All throughout these months
as the shadows have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.
It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.
This week’s post is by Nir Eyal, a Stanford MBA, author, and entrepreneur who has started and sold several successful companies. He currently focuses on behavior and habit formation.
I found this article more than timely. One interesting part was Jimmy Fallon asking for feedback regarding a policy attributed to Hillary Clinton—when it was actually from Trump.
This works both ways, folks. Time to calm down, get out of our “camps” and get into the light of day.
Babies. They’re such jerks, aren’t they? They wake you up in the middle of the night. They make huge messes for you to clean up. And let’s not forget to mention the inevitable diaper blowouts that happen at all the wrong times. Who do they think they are?
Below is an article from The School of Life… “How to Choose a Good Present.”
The essence of the article? Gifts are important. That thought is ingrained in childhood and isn’t likely to go away. But what does an adult need when it comes to a gift?
Excerpt from article:
Anything our friends are likely to want, they buy for themselves – or we won’t be able to afford to buy it for them. This isn’t to say that (our friends) don’t have any (needs); it’s merely that what they seek from us is largely psychological rather than material in nature.
“I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”
— Mary Oliver
The VIA Institute of Character in Cincinnati, Ohio has suggested a back door path to understanding the power of gratitude. I tried it and found it powerful. Shook me out of wanting to complain about COVID and get back on board for Thanksgiving. Try it!
Virtual hug to you all,
Vicki
How often do you take time to “smell the roses” in your life? This means thinking about all of the people, things and experiences that make you happy and feeling a sense of appreciation for how they impact you. Want to know a great way to do this? Imagine your life without it.
Researchers have studied the effect of “mental subtraction”— mentally taking away a positive event and the results are interesting. One study found people who contemplated what their life would be like without their health, safe neighborhood, support from others, or achievement had higher life satisfaction than those who did not subtract the event. To show the power of subtraction, these people were also happier than others who focused on existing positive events and how these occurred in their life.
These researchers also looked at the impact of mental subtraction on relationships. People who imagined their life as if they’d never met their romantic partner reported an increase in their relationship satisfaction.
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