Quote of the Day: Confess Your Own Poverty

“When we are not afraid to confess our own poverty, we will be able to be with other people in theirs. The Christ who lives in our own poverty recognizes the Christ who lives in other people's. Just as we are inclined to ignore our own poverty, we are inclined to ignore others'. We prefer not to see people who are destitute, we do not like to look at people who are deformed or disabled, we avoid talking about people's pains and sorrows, we stay away from brokenness, helplessness, and neediness. By this avoidance we might lose touch with the people through whom God is manifested to us. But when we have discovered God in our own poverty, we will lose our fear of the poor and go to them to meet God.”- Henri Nouwen Discovered quoted in the blog The Loving Room.

Schadenfreude Watch: Australia

The latest article explaining the word Schadenfreude comes to us all the way from Australia. Ruth Ostrow, writing in The Australian Business, warns against malicious joy in the misfortunes of others and suggests the more positive Buddhist concept of mudita - "sympathetic joy" or "happiness in another's good fortune." This is certainly the more enlightened approach. But is it funny?

Metaphorically slipping on a banana peel produces much more mirth than appreciating your neighbor's promotion. And Ostrow is forced to admit that "Wellbeing experts describe laughter and a sense of humour as 'healthy' while perhaps overlooking the fact that the humour is often rooted in humiliation of the other."

For more on the positive aspects of humor, especially in the workplace, visit The Humor Project.