I’ve made a lot of friends in Qatar the last ten years, and Carolin Zeitler is one of the other longtimers on the women-making-change scene. We first met when I presented at the How Women Work annual conference five or so years ago. That network has expanded into publications and workshops.

HWW is a touch point for women and men in Qatar’s professional community. Read more about her crowdfunding campaign to write a book about seven years of living in the Middle East. She shares the core of the project as a volume about Courage, Confidence, and Connection.

Hearing about Carolin’s latest project made me wonder who or what has made you courageous, confident, or connected?

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It is a book about courage. Courage to stand up for what you believe in, for your values, for your freedom, for yourself and other people.

It’s a book about confidence. Confidence in your ability to make your vision become reality, to make a difference and confidence that you will not just survive but thrive, even when there seems to be very little ‘security’ available.

It’s a book about connection. Connection to that place of calm, of complete peace, of knowing, that keeps us sane and secure.

She believe that this book can benefit many people, give them a sense of “If she can do it, I can too”.

With the launch of my first picture book, Everyday Wishes, I’ve been reading to pre-k, kindergarten and first graders in elementary schools. In doing so I’ve been reminded of a simple truth. Those that teach are the heroes and heroines of our society.

I look into twenty, thirty, one hundred sets of eyes in these reading circles. Around the perimeter are the teachers who spend day in, day out with them, shaping the way they will think about the world.

Most of us recoil in horror if someone suggests we would teach “the little ones.” Not enough patience, no time for meltdowns, no interest in the young aes.

And yet, all of us were once in school. Those of us who are parents, take the teacher’s treatment of our child very seriously.

School is the building block of society. If only society wouldn’t take schools and their teachers for granted.

We were scanning through documentary trailers the other night and Fittest on Earth was one of new releases. The film traces the journeys of super athletes who train for some of the world’s most strenuous competitions.

“People with lots of spare time and money,” I said, taking in the rippling muscles of women racing up the stairs of a stadium with weighted bags on their backs.

I’m not against exercise. Quite the opposite. Cardio has saved me from the monotony of endless hours, day after day, at the writer’s desk. Yesterday, I pushed aside the restlessness of over-productive screen time with a heart thumping set of weight exercises.

After six years of focused effort I’ve finally made it to 3, 1 hour workouts a week.

A far cry from the fittest on earth, or even this city. But the fittest I’ve been in my adult life. And that counts for a lot, considering that a major part of expat life ends up being spent at endless buffet lunches and dinners.

If you’re feeling restless, lethargic, or that all pervasive sense of sadness, try moving. In a paradox, energy begets energy.

What are your blues busters?