I woke up this morning to grey skies. My first thought was "Uh, a grey day!" It came to me that perhaps I would be best served when I wake up in the morning to find just one good thing about the day... that the rain had stopped, that I had the leisure of taking a morning walk... So many things to be grateful for!
While people tend to contribute more to a virtual public good if they see others doing the same, this effect reverses if they become aware too many people are participating, according to research that I conducted over the summer.
Appreciation is most powerful when it ceases to be something that you do only occasionally, and instead becomes your basic approach to life. You must first be willing to overcome certain resistances to appreciating...
Several days ago we attended the Cultural Awareness Program at Mt. Madonna School where our grandson is in first grade. His grade of ten adorable students reenacted a Buddhist story from Cambodia. In this story a single mother has three grown sons. She is very concerned that her sons do not help her or anyone else, and care only about money...
In a world immersed in urgency, with alarm bells ringing left and right and dire predictions for our future, how dare I come up with a banner marked, “Yes, so many good things are happening”? Simply because how we
As you set your New Year’s resolutions for 2021, consider a resolution to help others, says an expert on motivation.
Giving is good for you. For years, researchers have been finding that people who support charities or volunteer for causes can benefit from being generous.
The most difficult act of bravery is often kindness. There are a hundred reasons not to help a stranger passed out in a parking lot. It’s potentially dangerous. The person might be “crazy,” have a communicable disease, or smell. The situation isn’t our problem, we’re busy and don’t have time, and so on.
The less we know about what is expected of us in a given situation, the more likely we are to act selfishly, researchers report.
For me, being of service means working on behalf of and thus taking a stand for a cause or causes that we believe in and which are dear to our hearts, and where we feel we can make some kind of positive contribution towards a healthier world.
Vietnam was a clear success story of the COVID-19 pandemic by May 2020, recording very low infection rates and being widely praised for locking down early to prevent serious outbreaks. But on July 25, the virus mysteriously resurfaced after 99 days of no infections.
I know you're carrying a lot right now. In your life, in your mind, inside your emotional body, too. The load is heavy. I just want you to know, I feel you. Today, I want to send you some tender love. It won't solve everything, but it might lighten the load for just a moment or two.
Every day, everyone we meet can be assisted by simply our changing our attitude and our focus. We can all change the world today. On passing people in the street, on the bus, in places of work and play, bless them...
There are many virtues appropriate to our present circumstances that are extolled in the wisdom of Sanskrit: Abhayam (अभयम्) fearlessness; Balam (बलम्) strength; Buddhi (बुद्धि) reason, Kshamā (क्षमा) patience and forbearance, and so on.
The offering of food and material goods to monks is an essential part of the daily practice of Buddhism in Thailand. The belief is that through the act of giving, lay Buddhists – followers of the faith who have not been ordained – receive, or make, merit.
Our five senses, our fantastic curiosity, our exhilarating emotional capacity are just a few of our avenues to gladness. Even when headlines clamor, or life deals tough challenges, we can find numberless reasons to feel grateful and hopeful.
During this pandemic, so much has been taken from us. Everyone is missing something important for them. For us, the fact that we cannot do our workshops, work that we have done for the past 45 years and we dearly love, causes hurt to our hearts.
Low-wage service workers increasingly are facing new physical and emotional hazards in the workplace as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to interviews with workers we conducted in April.
A few years ago, I discovered with wonder a new form of magic: expressing appreciation to others for something they had done. And modern life offers us a thousand different opportunities to manifest that magic.
We have all suffered, and will suffer, our own falls. The fall from youthful ideals, the waning of physical strength, the failure of a cherished hope, the loss of our near and dear, the fall into injury or sickness, and late or soon, the fall to our certain ends. We have no choice but to fall, and little say as to the time or the means.
After asking more than 3,000 students about kindness, I’ve learned a lot about just how children and adolescents understand and enact kindness, especially at school. The results might surprise parents and educators.
And in this period of sheltering at home, 33 years ago, this is the most important lesson I learned. The practice of gratitude is powerful and can bring us through even the hardest times.
Like millions of people across Europe, I had. My London street had come alive – despite lockdown – with people cheering from their doorsteps or pavements, and children’s faces appearing at open bedroom windows.
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