This week, we’re asking, “Am I courageous?” This includes:

• Do we believe in others?
• Do we believe in ourselves?
• Can we fear stress less?

Each of this week’s suggestions come back to these key questions.

What are we watching this week?

In our relationships, professional and personal, we have impact. We have power. We can be the difference between someone having a good day or someone having a bad day.

In this video, Are you like a Honeybee or a fly?, Radhanath Swami, a monk in the bhakti tradition, uses the analogy of the honey bee and the fly to illustrate the dynamics of relationships.

Unlike the fly, which focuses on garbage, the honeybee keeps its focus on finding nectar. Like the honeybee, we can aim to seek the positive qualities in those around us.

Watch the video here. Honeybee mentality or fly mentality? Do we believe in others? The choice is ours. How can we use the lessons within it to improve our Social Wellbeing, one of the Six Pillars of I Am Here?

What do you have to say about the clip? Reach out to us on X to share your thoughts.

What are we thinking about this week?

The following poem has been used in different forms and contexts. While the original author is unknown, it speaks to how we can be a gift to ourselves, and to others. It emphasizes the different packaging in which we all come, and the potential reasons as to why this might be.

Persons are gifts.
Some are wrapped beautifully,
They are attractive at first sight.
Some come wrapped ordinary,
While others get mishandled by life.
Once in a while, there is a special delivery.

Persons are gifts,
Some coming loosely-wrapped,
Others are gifts,
coming tightly-packed.
Never mistake the wrapping for the gift,
For the gift is what’s inside.

Persons are gifts,
Who are sometimes easy to open.
Persons are gifts,
Who can’t be opened at all.
Maybe they’re frightened?
Maybe they’re scared?
Maybe they’ve been unwrapped before?
Discarded, despaired.
How do I treat the gifts I receive?

I am a person,
Therefore, I’m a gift too.
Perhaps I’ve never accepted the gift that I am?
A gift full of promise and beauty,
That opens up when handled with care.
Am a I gift to others?

What are we reading this week?

The Mushroom is an I Am Here blog post written by our CEO, Jim Breen. It explores the stresses we encounter in life, using a “wild” versus “farm-grown” mushroom analogy. It asks the question, “Do our challenges undo us, or do they armor us?” Read on. We would love to hear your thoughts on how we can use stress constructively.