sports I practice sports on a regular basis between twice and four times a week in order to be in shape and in order to reduce stress. As a matter of fact I started jogging more than ten years ago during a period of heavy stress. The more I practiced sports the more I enjoyed it to the point of wanting to run a marathon and doing a triathlon. I then started to increase my training load but unfortunately I started to get injured like many of those who run too much. Indeed, before being able to run a marathon it is necessary to do at least a two months special physical preparation during which the work load is substantially increased. However running takes a great toll on the body due to the impact of the body weight on the floor. So, each time I train more I get injured and I have so far never been able, at my great dismay, to run a marathon. So I decided to change tacticts and do some swimming in order to maintain my work load and avoid the side effects of running. Since I go swimming I enjoy more and more this sport to the point that I feel more pleasure in swimming than jogging. Swimming has a deeper soothing effect so that after one hour of swimming I feel deeply relaxed. In the coming months I will onnce again enroll myself for a marathon and start a physical preparation running at least three times a week, each of the running sessions being more strenous than normal running workouts. I hope that the swimming sessions will much better enable me to withstand the running stress.

gender equality Can we really achieve gender equality and notably in the work place ? Is this objective sound or simply politically correct ? Indeed men and women are created equal and should be paid equallly if they perform the same job. However, very often women are paid less than men. If this discrepancy can be explained by cultural aspects, for instance there are more men in certain trades such as engineer, these cultural differences can’t explain all of the wage gap. It is very likely that consciously or inconsciously women are being discriminated against. Lots of laws have tried over the years to adress the issue but despite all efforts being done and laws enacted, gender equality is still a far cry from reality. Furthermore, discriminating against women and more broadly against any other minorities entails drawbacks against the economy and the interest of companies. Indeed, in order to thrive, companies shall recruit the best employees and financial reward is a key tool in order to attract the most gifted workers. Since there are as many gifted persons among women (and more broadly among any minorities) as among white men, companies should hire as many women as men and pay them equally in order to attract as many gifted people as possible. All ethical issues set apart, I think that it is in the interest of companies of not discriminating against women or minorities because they will be able to lure the best employees and benefit from their skills.

stress In our daily life whether from a personnal or professional point of view we experience more and more stress. This is due to the fact that everything gets faster, more complicated and that we set ourselves ambitious goals. For instance, we want our kids to thrive at school, have a fulfilling personal life and be succesful in the workplace. However it is sometimes difficult to be succesful in all aspects of our life and the amount of energy required to reach our all of our goals may exceed our resources and capabilities. In these circumstances, stress may appear and take a big toll on us. We may first have health issues, problems with our partner, sometimes leading to divorces and issues in the workplace as when we get stressed out we are less efficient. To prevent stress, it is important to have a healthy lifestlyle and in particular a good work life balance, practising sports and a good diet. All of these aspects help cope with difficult life issues. It is also important that your employer promotes a policy preventing stress and burn out. For instance goals must be realistic and cooperation or communication shall be encouraged. However people are sometimes proud and don’t want to speak about issues such as stress thinking that it might be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Failing to deal appropriately with such issues can lead to illness or even depression.