Racism, discrimination & bullying are such thieves! Of time Of energy Of passion! The other day, I had an experience, and it wasted my time. I spent the next day feeling unhappy & upset! My brain cells, instead of focusing on work were being wasted on... thinking about the experience, second-guessing myself- wondering whether I had misread the situation, thinking of whether to do anything about it? If so, what would I want to do about it? If I was to talk, who would I talk to? My line manager? A colleague? Which colleague? I wouldn't want it to become a big issue?? How would it impact this person whose actions had made me feel this way? Maybe I should ensure that I do not talk to a colleague who knows them? I feel, this person stole from me. Energy, time, passion. I lost momentum. Now I have to use my valuable energy and time to try and suppress the negative emotions, to try & block it out, to try and give excuses for this person's behaviour, to try and get my thought process back, to try and get back into flow to get my positive, smiley self back. Evening came and I was still angry. I attended a church meeting and the theme was around praise & being grateful. The church band played & sang some beautiful songs. I had actually decided not to tune in and just go to the kitchen and cook. Then I thought to myself, there's no harm in logging on and leaving my camera off and just doing my cooking in the background, which is what I did. It's a virtual church meeting. As the cooking progressed, slowly, I found my head moving to the beat, slowly, my shoulders started shaking, before long, my waist was like, what am I waiting for? We are a small group, we meet together, watch a recording together, discuss our takeaway messages at the end & pray together. The assignment from the recording was to testify of God's goodness, in essence, to tell each other things we were grateful for. I am a positive person usually, but I was having to work really hard to think of what (good thing) to say. This one experience was like a dark cloud that had covered my ability to see or recall the good things. That's how people's emotional well-being descends into the dark. In the UK, Black people are disproportionately affected by poor mental health. Is it a surprise? Just thought I'd share this, and make this request; please do not be the cause of someone's descent into a dark place. Please do not be the person who causes someone to lose their momentum, their flow. Just think for a moment, how would it feel if one day, someone is invited to testify, to say what they are grateful for, and all they can say is, they are grateful for YOU. That you are compassionate, and kind, and you listen to their views, you engage them in decision making, they feel respected & valued, and they love coming to work so much, ...because of YOU! How about that? Or are they not worthy of experiencing good things because they are black? #Equity #Diversity #Inclusion #Belonging #EDI #EDB #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #AntiRacist #Leadership