So Covid is taking a toll on our lives, but also our mental health. Is Happy even a thing anymore?
Grief and bad news can keep us busy for a lifetime. If/then paradoxes, ‘If only…XY-name-your-thing, then I’ll be happy,’ keep us in constant discontent.
On a Universe nudge I watched this Ted Talk again (for thr umpteenth time). It’s already nine years old, but now more than ever we could use the brain-bending, culture-flipping, ridiculous wisdom it offers.
“It’s not the reality that shapes us, but the lens in which your brain views the world that shapes your reality.”
Shawn Achor, former student atHogwartsHarvard
The first minute alone is a game changer (and you’ll understand the title).
Shawn’s little sis Amy just fell out of the bunkbed during playtime. They were charged with playing safely, especially since Amy was recovering from a broken arm.
Shawn: “I pushed her out of the way of an imaginary sniper bullet. She didn’t even see it coming.”
Amy was about to surrender to the pain and shock of the fall, but after hearing her brother, like a wizard, she starts to shift mental and physical resources to experience the wonderment of her new identity.
Taps can be hacked.
You may not catch the life-changing 12 minutes (combine with shower, cooking, squats..?) so I’ll try to sum here.
This place looks like Hogwarts! What does a Harvard student possibly have to be unhappy about??
Shawn’s Friends trying to figure out wtheck he’s researching
Shawn noticed that students focused on the stresses, competition and pressures of Harvard where doing worse than the happier students.
We may think stressed students are stressed because they were doing poorly, but research is proving Happiness helps fuel success, not the other way around.
If I know your external circumstances, I can only predict 10% of your happiness.
Shawn Achor
It’s easy to let our hearts be swept up in the turmoil and uncertainty of the world.
I’m not saying laugh it all up… far from it! Now more than ever we need to activate our hearts and be strong for challenges. And more Light has always been the only thing that could dispel dark.
But I am saying, and know from experience, part of our greatest and maybe most untapped power is in our Happiness.
Your brain at Positive performs significantly better than negative, neutral or stressed. Intelligence, creativity, and energy levels rise.
Shawn Achor, Science/Joy Spreader
What a good time to start flipping some wires in our head. What’s the worst that could happen? We enjoy ourselves?
<3 Jasmine
How are you helping your Happy? Share your tips in a comment below, or connect. <3
Shawn drops science-coated cake balls in that delightful/dang important Ted Talk. Do try to treat yourself. (I went and bought his book too.)
Related Posts
- 5 Life hacks from a Surf Trip
- Joy & Power: The Nitrous Connection & 6 Tips to Keep it Revd
- Hope in Grief: 7 Bright Spots of Covid
Photo credits:
Cover image: Sydney Rae via Unsplash