14 DONEGAL NEWS

NEWS

Friday, November 18, 2016

Acknowledging
your strength
B
ased on the Greek fable of The
Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah
Berlin in an essay looked at
how these two very different
animals function. He described the fox
as a cunning, sleek, and sly animal that
comes up with complex tactics to attack
his prey. He described the hedgehog as
waddling along appearing like an easy
target for the fox.
However in reality the hedgehog
beats the fox every time, by simply
rolling into a perfect ball with his spikes
protruding in all directions. By doing
what he does best the hedgehog is able
to keep away attackers.
This concept translates across to
everyday life where using your
strengths and doing what you do best
brings fulfilment. Your core strengths
are those things which seem to come
naturally to you. You intuitively understand that it takes less effort than other
things in which you dont excel. They
are your talents which make you
unique. Using your core strengths has
the potential to bring success. Research
in psychology has shown that there is a
link between using core strengths in
your daily activities and levels of happiness.

CORE STRENGTHS
Core strengths can fall into three key
areas which are; Personal, Leisure and
Work. Personal strengths can include
such aptitudes as generosity, empathy,
disciplined, caring authentic and creative. Strengths in the Leisure area can
include sport, creativity, or social activities. Core strengths in the area of work
can include skills such as organising &
planning, managing resources, good
communication and motivating others.
It is important to consider that work
strengths do not just relate to paid employment, but also include the process
of working at home, job seeking and of
doing voluntary or unpaid work.
The best way of establishing your
core strengths is to make a list of things

LIFE MATTERS
MARGARET ODONNELL
Ms Buckleys home after the earthquake struck.
you do well in all three areas. However
too make sure you dont underestimate
yourself in some areas or overestimate
in other areas it is useful to get input
from others who you know from different walks of life. Strengths also energise, have you ever noticed yourself involved in something where you lost
track of time because you were so engaged? Thats an indication that you
were using one or more of your core
strengths.
Although you might not always be
fortunate enough to be in a position to
make a living from using your core
strengths, it is possible to identify ways
where you are able to apply them. It
may be through volunteering with a
charity, it may be by joining different
committees, taking up a particular hobby or through coaching others in sport
etc. Research shows that use of
strengths is connected to greater work
satisfaction, engagement and overall
wellbeing.
Consciously searching for ways to
use our core strengths every day will
lead to greater personal satisfaction
and increased confidence. Joyce C Lock
said Build upon strengths and weaknesses will gradually take care of themselves.

CHRISTMAS WEEKLY COUNTDOWN

FIVE MORE WEEKS

TIL CHRISTMAS

Massive collection of
Crolly dolls buried
BY CATHERINE COOK
A NEW Zealand woman with strong
ties to Donegal is this week attempting to contend with the aftermath of the earthquake which devastated her home town of Kaikoura
on Monday.
Lindel Buckley is well-known to
many here thanks to her enormous
contribution to ancestral research
in Donegal. She has created Donegal Genealogy Resources online
and has spent years compiling
record from parishes, schools, and
the land registry to help people with
researching their ancestors in the
county.
Her great, great, grandparents
emigrated to New Zealand from
Glendowan after the Derryveagh
Evictions in the 1860s.
However, Lindels vast library
and Donegal archive now lies
strewn across the floor of her South
Island home. And her collection of
Crolly Dolls, believed to be among
the worlds largest, are buried under debris from the earthquake.
With limited access to communication networks, Lindel has been
keeping her family and friends updated through social media.
Her first post read: Not good
here. 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit
around midnight. My house is
trashed and the chimney has fallen.

New Zealand
woman with close
Donegal links
recounts terror of
earthquake
I have never been so frightened. We
are unhurt and sitting up at the
lookout. The whole town is without
electricity and businesses are all
damaged.
Shortly after, Lindel managed to
contact her mother, Merle ODonnell, on the phone as the earthquake
was taking place and she commented: The earthquake is continuing
in an endless series of heaving and
rolling and jolting some around 5.0
on the Richter scale. The ground beneath her feet is constantly moving.
There is no let-up.
Speaking to the Donegal News
via Facebook, Lindel explained: We
are still pretty frazzled. I keep
thinking about the earthquake, how
we couldnt get out of the house - all
we could do was hold on to each other in the dark (it was midnight) in
the middle of the house, and try to
hold on and keep our feet. Liam
stopped his father flying off into the
lounge at one point, when the shaking became very violent.
Along with her husband and two

sons, the family was forced to stay

in their car when the earthquake
hit. On returning to their home
when it was safe to so do on Tuesday, they found the floor littered
with broken glass and crockery and
everything else that once had stood
or had a place on a shelf or in a cupboard.
The chimney in the lounge has
fallen outwards and was completely
demolished, leaving a gaping hole in
the external wall. The fireplace surrounds and mantel piece were torn
from the wall and lie on the floor.
The Civil Defence have set up in
the region and NZ Prime Minister
John Keyes had recently arrived to
view the devastation.
Lindel has thanked the many people who have been send her messages of support.
I havent been able to read all
the comments yet, but they have all
helped enormously. Communication
is still very hard here, so I can only
get online, if Im lucky, for very
short periods.
Explaining what life was now like
in Kaikoura, Lindel said: Only a
few places have water, but not us,
and water right now is a priority there are five of us, camped out in
the garage and cars, as well as the
two dogs and cat.
The area is accessible by air only.

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Members of the McCormack family at a public meeting in Churchill this week: James, Brid, Maria, Jane and Ultan (at
front). See page 36.