MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY
NEW YEAR
COUNTER ACT DEBT AND
STRESS WITH POSITIVE EMOTIONS
THE benefit of and need to create upward, NOT DOWNWARD spiraling
emotions
The majority of South Africans have worked hard
this year. Even those who are seeking
employment have worked hard with job hunting strategies and innovative
proposals and presentations. Albeit a
tough year for most, the thought of a December year end break and the festive
season fast approaching was something to smile about.
However, this week South Africa did not get a
kick in the pants but a punch in the face which has flattened the South African
economy and confidence in leadership and there is very little cheer left in our
beloved country South Africa.
Leading independent economist
Azar Jammine has done the numbers and estimates “Zuma’s firing
of respected Finance Minister Nhanhla Nene has raised the country’s
debt servicing costs by between R1.5bn and R2bn a year with more to come. Add
in the wipe-out on the stock market, the plunge in bond prices and the smashed
currency and the decision has cost the country at least ten times that.” – Alec
Hogg http://www.fin24.com/BizNews/zumas-blunder-on-nene-costs-sa-billions-when-will-taxpayers-call-enough-20151213
SHOCKING
REVELATIONS ABOUT DEBT STRESSED SOUTH AFRICANS October 10, 2015 “Putting
south Africa’s consumer debt into perspective, the amount equates to $118
billion – this is larger than the total GDP output of some countries, such as
Angola ($107 billion), and in range of Morocco ($130 billion).”
South Africa
had reached its highest levels ever in terms of people with impaired credit
records in October 2015. This was noted
by SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande, citing a report by the National
Credit Regulator. Nzimande pointed out
that there are 19 million credit active South Africans who have such impaired
credit records, while more than 11 million were categorised as over-indebted. “In the
housing sector, it is estimated that around 10,000 homes are being repossessed
by the banks annually in South Africa. This level of eviction can only be
comparable to apartheid-era Group Areas removals,” he said. As at March 2015, the NCR said that
credit bureaus in SA held records for 23.11 million credit-active consumers;
with 10.4 million consumers having impaired records. As of the
same period, more than 663,000 consumers applied for debt counseling and more
than 348,000 were recorded as active consumers under debt review. A total of 336.08 million enquiries were
recorded by the credit bureaus for the first quarter of 2015 with 12.76 million
of the total enquiries made in instances where the consumer was seeking credit. As at 31 March 2015, 4,577 credit providers
with 47,372 branches, 14 credit bureaus and 2,224 debt counsellors were
registered with the NCR. The NCR’s
data showed that South African consumer debt has increased to R1.63 trillion in
the second quarter of the year. Worryingly,
despite a majority of credit active consumers are in good standing with debt
payments, almost 45% are struggling to meet their repayments.
According to
data from debt management firm, Debt Rescue, in August, consumers owe as much
as three quarters (75%) of their monthly pay to creditors. Over 56% and 58% of consumers struggling to
pay off home loans and credit card debt, respectively, increasing the need for
debt counselling, the group said. http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/100498/shocking-revelations-about-debt-stressed-south-africans/
AS
REPORTED IN MARCH 2015 – SA’S DEBT LEVELS ARE VERY HIGH
In 2009, studies show that 40% of the money from micro finance was used to buy food and many borrowers were taking new loans to pay [old] ones. Unsecured lending and micro-loan schemes were identified as major problems that plagued Marikana in the North West during the labour unrest in August 2012 and the mining sector is no longer the crown jewel of South Africa.
In 2009, studies show that 40% of the money from micro finance was used to buy food and many borrowers were taking new loans to pay [old] ones. Unsecured lending and micro-loan schemes were identified as major problems that plagued Marikana in the North West during the labour unrest in August 2012 and the mining sector is no longer the crown jewel of South Africa.
THE
VALUE OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS IN CHALLENGING TIMES
“The emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it’s good to feel good” - Barbara L. Fredrickson
The new discoveries generated by positive psychology hold the promise of improving individual and collective functioning, psychological well-being and physical health. But to harness the power of positive psychology, we need to understand how and why “goodness” matters.
