A colleague at my former workplace once took a long sick leave due to severe health problems caused by stress.

Another colleague confessed to me a couple of days later how ashamed she felt. They talked just the day before and she could not recognise that person might have needed support.

I also spent a day in training with that colleague just a couple of weeks earlier. She seemed like the most cheerful and confident person. I really could not sense she was going through the hard times.

Reading someone’s soul is a magical skill.

Some people seem week and are willing to verbalise it, but they can turn out to be surprisingly resistant to all the storms in their lives.

Others look calm and tough, but you never know what fire can be burning them down from the inside. Their “I am fine” does not always mean they are.

I wish I had this magical skill.