A misty morning by the lake awakens thoughts about stillness, rhythm and ethics and morality in everyday life. In the cold clarity of the water, body and mind wake up together, reaching for balance.
Read this post in Swedish ->En ny morgon – om etik och moral i vardagen
Just like in nature, we grow best when balance, respect and cooperation are allowed to exist side by side.
Morning Swim, Coffee Aroma and Ethics and Morality in Everyday Life
It was another beautiful morning.
The night had been restless – tossing and turning, warm, cold, warm again.
But now it was morning, a new day to take care of. The coffee beside me smelled rich and aromatic. My grandmother’s lamps were lit, spreading their soft glow across the dark dawn.
Before 7:50 I was already by the lake.
On the way there, mist hung thick, and the world felt almost enchanted. A woodpecker climbed a tree while small birds fluttered around its trunk mirrored in the still water.
The morning lay quiet and misty over the lake in Högsäter. Here, surrounded by silence and birds, the day began with a cold and invigorating swim – a moment of stillness and reflection on ethics and morality in everyday life.
The water held just over ten degrees, and therefore the chill awakened every part of me. I floated for a while, breathing in the silence. Leaves from the tree at the water’s edge drifted like small islands on the surface – the whole morning felt like a painting, still and almost unreal.
New Swim Cap and the Steps Home – Ethics and Morality in Everyday Life
Today I also wore my new swim cap, the one that says “Vinterbadarna i Högsäter – Keep Up.”
I smiled as I put it on, because it felt like a promise to myself – to keep going, to hold on, even when it’s cold.
The new swim cap – Vinterbadarna i Högsäter, Keep Up – became a small joy of the day.
A reminder to keep going, even when the cold bites.
However, sometimes that’s what ethics and morality in everyday life really means – to continue in love, even through resistance.
When I stepped out of the water, wrapped myself in my robe and drove home, breakfast was waiting.
My cottage-cheese bread with orange and raisins filled the air with pure joy. In the oven, a new tray of homemade muesli was roasting, and the day ahead would hold reading – a little mindfulness, personal growth, and conversation methodology.
That will be enough for today.
After the swim came warmth. The scent of oranges, raisins and freshly roasted muesli filled the kitchen – a reminder of simple joy and ethics and morality in everyday life.
Thoughts on Ethics and Morality in Everyday Life
Yesterday morning I spent time reading my study notes, reflecting on what truly matters in the subjects of ethics and grief.
Ethics is a topic I’ve always loved deeply. Over the years, I’ve seen what happens when people act without it.
So much goes wrong when ethical thinking is missing from how we treat one another.
It’s an important topic, one that needs to be discussed in workplaces and in society at large.
We need more ethics and morality in everyday life – among politicians, healthcare workers, municipalities and schools.
Everywhere people meet, there must be understanding, dignity and respect.
We all need to keep working on this, especially those of us in helping professions.
Our ethical compass should guide us to reflect on what we did, what worked well, and what could have been better.
The person we meet often wants to do right but can’t – not yet.
If the encounter becomes tense or difficult, we must still meet them with respect and remind ourselves:
They want to, but they can’t. Not yet.
When we hold that understanding, it becomes possible to meet – even in the storm.
I’ve met many people who have been in that place of helplessness, unable to act in the moment.
It’s not easy, still, when the compass is set right, there are always paths to take.
When the Child Is Caught in Between – Ethics, Morality and Alienation
Lately I’ve been reading a lot about parental alienation.
It appears everywhere – in articles, discussions and social media.
The situation where a child is pulled away from one parent, and what that does to their heart.
It’s clear to me that a parent who turns a child against the other does the child a deep disservice.
Their actions tell the child, silently:
You’re only good enough if you think like me.
But there’s another side, too.
Sometimes it isn’t about the will to harm, but about fear, pain or anger.
A parent who feels betrayed or afraid of losing their child might draw them too close – and in doing so, pull them away from another part of themselves.
Because the child is made of both parents.
Research shows that children in such situations often feel confusion, sadness, guilt and shame.
They love both parents but are forced to choose, often without understanding why.
They learn early that some feelings can’t be shown, that certain memories should be hidden, and that loyalty comes with a price.
Inside grows a quiet grief – over what’s no longer shared.
As adults, many describe a sense of never being enough.
Love became conditional:
You’re good only if you choose the right side.
But there is hope.
Because as much as a child carries pain, they also carry the strength to heal, given support, safety and understanding.
A child is never broken – only wounded. And wounds can heal.
Read more about Parental Alienation – Psychological Impact on Children.
Distance and Quiet Hope
Sometimes I think it’s not about will or malice at all, but rather about fear.
the fear of conflict, of losing peace, of stirring things up.
Perhaps that’s why some choose distance: to protect stillness, not to cause harm.
I try to remember that silence doesn’t always mean rejection.
Sometimes it’s simply a way of finding calm.
Yet even silence carries weight – it holds words that were never said.
I don’t know what the road ahead looks like,
but I do know that love doesn’t disappear just because we can’t meet.
It remains, like a soft breath in the air – waiting, quiet, without demand.
And perhaps, one day, it will find its way back again.
Ethics in the Small and the Great
In the end, all of this is really about ethics and morality in everyday life, just in different forms.
When we talk about alienation, or about the distance between people,
what we’re really talking about is how we meet each other as human beings.
Ethics doesn’t just belong in workplaces or institutions.
It lives in our daily lives, in our relationships,
in how we speak about one another, and in what we let our children hear.
To meet another person with dignity, respect and understanding – that is the essence of ethics.
To see that even those who have hurt us might carry something we cannot see.
To remain in what is true and good, even when it hurts.
For me, this has become clear: ethics isn’t just something I study.
It’s something I try to live – in every meeting, in every thought.
That’s where the path begins, in work and in life.
Reflection on Ethics and Morality in Everyday Life
Ethics. Morality. Humanity.
Three words that may sound big, yet at their heart, they mean simply seeing each other with kindness.
Therefore, before we judge, we pause. Before we reply, we listen.
And remembering – we never truly know what another person carries inside.
If you’d like to read more about gratitude and everyday ethics, visit
Positive Psychology in Everyday Life. in the post it is a link to English.
Yesterday has already rested in history. Tomorrow waits a little further ahead.
But right now – this is where life happens.
– Carina Ikonen Nilsson
