A tragedy of unimaginable proportions played out in one of our schools this week. Twenty children—innocent beyond belief, filled with hope and potential for the future, and loved deeply by many—were gunned down at random in the sacred halls of an institution where they are supposed to feel protected and nurtured. Like any parent, I […]
Photo Credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center via Compfight Millions of people were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy and many are still reeling from the loss. Being a student and practitioner of positive psychology, in times of great trauma and loss, I can’t help but think about what the science has to offer to people […]
“Other people matter. But few of them are mind readers. Let them know that they matter. They might benefit. And you certainly will.” —Chris Peterson Sadly, many of my readers probably first got to know about Chris Peterson when I published some excerpts of his writing a few days after he had passed away. Chris […]
Photo Credit: mark sebastian via Compfight When I moved to New York (over six years ago now) from Southern California, I experienced a significant cultural shift. I was moving from the laid back California beach culture to the hustle and bustle of New York city life. One of the first things that I noticed was […]
One of the most fascinating aspects of my studies in positive psychology has been to see some interesting overlaps and themes between what modern researchers are studying and some of the teachings of ancient eastern philosophies. Mindfulness, for example, which has been a core facet of Zen and Buddhist philosophies for centuries, is increasingly being […]
Photo Credit: JD Hancock via Compfight Economists will tell us that a free market system is the most efficient way to exchange goods (and even wellbeing) within a society. Using the money of markets, we place values on the things that we have and the things that we want, giving people an easy way to […]
Photo Credit: HidingHeart via Compfight The idea that success was based on more than just cognitive intelligence or IQ became popular when Daniel Goleman published his research and book on “Emotional Intelligence.” He showed that there are several other skill sets that are critical for human success and thriving that are not captured by IQ. […]
Photo Credit: Mike Bitzenhofer via Compfight A few months back I wrote an article about “not being afraid of the pain.” I talked about being able to forge ahead even when things will be painful or difficult as the secret to most of my success. The article was well received and I got a good […]
This week and next, children of all ages will be sharpening their pencils (or I guess nowadays this should be “powering up their ipads”) and heading back to school. You can almost hear the groans of agony, as the joy of summer becomes a faded memory and students set aside their personal passions and social […]
“Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.” ― George Carlin Researchers from the University of Switzerland, Fabian Gander, Rene Proyer and Tobias Wyss shared a poster presentation at the last world congress of the International Positive Psychology Association. They noted that while humor as a character strength has been observed to be “robustly […]
