Good morning and welcome to my weekly column - this being the third one this month.

Whilst each article varies and differs from week to week, I’m sure you will find something to reflect on through the troubling days ahead.

I find there are four phrases that can solve 99 per cent of what ails us locally nationally and, indeed, internationally.

They are:

  • “I’m so very sorry.”
  • “Thank you so very much.”
  • “My word is my bond”
  • “When you cut, I bleed.”

When you reach the golden age of seventy-five, you will become aware of a lot of things that will have defined you. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of those with you now.

Giving thanks is an expression of gratitude for something you have been given.

When you thank someone, you are acknowledging receipt for a transaction received.

Offering a sincerely given thank you blesses the recipient as well as the giver.

“I’m so very sorry.” - In my culture, this is an expression of the sentiment remorse sorrow and/or sadness.

It is not a vacuous utterance one expresses to facilitate an expedient conclusion to what should have been an opportunity to proffer your apology.

The third phrase that has helped to shape the person I have become,happens to be one of my mother’s favourite sayings.

“When you cut, I bleed" - Our mum was the archetypical empath.

However, at the end of the day, it is important to recognize both the blessings and challenges of being an empath. In a world where many are unable to express emotions, empathy can both be draining as much as it can be rewarding.

My fourth and hopefully defining characteristic and phrase is: “My word is my bond.”

Nothing in my daily interactions with others, gives me more grief, than when friends colleagues and those I speak to, promise to do something then do not. It simply beyond my comprehension how words that are spoken do not carry the same weight and value as cash appears to have.

To be known as a person of my word, is probably my most prestigious achievement – Manuela.