MINDHUGS WELLNESS

It is with sadness and such utter disappointment that I have to write this article during such a critical time in the annual calendar of the Eye Care community in our beloved country, Ghana. At a time where there should be effective and efficient collaborations and team work to facilitate the campaign and education on Glaucoma, we are compelled to respond to unmerited vitriol and scandalous misinformation.   Through a series of well coordinated media appearances, some Ophthalmologists have decided to abandon the actual purpose of public eye health education and instead indulge in pettiness and misrepresention. In both television and radio appearances, these eye care professionals decided to malign the effort and qualifications of Optometrists in Ghana, going even to the extent of labeling us as "just vision scientists" . These slanderous effusions aren't only inaccurate but demeaning and deleterious to the health of the entire eye care community and especially...

 A few weeks ago I met a gentleman who was deeply disturbed. He was stressed out and clearly frustrated. He indicated that he hasn't been sleeping well for a while now and was always tired and irritable. He seemed to be getting angry at the least provocation and It was affecting his work, family and health. He was clearly stressed and burnt out. He also indicated that certain subjects and situations caused him to have panic attacks and palpitations. He didn't have any energy to even get out of bed some days and everything felt boring and uninteresting. When I suggested that he considers therapy, he quickly rejected the idea . To him, therapy was for people with "real" mental issues and not just tiredness. I had to take time to explain exactly what therapy really was about and how it was going to benefit him. Unfortunately, he isn't the only one who has a warped misunderstanding of therapy. To most people, Mental Health issues and consequently, thera...

Many say that, the global village has brought us closer as people and has opened us up for better connections. Is this really the case?  Personally I don't think so.  So many people no longer want deep relationships, they only want a bigger "followership". A lot more  are also not interested in the relevance or truth of their opinion, as long as they get likes, it suffices.  Facebook and other social networks are popular because it provides just what people want now: more connections with no emotional attachments. Friendship that is so superficial that, all it takes to break it off is a click! We prefer an avenue that provides the cloak of anonymity and fuels people's deep seated desire to be nasty without consequences.  Take a little time out and think about these; How many of your "friends" on facebook will you recognise on the street? How many have you spoken to or shook hands with? How many will come to visit you at the hospital? How many wou...

First impressions are Great, Lasting Impressions Are Even Better. Lots of people are very concerned about first impressions. Yes. They should rightly be. After all, research on the issue indicates that people basically reach a conclusion on whether they like you or not in about one tenth of a second upon meeting you for the first time. Subsequently, first impressions determine whether you get a second chance or not. So yes, it is very important to make the best possible first impression. But what happens afterwards? Unfortunately lots of people just focus so much on first impressions and simply forget about lasting impressions. It is quite common especially in Ghana, to have lots of people or businesses treating you like royalty on the first interaction and then treating you like trash subsequently. It looks like after they get your business or make your acquaintance, the love quickly evaporates like soap bubbles in sunlight. Politicians are so polite when they come aski...

Let me ask you a question. What happens when your best friend or your favorite person accidentally drops a drop of deadly poison in your mouth? Did you just say, you will die? Wow. OK. How about if the love of your life or your most respected family member does the same thing? You will still die? Even if they love you deeply? Hmm. I see. So it doesn't matter what the intentions are, if someone feeds you poison, there will be death. So why do you allow just anyone to enter into your circle of influence and poison your most precious dreams and vision? I believe the most critical skill a vision carrier must master is the ability to navigate the quagmire of hypocrisy, discouragement and self seeking selfishness disguised under the canopy of "friendship" and "concern".  He or she also needs the alertness to steer clear of the land mines of dream killing and mediocre detractors whose complete mentality is to bring others down to their limit; the barest floor. A visio...

I was looking for a nice story to begin this article with but I digress. The situation is too dire to start with entertainment so I will go about it like how we administer an injection to an adult. Fast and swift and hopefully only briefly painful. Bear with me.  You have to throw away all the romantic origin stories you have heard about Great ideas and companies. Yes, some of the stories actually sound like fairytales especially those made into best selling books, docu series and movies. That is television and showbiz. Do this instead.  Research extensively and read lots of verified and accurate biographies and memoirs. Read verified articles and lots of different books. I guarantee that, you will be delivered from your "pie in the sky" illusions. The kind of hard work, networking, PURE LUCK, privilege, bias, unexplained grace, shenanigans and what nots involved will make you born again in your mind. Look, you are probably not going to experience a Eureka moment ...