You read that correctly. There’s no denying, having work-life balance can be important to happiness and well-being. But I’ve never liked the term “work-life balance” or the things that phrase implies. It makes it sound like we only live when we are not working. And that work is not an integral part of our existence, […]
Moods are subjective things, hard to describe. But we all know what we’re talking about. And we certainly understand the term “mood swings”, too. Up one minute, down the next. Even though moods are hard to describe, we can usually relate when others name the state of mind they are in. We understand what someone […]
Some say the best way to avoid disappointment is to never expect anything good to happen. But a huge part of what makes life joyful is imagining that the future may hold. What may be more helpful advice is to focus on learning how to deal with disappointment in a way that minimizes discouragement. If, […]
Many strategies to boost happiness encourage us to “let go”. The message is often that we should let go of negative emotions like anger, resentment, pain and hurt. But letting go of any feeling is challenging for most of us. We often have a particularly hard time when we try to let go of the […]
Back in high school science, we were presented with a kind of riddle. We were given a range of materials to use and were asked to attempt to fill a jar to its absolute fullest potential. The gist of the assignment was, given the materials we had, which included rocks, pebbles, sand and water, how […]
Each day, we make choices. Many seem insignificant: what to eat, what to wear, where to shop. But consistently making choices that help us feel fulfilled can ultimately change the quality of our lives. Just choosing to do things that bring us joy. And choosing not to do things that don’t. Or deciding to do […]
We have talked before about how doing new things helps boost happiness. Those with an innate sense of curiosity are usually those most likely to try new things. It’s interesting that curiosity leads us to explore things that are unknown to us. Not only does curiosity prompt us to venture into uncharted waters; in some […]
I’ve studied wellness and have read oodles of psychology, motivational and self-help books. I’ve experimented with well-being and wellness tactics and strategies and explored various approaches with colleagues and friends. Based on what I’ve learned, I’ve come up with a recipe that I call the “Secret Sauce” for well-being. It includes 7 basic ingredients we […]
Life is so busy. We all have responsibilities such as family and work that must be attended to and require the majority of our time and attention. To offset this busyness and resulting stress, many of us are constantly seeking strategies and secrets about how to be calmer. Any ideas are worth considering, just to […]
Scientists say we enter a state of “flow” when we are fully absorbed in something we’re doing. Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi , a positive psychologist first came up with the term flow in the 1970s. His definition: “the mental state where we are so immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the […]
What possesses a healthy person to anonymously donate a kidney to a stranger? They will not be paid or rewarded. There will be no publicity. No public or even private praise. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Yet people do things like this. All the time. It would be amazing if these acts of generosity happened more […]
The world needs more happy people. Hard to argue with that, isn’t it? Just listen to the news or look around in traffic or at the store to appreciate how true it is. It seems like it should be simple. But it’s easy to be confused when we think about happiness. So, let’s talk about […]
It troubles us when we think we have done someone harm. We feel the need to apologize for our actions or behavior. It preoccupies us and we may even obsess over it. What to say, how to say it, how to make up for our wrongdoing. As common as it is to feel this way, […]
Self-compassion is the term used for being compassionate to ourselves. When we practice self-compassion, we extend the same tolerance and kindness to ourselves as we do to others. For example, we withhold judgment and criticism of ourselves when we make a mistake or notice something about ourselves we don’t like. We treat ourselves with the […]
On a beautiful Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I was wandering around a farmer’s market. I saw a booth about a Chinese Symphony. Since I had never heard of a Chinese Symphony, I had to go find out more. I met a man who told me all kinds of interesting things about the history […]
Not many years ago, the pace of change was somewhat fairly modest. We usually had time to acclimate to new ways of thinking and new ways to do things. But those days are gone. Something can now be invented, trend on Twitter and sweep the globe in minutes. Improvements to technology and apps, and even […]
