11 Jan This Is The #1 Ritual You Need To Do Every Day
If there were ONE THING that every person did every day, what would you want it to be?
What ONE THING would make the world better for everyone?
Well, I’m sure we all have different ideas but what about … kindness?
That’s essentially what Eric Barker invites us to do in yet another great blog posting …
“Third year of the pandemic” used to be a phrase reserved for science fiction novels.
Maddeningly, COVID may be going from historical “event” to “era.” I don’t blame you if your optimism has stretch marks and you’re feeling phantom pain where your hope used to be. We’re all wishing life would go back to precedented times.
So what do we do to stay happy and make our lives better when the world is so crazy? Might seem like there are no easy answers. You may have declared epistemological bankruptcy on this one.
Well, I’ve got a pretty good hack. It’s far from perfect but, in the big picture, it often works surprisingly well:
Be good. Give to others.
Don’t you cock that eyebrow at me. I know you don’t read these posts for Aesopian morals but I swear I’m being no less scientific than usual. Wanna be happier, less stressed, healthier, and optimistic? Then give. Do the things you think really good people would do.
Sound corny and mawkish? I appreciate your skepticism but, seriously, this works. Neal Krause, Professor of Public Health at University of Michigan School of Public Health, says: “Helping others increases your sense of control and counteracts low self-esteem.” Nice, huh?
Tired of pandemic anxiety? A good way to reduce it is to help others reduce theirs.
From Why Good Things Happen to Good People:
Krause found that offering social support to others reduces people’s anxiety over their own economic situation when they are under economic stress. He suspects that this extends to other stress as well—that giving reduces stress about your own life…
Need a bigger upside? Fair enough. Mutating virus aside, people who help others live longer.
From Why Good Things Happen to Good People:
Brown found that those who provided no significant support to others were more than twice as likely to die in that five-year period. These surprising findings ruled out other factors like personality, health, mental health, and marital relationship variables.
Mom always told you to be a good person. Now is the time to listen to mom. You and I need the social support and kindness of others now more than ever. And they need it from us. (Let’s leave total lack of consideration for the feelings and needs of others to global corporations, shall we?)
So what are the best ways to help others – and thereby help ourselves? We’re gonna get the answers from Stephen Post, professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine. His book is “Why Good Things Happen to Good People.”
Let’s get to it…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE