that builds healthy countries, organizations, cities, families or individuals.

Yes, inclusion takes more effort, more skill, and more patience. However, dividing people is a fool’s game. Much easier to run, get people on board and claim victory. However at what cost? At what cost?

The quote “Those that don’t know or understand history are doomed to repeat it,” is used often for a powerful reason.

So until next time, Imagine Yourself with more Resiliency for Life.

Michael

 

Share our story!
Posted in Resiliency | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

As COVID-19 Restrictions Lift, Grief Literacy Can Help Us Support Those Around Us

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Grief. “As COVID-19 restrictions lift, grief literacy can help us support those around us” by Susan Cadell, University of Waterloo; Jacques Cherblanc, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Karima Joy, University of Toronto, and Mary Ellen Macdonald, McGill University

COVID-19 has brought about many losses and many deaths.

The number of deaths worldwide has reached almost four million, and 26,000 of those deaths are in Canada. The Canadian Grief Alliance’s grief counter estimates that there are more than three million Canadians grieving. Canadians are also experiencing countless other losses that are not deaths or death-related.

Concerns have been raised over grief being severely negatively impacted by the pandemic and the resulting restrictions. Some even say there may be a tsunami of grief.

Understanding this, we have undertaken a number of studies about Canadians’ grief. Some of the results of one study are discussed here. In addition, we offer some suggestions about how to better understand grief and to support those who are grieving.

It’s A Tsunami?

We completed a study of more than 900 francophones (mostly in Québec) who experienced the death of someone during the pandemic. The project, Covideuil (deuil means grief in French) surveyed people between March and May 2021.

Most of the participants (77 per cent) were not able to be with the dying person, while many grievers (65 per cent) were not able to have people gather after the death of their loved one. Seventy-six per cent were not able to hold the funeral rituals they would have desired.

Some of those surveyed were able to create new or personalize older rituals — the study’s analysis is ongoing and we hope to share some of these creative approaches in the future.

grief
The Canadian Grief Alliance’s grief counter estimates that there are more than three million Canadians grieving. (Claudia Wolff/Unsplash)

It’s Complicated

Our study revealed that the occurrence of complicated or prolonged grief, which refers to being stuck in a loss for long periods of time, is not as high as some predictions feared. But it is higher than in non-pandemic times.

The public health model of bereavement support suggests five to 10 per cent of grievers are at risk of developing complicated grief. Our study has demonstrated that about 15 per cent of participants may develop complicated grief.

Since there is no known study of Canadian grievers, we have to rely on international data. The 15 per cent of participants in our study is higher than pre-pandemic estimates. However, it is important to underline that those numbers mean that 85 per cent are not at risk of complicated grief.

Despite the increased numbers, can grief during the pandemic really be considered a tsunami?

Grief Literacy

Understanding and normalizing grief can benefit everyone, from frontline healthcare workers to children and educators as well as those who have experienced a death during the pandemic. The grief literacy movement aims to increase everyone’s ability to recognize it and become more proficient in supporting ourselves and others.

We define grief literacy as the ability to understand loss and act upon that understanding. It is multi-dimensional in that it includes “knowledge to facilitate understanding and reflection, skills to enable action and values to inspire compassion and care.”

The knowledge, skills and values are specific to the social contexts that directly influence how we grieve. This definition includes attending to socio-cultural diversities, inequities and privileges that shape the experiences.

As pandemic restrictions are being lifted, each one of us may feel it in new ways. Perhaps we are able to spend time with someone whose partner died, or we return to a workplace with missing co-workers — either deceased or laid off. Grief literacy can help us anticipate and attend to these possibilities.

Coping

What can we do to better respond to grief here in Canada?

First, we need to begin with ourselves by recognizing and acknowledging our own grief. There is so much shame and stigma surrounding grief — that feeling of Am I doing it right? — especially given the impossible social norm that tells us we need to be productive and happy.

