The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. ~ Khalil Gibran Joy is such an interesting emotion. On the feelings wheel it is situated between ecstasy and serenity – bordered by optimism and love. Ironically, it has very little in common with happiness but is indelibly intertwined with sorrow…
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. ~ T. Edison Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you anywhere. ~ A. Einstein Have you ever wondered how Edison came up with all those inventions – how Einstein conceived the theory of relativity? They did it using…
Ready for part two? Before we get to our Top 10 list of things that DO increase our levels of happiness, we need to ensure we’re all defining the term the same way. Psychologically speaking, happiness is a deep & lasting sense of satisfaction or contentment – not joy, exhilaration, or pleasure (the latter are…
The United States ranks 15th of 146 countries on the 2023 World Happiness Report (a somewhat flawed but interesting survey designed by Gallup and the U.N) – in the last ten years our highest ranking was 14th and lowest was 19th. Researching happiness is a huge empire but here are two things to consider: 1.…
Grit is an old-fashioned word we don’t use much anymore. Back in the day, if we referred to someone as “gritty” it meant they had moxie or were plucky – but those words aren’t popular anymore either. Angela Duckworth’s 2018 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance defines grit as ‘ferocious determination’; the powerful…
We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it. ~ C. S. Lewis Once, a long time ago, I hated someone. She did me wrong and I despised her for it, simple as that. After the event, every day, I woke up and went to bed with ugly thoughts…
In my life I’ve known four pedophiles; I could not have asked for better teachers to show me how to genuinely develop, deepen and then display empathy (especially to those who are different from me). Not that the process happened quite this neatly or linearly…but it went something like this: To develop empathy, I first…
Albert Ellis was a colorful, quick witted, and socially awkward psychologist who thought a lot about disappointment – as he had quite a bit in his life. He famously stated that people “unnecessarily upset themselves” because they make faulty assumptions and have unrealistic expectations of the world around them. His answer to disappointment was to…
Let me guess what your picturing… calm as a tranquil lake, a soothing sunset, a still forest, a relaxing daybreak etc. Webster defines calm as (1) a period free from storms (2) the complete absence of disturbance (3) free from agitation. But what if this is wrong? True calm is not peace – not even…
There’s much to be said about (1) knowing (2) setting (3) communicating and (4) maintaining boundaries. If you want to learn more check out one (or more) of these resources: Cloud & Townsend’s seminal work: Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life (it was first published in…