“The emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it’s good to feel good” - Barbara L. Fredrickson
The new discoveries generated by positive psychology hold the promise of improving individual and collective functioning, psychological well-being and physical health. But to harness the power of positive psychology, we need to understand how and why “goodness” matters.
WHY SO
NEGATIVE?
There are probably a number of reasons why the positive emotions received little attention in the past. There is, of course, the natural tendency to study something that afflicts the well-being of humanity— and the expression and experience of negative emotions are responsible for much of what ails this world. But it may also be that the positive emotions are a little harder to study. They are comparatively few and relatively undifferentiated— joy, amusement and serenity are not easily distinguished from one another. Anger, fear and sadness, on the other hand, are distinctly different experiences.
There are probably a number of reasons why the positive emotions received little attention in the past. There is, of course, the natural tendency to study something that afflicts the well-being of humanity— and the expression and experience of negative emotions are responsible for much of what ails this world. But it may also be that the positive emotions are a little harder to study. They are comparatively few and relatively undifferentiated— joy, amusement and serenity are not easily distinguished from one another. Anger, fear and sadness, on the other hand, are distinctly different experiences.
THE BROADEN-AND-BUILD THEORY
This tendency to promote a
broader thought-action repertoire is linked to a variety of downstream effects
of positive emotions on thinking. Two decades of experiments by Alice Isen of
Cornell University and her colleagues have shown that people experiencing
positive affect (feelings) think differently. Isen and colleagues showed that
people experiencing positive affect perform better on this test than people in
neutral states.
Psychological
tests reveal that people tend to think broadly when they experience positive
emotions. The positive emotions broaden
people’s mind-sets, which allows them to solve problems more readily.
Overall, 20 years of
experiments by Isen and her colleagues show that when people feel good, their
thinking becomes more creative, integrative, flexible and open to information. 
Even though positive
emotions and the broadened mind-sets they create are themselves short-lived,
they can have deep and enduring effects. By momentarily broadening attention and
thinking, positive emotions can lead to the discovery of novel ideas, actions
and social bonds. For example, joy and
playfulness build a variety of resources. Consider children at play in the schoolyard or
adults enjoying a game of basketball in the gym. Although their immediate motivations may be
simply hedonistic—to enjoy the moment—they are at the same time building
physical, intellectual, psychological and social resources. The physical
activity leads to long term improvements in health, the game-playing strategies
develop problem- solving skills, and the camaraderie strengthens social bonds
that may provide crucial support at some time in the future. Savouring an experience solidifies life
priorities; altruistic acts strengthen social ties and build skills for
expressing love and care. These outcomes often endure long after the initial
positive emotion has vanished.
“Statistical
analyses showed that their tendency to feel more positive emotions buffered the
resilient people against depression.”
Positive emotions broaden
people’s momentary thought-action repertoires. Joy, for example, encourages playful
behaviour. These broadened thought-action repertoires in turn build
intellectual, physical, social and psychological resources for the future. Such
resources translate into greater odds of survival and reproductive success.
“Gratitude was
the most common positive emotion people felt after the
September 11th attacks”
Feeling grateful was
associated both with learning many good things from the crisis and with
increased levels of optimism. Resilient people made statements such as, “I
learned that most people in the world are inherently good.” Put differently,
feeling grateful broadened positive learning, which in turn built optimism,
just as the broaden-and-build theory suggests.
“Feeling good” does far
more than signal the absence of threats. It can transform people for the better, making
them more optimistic, resilient and socially connected.
Indeed, this insight might
solve the evolutionary mystery of positive emotions: Simply by experiencing
positive emotions, our ancestors would have naturally accrued more personal
resources. And when later faced with
threats to life or limb, these greater resources translated into
greater odds of survival and greater odds of living long enough to reproduce.
