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6 uw ° =z = Ss = TRYING TO FOCUS ON # THE POSITIVE CAN # OFTEN MINIMIZE E SOMEONE'S * FEELINGS, WRITES MELANIE MCGREGOR alton Hills | Thursday, September 23, 2021 | MELANIE MCGREGOR Column The word "empathy" comes up a lot when talk- ing about mental health and supporting others, and : Brené Brown has be- come a leading expert in this area. emphasizes how — putting our- ing, "Rarely ‘ i" may feel that it would be helpful and take sol e's ‘ind off the negative. put wha it we AVOID THE ‘AT LEAST’ RESPONSE stressed. Peeling stressed isn't g. * Fou don't want to talk about their stress. In other words, grati- tude for having a job should negate anything else they are feeling. But, it's not an either-or situa- tion. It's up to us to recognize that whatever combina- tion of feelings they are having is valid. So, what to do with the “at least" temptation? First of all, be on the lookout for it; you don't need to say it just because it comes into your mi Then remind yourself to focus on what others are experiencing, not what you wish they were experienc- ing. Choose to give a sup- portive response, some- thing like, “It sounds like you're stressed. Tell me more about it," or "It's un- derstandable that you're ssed." mber that saying “at least" won't make any- thing magically go away. As De Brown says, “Rarely can a response make some- thing better. What makes something better is con- nection. Melanie MoGregor is the a 1 spe petals at and distraction could easi- as minimi right now, but at least you have a job." What we would probably be trying to do by saying this is switch the fo- cus to something positive about what's iby this "at leat state, _ . The fact that they hav have job is more im} an the fact that they es eat theifp.ca S » Canadian Me Health “Association, Hato Region Branch, wi provides mental health/ addiction community sup- port and education. Visit www.halton.cmha.ca for more information and follow @cmhahalton on Twitter. SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFRCA TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFPCA SNAPSHOT Flo Bellman photo A blue jay visits a Georgetown backyard. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. EXCESSIVE MORTGAGE DEBT A FINANCIAL RISK MANY HOMEOWNERS FACING NEWFOUND BURDEN THESE DAYS, WRITES PETER WATSON The nagging issue of ex- cessive mortgage debt held by inadians continues, with new information that the risk of excess borrow- ing is getting worse. This has significant im- plications for homeowners who might get caught car- rying too much debt. Also, there is considerable risk to the Canadian economy if this excess debt contrib- utes to a housing bubble burst e housing mortgage vist is a result of the ‘per- fect storm.’ PETER WATSON Column The pandemic altered the way we live. adults started to wor at home, children tioned to at-home lean and families ble. and the price of] tines went That is the state of the current re: ate market. The question is what might happen in the future. Akey toa stable real es- tate market is low interest become an issue. Some families will struggle with increased mortgage pay- ments. Interest rates rise and fallin part by actions of the Bank of Canada. If the bank wants to slow down economic activity, that can be done by increasing in- terest rates. On Sept. 8, the Bank of Canada announced there would be no change to the underlying interest rates. My thought is it is just a matter of time before inter- rise. mortgage debt continues to be a risk for many Canadians. Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP, R.EP, CIM, FCSI offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsonin- vestments.com. ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. 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