Another month bites the dust and we are closer to the end of 2022 than we are to the beginning of the year. The last seven months seem to have flown by and many would have started their planning for 2023.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation (WHO)  declared Monkeypox a global health emergency and has activated its highest alert level for the growing outbreak. This means that WHO now views the outbreak as a significant enough threat to global health that a coordinated international response is needed to prevent the virus from spreading further and potentially escalating into a pandemic. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported across more than 70 countries so far this year, and the number of confirmed infections rose 77% from late June through early July, according to WHO data. As if COVID-19 was not enough, this is one more potential pandemic waiting to be unleashed upon us. Europe is currently the global epicentre of the outbreak, reporting more than 80% of confirmed infections worldwide in 2022. Because monkeypox is not a new virus, there are already vaccines and antivirals to prevent and treat the disease it causes, though they are in short supply.

In today’s quote, American actress and singer, Judy Garland who is best known for playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz tells us that we should always be a first-rate version of ourselves, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. What this means is that we need to work on achieving a clear sense of our own identity to create clarity for us and those around us, for who we are and what we stand for. This will help create the principles and boundaries that help to take control of our destiny. Being a first-rate version of ourselves builds resilience and helps us to respond appropriately when we encounter situations that we are uncomfortable with. It provides us with an anchor when we feel lost or overwhelmed. We can then strive to be the best we can be in the knowledge that we have the basic template in place that works for us. We may be influenced and learn from others, but we don’t live their lives and their world is not our world and so we can’t live an authentic and positive life unless we live our version.

BB & GG are busy with school and internships. GG finishes her internship this week and then she will start her holidays. BB interviewed for an internship slot earlier this week and I am hoping he gets it because the role is something he is interested in. Otherwise, he will do a final year project with one of his lecturers. I am hoping he gets the internship as there will be more real-life learning there as compared to the project. And on that note, have a wonderful week and stay masked and stay safe.