If negative emotions narrow
people’s mind-sets and positive emotions broaden them, then perhaps positive
emotions undo the lingering effects of negative emotions. Such effects may extend to the physiological
realm. The negative emotions have distinct physiological responses associated
with them—autonomic activity (as mentioned earlier), including cardiovascular
activity, which represents the body’s preparation for specific action. A number
of studies suggest that the cardiovascular activity associated with stress and
negative emotions, especially if prolonged and recurrent, can promote or
exacerbate heart disease.
Positive emotions had a clear and consistent effect
of undoing the cardiovascular
repercussions of negative emotions.
At this point the cognitive
and physiological mechanisms of the undoing effect are unknown. It may be that
broadening one’s cognitive perspective by feeling positive emotions mediates
the physiological undoing. Such ideas need further exploration.
ENDING
ON A POSITIVE NOTE
So how do the positive
emotions promote longevity? It seems
that positive emotions do more than simply feel good in the present. The
undoing effect suggests that positive emotions can reduce the physiological
“damage” on the cardiovascular system sustained by feeling negative emotions.
But some other research suggests that there’s more to it than that. It appears
that experiencing positive emotions increases the likelihood that one will feel
good in the future.
Results suggest that people who regularly feel
positive emotions are in some respects lifted on an “upward spiral” of
continued growth and thriving.
But positive emotions don’t
just transform individuals. I’ve argued that they may also transform groups of
people, within communities and organizations. Community transformation becomes
possible because each person’s positive emotion can resound through others.
Take helpful, compassionate
acts as an example. Isen demonstrated
that people who experience positive emotions become more helpful to others. Yet
being helpful not only springs from positive emotions, it also produces
positive emotions. People who give help,
for instance, can feel proud of their good deeds and so experience continued
good feelings.
Plus, people who receive
help can feel grateful, and those who merely witness good deeds can feel
elevated. Each of these positive
emotions—pride, gratitude and elevation— can in turn broaden people’s mind sets
and inspire further compassionate acts.
All of this suggests that we need to develop
methods to experience more positive emotions more often, especially in South
Africa. Although the use of humour,
laughter and other direct attempts to stimulate positive emotions are
occasionally suitable, they often seem poor choices, especially in trying
times.
Positive meaning can be obtained by finding
benefits within adversity, by infusing ordinary events with meaning and by
effective problem solving.
You can find benefits in a
grim world, for instance, by focusing on the newfound strengths and resolve
within yourself and others.
You can infuse ordinary events with meaning by
expressing appreciation, love and gratitude, even for simple things.
And you can find positive
meaning through problem solving by supporting compassionate acts toward people
in need.
Remember that salary levels
in South Africa are SO low and for those of us who have the privilege of using
a laptop or cell phone on a daily basis a positive gesture those less fortunate
and to a stranger who crosses our path could make a far better South Africa for
all.
So although the active ingredient within growth and
resilience may be positive emotions, the leverage point for accessing these
benefits is finding positive meaning.
So, what good is it to
think about the good in the world, for example the Accord De Paris from 189
countries? The mind can be a very powerful
ally.
As John Milton told us, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a
hell of heaven.” The new science of positive psychology is beginning to unravel how
such transformations can take place.
Think about the good in the world, or otherwise find positive meaning, and you seed your own positive emotions. A focus on goodness cannot only change your life and your community, but perhaps also the world, and in time create a heaven on earth.
Think about the good in the world, or otherwise find positive meaning, and you seed your own positive emotions. A focus on goodness cannot only change your life and your community, but perhaps also the world, and in time create a heaven on earth.
South Africa has the opportunity to take renewable energy to a new and positive level! The quicker we plug into our POSITIVE EMOTIONS which, cost absolutely
nothing, the sooner we will be back on track!
JOY– PRIDE– INSPIRATION–HOPE–GRATITUDE- AMUSEMENT- SERENITY INTEREST–AWE–LOVE
BROADEN-AND-BUILD WITH POSITIVE EMOTIONS
The time is now, to both urgently and positively rebuild South Africa's Leadership and the Country into an economically viable country for all and to go back to our roots, with Ubuntu principles
The time is now, to both urgently and positively rebuild South Africa's Leadership and the Country into an economically viable country for all and to go back to our roots, with Ubuntu principles
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