Devon Hase states, 'People are trying desperately to fix, optimize, or escape their way out of relationship difficulty - and suffering more for the effort. Social media has made this worse! We're surrounded by images of perfect partnerships while quietly drowning in our own ordinary struggles.' This highlights the pressure couples feel in the age of social media.
People at peace with aging don't stop exploring. They take up watercolor painting at fifty-five. They join book clubs discussing genres they've never read. They learn new technologies instead of complaining about them. This isn't about proving anything to anyone. It's about maintaining that sense of wonder that keeps life interesting. When you're genuinely engaged with learning something new, you spend less time lamenting what used to be.
You're allowed to enjoy nice things. Both elements—the nice things and being allowed them—were equally important. She was a fervent believer in the restorative power of a treat, taking herself out for solo breakfasts most weeks (a bacon muffin and a cup of coffee in the cosseted calm of Bettys Tea Rooms), ordering chips at the slightest provocation, staying in chic hotels she had a pre-internet gift for ferreting out and being coaxed by department store salesladies into buying expensive unguents.
The shoulds are a type of cognitive distortion (unhelpful thinking habit) that can lead to judgment. You may judge others, for example, 'They shouldn't act that way,' and yourself. In this post, we will focus on the shoulds you direct at yourself, though the strategies may be helpful for all cognitive distortions.
When asked to rate high-performing candidates and average candidates, study participants preferred the high performers. No surprise there. But the highest-rated candidates of all were the high performers who had also just spilled coffee all over themselves before walking in the door. In other words, we want you to be able to do your job, but we don't mind if you're kind of a mess. In fact, we prefer it! You're relatable.
We all know that once you get a taste for certain things in life, it's tough to go back. Redditor Phase_zero_X asked, "What is a luxury you can never go back from once you've experienced it?" Here's what people said. 1. "A comfortable bed. My husband and I really splurged on our most recent mattress, and I mean really splurged, but gosh darn it, it feels good to lie down."
In the interview, Tweedy dropped a line that's been echoing in my head, "Do not postpone happiness." This is so deceptively simple yet psychologically sharp, and it rings true to how I try to live my life. Most of us don't mean to delay joy. We tell ourselves we're being responsible: After this deadline...after the kids are older...After I lose the weight...After I finally feel less anxious...then I'll really live.
No reputable financial advisor would suggest risking your entire life savings on a single stock-like the old saying, Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Still, many people who might follow this financial advice often ignore it when it comes to their daily lives: their self-esteem may depend on whether they get promoted to VP at work, or their success as a parent is tied to their child getting into an Ivy League college or making the varsity football team;
There is a particular form of blindness that afflicts the fortunate-a blindness to the quiet miracles of ordinary existence. We walk through our days surrounded by what a patient once called "unexperienced happiness," moving through gifts we no longer recognize as gifts, breathing blessings we've forgotten are blessings. It often takes a brush with loss to restore our sight. This is a meditation that can perhaps grant us more mindfulness than hundreds of seminars. It's about the obvious that we sometimes simply no longer see.
Some people may think that getting rich and owning a large house, several cars, and luxury clothes is the key to a happy life. Others would say that living a life full of adventures and traveling the world to see beautiful places and experience exciting activities is the key to happiness. Another way to find happiness in life could also be having a stable relationship and a cozy little home, shielded from the stressors of the modern world.
Twice a month, I go to my eye doctor for injections that slow the loss of my vision. The waiting room is always filled with quiet tension-fearful eyes, deep breaths, people trying not to crumble. I sit and breathe, waiting for my name to be called. And every time, without fail, there is a woman-maybe in her late fifties or early sixties-who enters already furious. Before she even sits down, she's fighting with the receptionist.
When I visited flourishing groups, I noticed that being with them felt different. They possessed a vibrancy, a switched-on responsiveness that showed up in their bodies. Their posture, in general, was relaxed; their heads were up and their interactions were fluid. Aliveness was the word I kept writing in my notebook: a feeling of being carried along in a river of energy that was headed somewhere good.