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David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful
Related:  MotivationPositive Psychology/ Happiness / Resilience / Self Care / Stress

How Facebook’s newest teen engineer supported his family with apps until cashing in There’s nothing that highlights the fact that Silicon Valley is the new Wall Street, gold rush, colonial settlement — insert your American Dream rags-to-riches historical moniker here — quite like the story of 18-year-old Miami resident Michael Sayman. This week, Facebook hired Sayman as one of its youngest full-time engineers in history. He wouldn’t tell me his salary, but admitted his friends are already pressuring him to “buy a Tesla,” which he won’t do because he’d “rather save the money.” Before you go throw up at the idea of a teenager buying himself a Tesla off tech riches, there’s few people who deserve that luxury quite as much as this kid. I met Sayman four months ago, when the then 17-year-old developer caught Mark Zuckerberg’s eye. He had poured the last year of his life into building the game, which was a version of charades. “I’m beating Starbucks, Luminosity, Fitbit, Lyft… oh my gosh, it’s number 123 in the overall app store ratings!”

Reframe Stress The human family has countless extraordinary features that we take for granted. Our modest sensory apparatus, for example, allows us to marvel at sunsets, savor chocolate, delight in sweet-smelling flowers, enjoy music, feel love. Meet one of your everyday superpowers: positive reappraisal. article continues after advertisement Psychologist Judith Moskowitz includes positive reappraisal as one of a set of positive emotion regulation skills for coping with stress. Source: Marianna Pogosyan Here are 12 insights into positive reappraisal from Moskowitz. What is positive reappraisal? To understand reappraisal, you have to understand appraisal. It’s good for your well-being. It’s a skill and a disposition. Learning positive reappraisal. Make it a habit. Model it to kids. Be careful when you are appraising for someone else. Mindfulness as a component of positive reappraisal. Set a low bar. Daily moments add up. Find meaning. Get creative.

Marcher en Pleine Conscience dans la nature (Mindfulness) Marcher est très bon pour l'etre humain. Nos ancetres lointains marchaient souvent 20 km par jour, et dans la nature bien sûr. Donc notre corps et notre cerveau se sont formés au fil des millénaires à partir de cette activité principale. Des études ont montré que le simple fait de marcher 20 minutes modifie à tout age l'activité du cerveau et amène de l'équilibre dans les neurotransmetteurs, dont la fameuse dopamine, comme le montre le schema ci-dessous : Nos nouvelles habitudes de vie trés sédentaitres et cérébrales necessitent encore plus que nous revenions souvent à ce mouvement de base qu'est la marche. Les plus sportifs pourront adopter une marche rapide en ville ou une marche en montagne, mais il existe aussi la notion de marche méditative de type pleine conscience (mindfulness) à la portée de tous, tout aussi efficace, et qui demande simplement un effort d'attention, surtout dans sa phase d'apprentissage. Voici une proposition pour l'apprentissage de la marche méditative :

5 Reasons To Write A Letter To Your Future Self | This Is QuarterLife In March, I turned twenty-five years old, and on that most dreaded day I received a letter from my twelve year-old-self. At twelve, I distinctly remember listening to Britney Spears’ “Ooops I did it Again,” consuming Fruit by the Foot, surviving Y2K, and wearing checkered school jumpers that came down to my knees. It was that magical time right before pimples started growing uncontrollably and watching Saturday morning cartoons was still acceptable. Oh how much has changed since those simple times. Reading my letter evoked a lot of emotions in the span of two minutes. It was hilarious that I questioned my own ability to achieve higher education, or better yet, to even have higher education as my main concern at the age of twelve. Aside from the obvious hilarity that comes out of a twelve year-olds mind, it amazed me how much my twelve year old self seemed to know about life. 1) It reminds you of who you once were 2) Writing a letter helps you reflect

10 Ways to Be More Mindful at Work Mindfulness may seem like a great idea, but how do you become more mindful in the context of a busy work day? You may have emails, phone calls, meetings, and presentations to deal with. And, of course, your own work! In the middle of all that, how can you apply the principles of mindfulness so that you feel more alive and present, as well as being productive? 1. Mindfulness is, above all, about being aware and awake rather than operating unconsciously. Here are some ideas to help you stop being mindless and unconscious at work and more mindful and consciously present: Make a clear decision at the start of your workday to be present as best you can. 2. Mindful exercises train your brain to be more mindful. 3. Single-tasking is doing one thing at a time. Here are a few ways to kick the multi-tasking habit and become a mindfulness superhero: Keep a time journal of what you achieve in a block of time. 4. The word “mindful” means to remember. 5. Clearly, rest can increase efficiency. 6. 7.

Your Words Matter Your Words Matter. I had a teacher who once told me I would most likely be a college dropout. Her words mattered. When I told my wife I wanted to write a book and she said without blinking an eye, “Do it.” I told my daughter the other day how proud I was of her for writing a full sentence! My words mattered. And when I hear back from the teachers and parents that read this blog, I know my words matter. “Learning how to use language effectively will be the most valuable skill you will have to use for the rest of your life.” Woah. Want to get a job? Want to get married? Want to sell something? What Are We Teaching Our Children About Their Words? The problem I see across the board in schools and in the workplace, is that most people rarely think about the power their words have to make a positive impact. DON’T use your words to bully another person (important). or DON’T use contractions (not that important). Your Words Matter To matter means to be of consequence or importance to others.

134 Activities to Add to Your Self-Care Plan At its most basic definition, self-care is any intentional action taken to meet an individual’s physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional needs. In short, it’s all the little ways we take care of ourselves to avoid a breakdown in those respective areas of health. You may find that, at certain points, the world and the people in it place greater demands on your time, energy, and emotions than you might feel able to handle. GoodTherapy.org’s own business and administrative, web development, outreach and advertising, editorial and education, and support teams have compiled a massive list of some of their own personal self-care activities to offer some help for those struggling to come up with their own maintenance plan. The Web Development Team Our web development team made up of programmers, web developers, designers, and SEO professionals is all about optimizing the user experience. The Support Team The Editorial and Education Team The Outreach and Advertising Team Pilates!

What it’s like to grow old, in different parts of the world At TED2013, Jared Diamond shares some of his research on how different societies treat the elderly. Photo: James Duncan Davidson The world’s population is getting older. Across the globe, people are living longer thanks to improvements in healthcare, nutrition and technology. This population shift brings with it incredible possibilities, but also a new set of challenges. Jared Diamond: How societies can grow old better In today’s talk, Jared Diamond examines the vast differences in how societies across the globe view and treat their senior citizens. The Western system for elder care is far from perfect, notes Diamond, and everyone stands to learn something from how different societies care for their seniors. Who is considered old? As Diamond mentions in his talk, the perceived value of the elderly is an important factor in determining whether seniors are respected or not. Where do the elderly live? What words describe the elderly? What special foods can the elderly eat?

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