Hurray for Friday! This has been a busy and happy week for
me—how about you? Just in time for the weekend, here are a few links I’ve loved
lately:
Do you listen to podcasts? I rarely do, but would like to do
so more often. Action for Happiness has some that look good. (What are your
favorite podcasts? Suggestions welcomed.)
This post (and this one) would have been perfect last year,
when my word of the year was “deeper”. They’re still really great reads for
those of us who want to live with depth and intention. Some tidbits: “What a
discovery it is, to suddenly see the wealth buried in your own house, or even
lining its walls.”
and
“Do we need more and better possessions, relationships,
homes, hobbies, skills, and opportunities, or do we simply need turn our
efforts towards cultivating our land, rather than prospecting for more and
better places to dig?”
If you want to be happier, think like an old person! According
to this New York Times article, “When the elders described their lives,
they focused not on their declining abilities but on things that they could
still do and that they found rewarding.” The author of the article, John
Leland, wrote a book about his experiences with six New Yorkers over the age of
85. Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old
was published this week.
Stop by the Good News Network when you’re fed up with bad
(or “fake”) news. This was one of my favorite stories, and so was this one.
Some good advice in “This Is What ‘Self-Care’ Really Means, Because It’s Not All Salt Baths and Chocolate Cake,” including: “If you find
yourself having to regularly indulge in consumer self-care, it’s because you
are disconnected from actual self-care, which has very little to do with
‘treating yourself’ and a whole lot do with parenting yourself and making
choices for your long-term wellness.”
I found this article about headwinds and tailwinds
thought-provoking. As the article points out, we tend to remember the struggles
we’ve had (headwinds) more than the advantages we’ve been given (tailwinds).
How can we help provide tailwinds for more people?
I think Tank would be willing to give Prudy a ride, but I
don’t think Prudy would be as happy as this cat is: