The Christian Science Monitor recently ran an essay on the value of puttering.
The thrust of the article was that we don’t putter much anymore. We spend too much time “getting things done.”
Accomplishment is great, but what if we all just stayed at home this Saturday and puttered?
I hear people talk about “avoiding stress,” and I wonder if they know what they really mean by that. I think what they mean is that they want to cut down on the negative stressors and the negative energy in their lives, increase the positive energy, and live a calmer, more peaceful life.
But what they want is not to “avoid stress.” What they want, really, is to react less to negative stressors and have a more positive response to their lives. The want to experience no distress.
Avoiding stress is not a practical solution, really, because stress is not something that is.
If you’re used to thinking in straight lines (linear thinking), as in having your thoughts and mind go from point A to point B, you may get frustrated when you try to think “in curves,” or think “fuzzy” and expand your thoughts to cover areas that don’t really fit. If you do, you’ve engaged in what’s commonly known as thinking inside the box.
Or maybe you’re a lateral thinker. If you are, the thought process you engage in is one whereby you endeavor to resolve dilemmas by using unconventional methods to generate unique concepts, perceptions, and ideas. You’d then be engaging in outside-of-the-box thinking.
A different approach to this is to try thinking diagonally.
I’d like to share with you a photo of my family. It was taken this past June by an excellent photographer by the name of Jim Schoonover at Carroll Studios.
my-family-june-2007.jpg
Clockwise from the left you’ll see my son Andrew, my daughter Adrienne, my wife Vicki, me, and our two black Labradors Kobe and Bear.
To me, it’s a work of art – digital art. Not only was the picture taken on a digital camera, but it was also enhanced and altered on a computer. In the truest sense of the word, this photograph is an original creation.
In a recent discussion on this blog, we explored the concept of SWB or Subjective Well Being – your current evaluation of your unhappiness in
by David Bohl A lot has been written about both pleasure and fulfillment, and often the terms are used almost interchangeably. I see them as
If you’re awake and aware in the modern world, you’re probably trying to change your life and your circumstances. That’s a luxury we have in our society. We have time to try to change ourselves as people, because we’re not spending all our time just trying to have enough food to get through the day.
With that luxury of the ability to change our lives comes a responsibility to try to be the best person you can be. I do believe that trying to improve ourselves is a responsibility, and that each of us has a duty to try to become our best.
by David B. Bohl You’ve probably heard the term “life balance”, and maybe you’ve had a nagging feeling about it… like that maybe it applies
Can the achievement of happiness be predicted in any meaningful sense? Simply put, yes it can. If you have close (safe, nurturing, comforting) personal relationships and fulfilling work to do, and you know yourself and what you are about, you can predict that you will have enough good things in your life to bring you lasting happiness. No life is without conflict, pain or even moments of fear, but overall happiness counter-balances all the trials and challenges life hands you. If you have those things working in your life that generate a bone-deep level of happiness you have an automatic cushion against getting bounced on your ear by the unexpected.
We often hear people say, “Don’t settle for second best.” But if we really look at our lives, I bet a lot of what we have around us is second best.
There are a lot of reasons we settle, and sometimes they’re good reasons, at least temporarily. The problem comes when we forget that this settling was temporary, and that we had something big planned for the future. We get stuck in our settlement, and can’t find our way out.
Impossible to define, yet something that each and every one of us experiences, gut feelings are unique, personal experiences that we’ve been taught to be very wary of, especially in this day and age of instant, easily-accessible information.
But what exactly comprises a gut feeling?
Ok … you have all your productivity tools in place. You have a rock-solid time management system. You have a seemingly-workable plan. But something isn’t quite right. You feel that, now, more than ever, you’re being stretched beyond your limits.
Maybe what’s missing isn’t all the tools and techniques. Maybe it’s your strategy.
by David B. Bohl Let’s say you eat out at your favorite Chinese restaurant every Friday night. You have cashew chicken every Friday. Your spouse
Are you planning one of those low-key, kick-back-and-relax weekends filled with quality instead of quantity? Here are some reads for your Good-Slow weekend:
When it comes to happiness – or enthusiasm, or friendliness – are Midwesterners different?
With the Labor Day Holiday approaching, we all think about a weekend of leisure, whether that means a slow-paced Friday through Monday of solitude and barbecues, or an action-packed one of friends, parties, and go-go-go!
What Labor Day means on the calendar, however, is that summer vacations are over, people are back in the office, and it’s time to get things accomplished.
As you contemplate the number of hours you’ll be spending on your work in the months ahead, do you dread the thought? Will you have a mountain of work to do, yet still take on more with a smile (maybe forced) on your face? Will people be pulling you in every direction?
I am reminded by the folks over at Freakonomics (thanks Melissa Lafsky) that today is World Sauntering Day.
Yes, it’s one of those freaky (no pun intended) American holidays that originated in the 1970s when W.T. Rabe, a one-time publicist in Detroit, a director of public relations at Lake Superior State University, and manager of a hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan, created a publicity stunt to encourage visitors and resident of tthe island to saunter, and to enjoy the beauty around them. If you’ve ever been to Mackinac Island, you can see why Rabe’s campaign was so successful.
Positive Psychology is the most popular class at Harvard University, having enrolled 855 students last semester.
Are you astounded?
What attracts so many students to study happiness?
Is such a class really needed in today’s world?