We have become estranged from an essential component of the human condition: honouring our embodied responses to losses. Countering these pressures, we need to integrate the knowledge that grief is a normal, natural response to loss and there is nothing to be ashamed of.

We must learn how to tend to our personal sorrow with gentleness and understand the nature of grief, especially by turning inward. We can tap into our compassion and humility as we turn back outward to support others.

An important piece is knowing that it is natural to feel nervous and uncomfortable in this work.

grief

Problematic Script

We have collectively adopted a problematic social script that actually hurts grievers. From the perspective of those who are grieving, support usually dissipates quickly and they feel abandoned or experience silence from people around them.

With family, friends, co-workers and neighbours, share a memory of the person who has died. Do not be afraid to talk about the person for fear of reminding the grieving person of their loss. They are very aware of it as they live the daily reality. It is fine to simply say that you do not know what to say and that you are there for them.

With restrictions easing and the ability to gather increasing, we need to better understand and respond to the impact of the pandemic and explore our collective and individual grief. We need to stop neglecting it at the expense of our well-being and ability to connect with others.

A shift is required for developing grief literacy in Canada and internationally. It must include addressing context-specific barriers and opportunities for change, generating more inclusive spaces for diverse responses to loss and accepting grief as something normal that we all experience throughout life.The Conversation

Credits

Susan Cadell, Professor, Social Work, University of Waterloo; Jacques Cherblanc, Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Karima Joy, PhD Candidate, Social Worker, Program Lead – Grief Education Program, University of Toronto, and Mary Ellen Macdonald, Associate Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Resiliency | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Opportunities To Fail Are Blessings In Disguise When You Look Carefully

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Clara Brown

Opportunities come in disguise.

“Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.  Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make them.” Orison Swett Marden.

Opportunities: How Often Have You Missed One?

How often have you heard the saying “Life is what you make it?”

What the hell does it mean? How do you embrace the results whether you are ‘making it’ or not?

At the risk of being labelled repetitive, I am again about to quote my late mother.  It really is hard for me not to make reference to her utterances as she was the kind of woman who spoke a lot and was rarely proven wrong. Well, that is how it seemed to us her children. Now, as adults, we see the wisdom in her words and her vision. She was indeed a simple yet wise and humble soul.

“Life is what you make it,” she often said.  “Opportunities are presented to us every day. If you want to be happy, you can and will be happy.  Do you want to be sad? You can and will be sad.  If you want to be successful, you have to go out and work for it.  Success will not just fall in your lap.”

opportunitiesIt Does Take Work

The “making it” does take work to:

  • Overcome your fears and failings.
  • Convert the dream into reality.
  • Seize opportunities and turn them into something tangible.

All in all, “making it’ is WORK!!!

It is an established fact that we will not succeed in every opportunity.  With time and a large enough number of them, we learn that failing is part of life.  Failures are part of the picturesque route to ultimate success.  They are the lessons that fuel our growth.

My Share Of Opportunities To Fail

I have had my fair share of failures. “What? You Clara?” Of course, I have and they have been a few, including failed at:

  1. An important examination
  2. Having long-lasting relationships
  3. Investment opportunities
  4. Achieving some goals related to my profession.

I could go on. In the final analysis, all of these failings taught me unique lessons as well commonly known lessons.

“A brilliant child,” is what many called me. Reading fluently, I am told, at age 3, my tests were always passed with ‘flying colours’ right up to sixth grade in primary (elementary) school.  Everyone expected me to pass my Common Entrance Exams at the first sitting. The Common Entrance is the test Grade 6 students in Jamaica sat to move on to Secondary Level. This test has since been replaced.

Then came the shock. I DID NOT PASS.

opportunitiesFailure – I Had A Few

That was my first experience with the concept of failure.  My teachers were in shock, I was in shock but alas, my mother expressed no such emotion.

