My Best Self 101 Blog
I remember being more excited to go to school on Fridays than any other day of the week. In elementary school, I followed a very conventional schedule: I went to school from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Fridays were, of course, special. I think most people in the world have a soft spot for Fridays because they signal the start of the weekend—a glorious and triumphant day marking the end of a workweek. But that wasn’t my reason for loving Fridays.
Something I have been thinking about lately is empathy. Empathy seems to be one of those words that has various definitions, and depending on who is talking about it, a different take on what it looks like to be empathetic. I decided to investigate and see what some of the people who spent time studying empathy had to say. I wanted to know how empathy can be expressed and utilized for good and if there are ways to increase the ability to extend empathy to those around us, especially those who are different from us.
Have you ever had those days when everything seems to go wrong? The kind of day when you spill breakfast on your perfectly planned outfit of the day; when you tell a joke in a group of people and nobody seems to get it; or when you are walking down the street and you trip and fall in front of a crowd of random strangers, wishing the earth could just swallow you whole? Chances are, most people have experienced something like this at least once if not multiple times in their lives. While these moments can feel like the worst personal disaster at the time, a slight change in perspective can turn them into hilarious stories you later laugh about with friends.
One of my favorite family traditions that I had growing up was camping around Christmas time! We would go up into the mountains and spend a few days hiking around in the snow and playing card games as a family. It felt so cozy to be surrounded by the tall evergreen trees and the snow covered mountains. My favorite part about our trips was at night. There was this dock close by that was used in the summer. It afforded a nice view of the wide river that connected all the mountains. At night, it was the perfect stargazing spot. Looking up you could watch the night sky spin.
Many of us think of prayer as a way to communicate with a higher power, God, nature, etc… We rarely think of prayer as a researched practice to enhance mental and physical health benefits. Regardless of the beliefs of each reader, prayer proves to be a powerful principle of positive psychology and puts forth results for millions of people around the world.
As spring has begun, the weather has been pleasant enough to leave my window cracked open. Nature’s morning alarm, the sounds of birds outside my apartment, gently makes its wake-up call, setting me up for a more mindful morning. It is an immediate reminder when I wake that I am connected to the world around me. The birdsong helps me to not be so caught up in my own busy schedule—rather be prepared to notice and enjoy what’s around me.
Inside the Accademia Gallery of Florence in Italy my husband and I shuffled shoulder to shoulder like cattle moving our way toward our goal. We had gotten tickets months in advance and were among the thousands of tourists each day wanting to see it with our own eyes. We turned the corner and there, over the heads of the herd at the end of a wide corridor lined with other sculptures by the great Michealangelo, I saw it. Considering the number of people, it was almost eerie how quiet it became the closer we got to the masterpiece. David commanded an awe and reverence as we took him in. He really is elegant. I’ll never forget how I felt seeing the famed David my art teachers had raved about.
You’ve probably heard the usual advice: meditate, exercise, journal. These staples work—but they aren’t the only routes to a healthier mind. Mental health is personal. And sometimes, what really helps isn’t a silent room and a breathing app, but a splash of cold water, a virtual forest, or a bench in the sun. If your usual routines aren’t cutting through the fog, here are six creative, research-backed ways to refresh your mind and stabilize your mood, with no yoga mat required.
At age forty-nine, I have attended hundreds of bridal showers and wedding luncheons. When the time to “give advice” rolls around, two bits of advice surface nearly every time.
The first is, “Never go to bed angry.” Personally, I disagree with the word never in this statement—sometimes a good sleep, a little distance, and perhaps a hot meal can do wonders for a difficult issue—but that topic is for another blog post.
Well, for centuries, a connection to the divine has oriented people towards how to live a good life. Many would argue that the spiritual principles taught by the different world religions have temporal importance in their ability to influence happiness and bring a sense of abundance to life. A reflection on those quotes shows that, even objectively, they give great advice on how to live! Even while not all individuals are affiliated with a particular religion, it has been increasingly common for people to seek a connection to something greater than themselves. This connection to something transcendent can have an incredible impact on our ability to live optimistically, mindfully, and abundantly. I’ve seen this in my own life, and I think if you took a moment to contemplate, you’d see it in yours too.