Very apprehensive, waiting for an explosion from her, I walked around the house on pins and needles for days. It took that before my mother said anything about my “failure.” She must have sensed that depression was lurking in me. One day she finally said, “Pickney, di blow whey nuh bruk yuh back will mek it stronga!” (Translation: Child, the blow that does not break your back will make it stronger.)

The Common Entrance failure is today quite laughable compared to some of my subsequent ones.

It has been my fortune to be able to see the proverbial glass as half full. Frankly, people who constantly see the dark clouds without any hope for the silver linings are not interesting to me. My patience quota is great for people who need a bit of reminding. However, I have absolutely none for persons who are perpetually negative. There is nothing that is more draining than being in the same space with negative people. Immediately the wilting begins!

Transform Failures Into Opportunities

Of all the secrets in the world, one of the most view-changing is to be able to transform some failures into successes. Just do not stop!  Keep trying, working and take advantage of opportunity after opportunity.

This formula worked for me and continues to work in my life and in my friends’ lives. We have all been willing to “Just Do It!” In spite of my failings, I remained thankful. Do not raise your eyebrows. That is another secret, gratitude, and I am one grateful Chick.

If you need a little boost, contact us through our Facebook page. You are also invited to share your thoughts here in the comments, as well as on Instagram and follow us on Twitter.

Continue to have a great day!

Clara

Share our story!
Posted in Inspirational | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Causes Greed And How Can We Deal With It?

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Greed. What causes greed and how can we deal with it? by Laura E. Alexander, University of Nebraska Omaha

Recent news stories have highlighted unethical and even lawless actions taken by people and corporations that were motivated primarily by greed.

Federal prosecutors, for example, charged 33 wealthy parents, some of whom were celebrities, with paying bribes to get their children into top colleges. In another case, lawyer Michael Avenatti was accused of trying to extort millions from Nike, the sports company.

Allegations of greed are listed in the lawsuit filed against members of the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, accused of pushing powerful painkillers as well as the treatment for addiction.

In all of these cases, individuals or companies seemingly had wealth and status to spare, yet they allegedly took actions to gain even further advantage. Why would such successful people or corporations allegedly commit crimes to get more?

As a scholar of comparative religious ethics, I frequently teach basic principles of moral thought in diverse religious traditions.

Religious thought can help us understand human nature and provide ethical guidance, including in cases of greed like the ones mentioned here.

greedAnxiety And Injustice

The work of the 20th-century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr on human anxiety offers one possible explanation for what might drive people to seek more than they already have or need.

Niebuhr was arguably the most famous theologian of his time. He was a mentor to several public figures. These included Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian who served in the Kennedy White House, and George F. Kennan, a diplomat and an adviser on Soviet affairs. Niebuhr also came to have a deep influence on former President Barack Obama.

Niebuhr said the human tendency to perpetuate injustice is the result of a deep sense of existential anxiety, which is part of the human condition. In his work “The Nature and Destiny of Man,” Niebuhr described human beings as creatures of both “spirit” and “nature.”

As “spirit,” human beings have consciousness, which allows them to rise above the sensory experiences they have in any given moment.

Yet, at the same time, he said, human beings do have physical bodies, senses and instincts, like any other animal. They are part of the natural world and are subject to the risks and vulnerabilities of mortality, including death.

Together, these traits mean that human beings are not just mortal, but also conscious of that mortality. This juxtaposition leads to a deeply felt anxiety, which, according to Niebuhr, is the “inevitable spiritual state of man.”

To deal with the anxiety of knowing they will die, Niebuhr says, human beings are tempted to – and often do – grasp at whatever means of security seem within their reaches, such as knowledge, material goods or prestige.

In other words, people seek certainty in things that are inherently uncertain.

Greed: Hurting Others

This is a fruitless task by definition, but the bigger problem is that the quest for certainty in one’s own life almost always harms others. As Niebuhr writes:

“Man is, like the animals, involved in the necessities and contingencies of nature; but unlike the animals he sees this situation and anticipates its perils. He seeks to protect himself against nature’s contingencies; but he cannot do so without transgressing the limits which have been set for his life. Therefore all human life is involved in the sin of seeking security at the expense of other life.”

The case of parents who may have committed fraud to gain coveted spots for their children at prestigious colleges offers an example of trying to find some of this certainty. That comes at the expense of others, who cannot gain admission to a college because another child has gotten in via illegitimate means.

As other research has shown, such anxiety may be more acute in those with higher social status. The fear of loss, among other things, could well drive such actions.

greedWhat We Can Learn From The Buddha

While Niebuhr’s analysis can help many of us understand the motivations behind greed, other religious traditions might offer further suggestions on how to deal with it.

Several centuries ago, the Buddha said that human beings have a tendency to attach themselves to “things” – sometimes material objects, sometimes “possessions” like prestige or reputation.

Scholar Damien Keown explains in his book on Buddhist ethics that in Buddhist thought, the whole universe is interconnected and ever-changing. People perceive material things as stable and permanent, and we desire and try to hold onto them.

But since loss is inevitable, our desire for things causes us to suffer. Our response to that suffering is often to grasp at things more and more tightly. But we end up harming others in our quest to make ourselves feel better.

Taken together, these thinkers provide insight into acts of greed committed by those who already have so much. At the same time, the teachings of the Buddha suggest that our most strenuous efforts to keep things for ourselves cannot overcome their impermanence. In the end, we will always lose what we are trying to grasp.The Conversation

Credits

Laura E. Alexander, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights, University of Nebraska Omaha

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Inspirational, Life | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Stuff: Do You Own It Or Are You Owned By Your Room Full Of Stuff?

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Michael H. Ballard

Stuff. We all need some, we almost all want some more, yet who owns who?

In the second decade of the 21st century, we advertisers, including those using social media influencers, are constantly marketing to us.

Buy more, spend more, get more. How? With the best things! Clothes, cars, jewellery, housing, shoes, accessories, places and stuff. All can be so much fun to own, experience and use. But how does it all add to your life?

I think there is a serious corruption in the idea sold through advertising that you can attain spiritual peace through lifestyle and the notion of building your happiness from the outside-in by acquiring things . . . which if you think about it, is the essence of advertising.” ~  Edward Norton

Stuff – Who Owns Who?

Yet out of all this what truly helps build us up? Develop, deepen and widen our ability to thrive? Yes, a good raincoat for a rainy day is very useful, a proper pair of winter books are very useful on those days when the temperature dips to -24C (very cold in F) with wind chill.

So why talk about stuff? Well, resilience research tells us that how we chose to define ourselves from the inside out plays a role in how happy and successful we are in our lives. Plus how much we enjoy the journey.

So, I ask again: Do you your stuff or does it own you?

We are defined in part by what and who we surround ourselves with. Yet if it all was taken away from you tomorrow what would change? Would you still be you, or does your stuff define you so much that you’d feel empty? Would you be able to move forward? Again, nothing wrong with having stuff. Just be careful your stuff does not own you.

Until next time Imagine Yourself with more Resiliency for Life.

Michael

Check out our Faith Hope and Courage Project.

Share our story!
Posted in Life, Resiliency | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Modern Slavery: How Consumers Can Make A Difference

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Guest Contribution

Modern slavery: how consumers can make a difference by Deirdre Shaw, University of Glasgow; Andreas Chatzidakis, Royal Holloway University of London, and Michal Carrington, The University of Melbourne

Few people want to buy products that involve the exploitation or enslavement of the workers who make them – but that’s exactly what most of us do on a daily basis.

Estimates reveal that there are 40.3 million people in slavery worldwide as part of a US$32 billion business. Extreme labour exploitation and other forms of modern slavery are embedded within the supply chains of many of the products and services that we choose to consume regularly, such as laptops, mobile phones and clothing.

This raises important questions: how responsible are we for the slavery that is directly connected to our consumption, and what role should consumers play in reducing the demand and supply of products and services made by exploited workers?

On the one hand, the few examples of government legislation – including the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act – clearly place some level of responsibility on consumers to be informed, to act, and to make choices that help to eradicate modern slavery. These actions include reporting suspected instances of exploitation and boycotting known products of slavery.

In contrast, however, others are increasingly arguing that it’s not up to consumers to police modern slavery. Commentators such as Sarah O’Connor and Emily Kenway remind us that the causes of slavery are systemic, embedded within the processes and structures of commerce and governance. They rightly suggest that slavery and forms of extreme labour exploitation cannot be reduced without addressing the structural role of government and business.

Consumer-citizen Action On Modern Slavery

Global supply chains are complex and generally not visible or well understood by consumers. So asking them to take responsibility for how products are made may let businesses (who do understand this) and governments (who do have the power to change things) off the hook. Government and business do need to do more to address slavery in production systems through, for example, greater transparency, but where does that leave the role of the consumer?

Focusing on UK consumer understanding of modern slavery, our research highlights a more complicated and active role for consumers in challenging the exploitation of workers who produce the goods and services they consume. It points to the broader observation that shoppers are often “complicit” when it comes to the social and environmental consequences of their consumer choices. Indeed, we find that consumers are not ignorant of the risks of slavery and extreme labour exploitation. More worryingly still, some consumers explicitly express their indifference towards such issues.

Modern Slavery Act

Reviewing the Modern Slavery Act and similar legislation reveals how our current system relies on consumers to report and boycott instances of slavery as a key mechanism in the overall eradication plan. We agree with the likes of Kenway that shifting responsibility away from businesses and governments and on to the consumer risks relieving these powerful players of their duties and commitments.

Yet, should this argument be used to negate all attempts to mobilise consumers? While it’s right to be suspicious of attempts to pass the buck on to consumers, we argue that removing all responsibility from consumers and insisting that the realm of consumption remains a seemingly benign and apolitical arena is not a useful way forward either.

The considerable consumer inertia in response to scandals in the UK such as Boohoo – which saw the company accused of sourcing its clothes from factories with poor health and safety records and paying staff less than the minimum wage – illustrates a need to sensitise consumers to the slavery in their consumption, and to elevate their power to act. This may be framed as calling on consumers to take positive citizenship action (lobbying) or negative action (boycotting).

Take Action

It is important to recognise that consumer-citizens are not unfamiliar with taking action on important issues. For example, the understanding that we have environmental responsibilities as consumers is well-rehearsed. It is accepted that “we must place on the consumer at least some of the responsibility for making the economy sustainable”, as Tim Jackson writes in Material Concerns: Pollution, Profit and Quality of Life.

modern slaveryImagine action on climate change that didn’t include a role for consumers in taking some level of responsibility for their own impact through the consumer choices they make. Changing how we consume is a vital link in transitioning to a cleaner and more just society, even though businesses are disproportionately responsible for carbon emissions. It should be no different when we consider modern slavery.

While we don’t support the shifting of unrealistic levels of responsibility on to consumers when it comes to ridding society of modern slavery, our research does point to an important role for consumers, revealing that they do want to take action – just not on their own. They want to be partners in this modern slavery equation, particularly with business and government. Greater consumer interest, involvement and action over modern slavery is bound to raise more, not fewer, questions about the role and responsibilities of other groups involved, leading to greater transparency.

The consumer perspective should be viewed as a useful ally to business and government strategies in the campaign to eradicate modern slavery. In our roles as consumer-citizens, we can use our voices and actions to support and encourage positive change. And we must also focus our energies on holding those with greater power and involvement to account.The Conversation

Credits

Deirdre Shaw, Professor Marketing and Consumer Research, University of Glasgow; Andreas Chatzidakis, Professor of Marketing, Royal Holloway University of London, and Michal Carrington, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share our story!
Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment