Humor As Spiritual Practice
"I was going through airport security the other month, participating in the grind of pulling out my laptop and my Ziploc baggie full of plastic bottles, and removing my belt and my shoes and my watch and my jacket and trying to fit them all into the plastic bin in such a way that nothing would fall out as it went through its screening. On the other side, I quickly gathered my belongings so they ... posted on Jun 14 2013, 24,112 reads

The Unexpected Antidote to Procrastination
"A recent early morning hike in Malibu, California, led me to a beach, where I sat on a rock and watched surfers. I marveled at these courageous men and women who woke before dawn, endured freezing water, paddled through barreling waves, and even risked shark attacks, all for the sake of, maybe, catching an epic ride. After about 15 minutes, it was easy to tell the surfers apart by their style o... posted on Jun 13 2013, 36,647 reads

Debunking the Myths of Happiness
Psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky is an expert on the subject of our most common happiness myths. One pervasive myth is that a desired change in lifestyle such as getting married or striking it rich will make us irrevocably happy. Research has shown that while these events may cause happiness in the short term, their positive effects are unlikely to last as long as we might hope. A second myt... posted on Jun 12 2013, 27,043 reads

Ten Principles Of Purpose
How do you know what your calling is? And how do you make it happen? Echoing Green has interviewed hundreds of social entrepreneurs over the last 25 years who each found their purpose and manifested it in the world. From their stories, Echoing Green culled ten principles for identifying your purpose and putting it into action. Read on to learn what the ten principles are.... posted on Jun 11 2013, 67,129 reads

The Power of Creative Constraints
What if a hospital decided to serve anyone who came to its doors, regardless of whether they could pay, and still committed to providing world-class quality care? Can such a self-imposed constraint actually help drive innovation? And what if that constraint is geared toward solving a problem of global proportions, without any outside funding? An almost incomprehensibly ambitious vision to rid the ... posted on Jun 10 2013, 47,907 reads

Are You In Control of Your Decisions?
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely doesn't buy into the notion of immutable human rationality, upon which economic study is traditionally based. In fact, he says, we are often predictably irrational. We understand our preferences less well than we imagine; and all-too-frequently our decision-making is manipulated by the way in which alternatives are presented. We know our physical limitations, and we... posted on Jun 09 2013, 5,106 reads

24 Acts of Kindness To Restore Faith In Humanity
Remember the time when someone let you cut in line at the grocery store because you only had one item to pay for? How about that day on the subway when you witnessed a seemingly self-absorbed teenager, glued to his iPod, giving up his seat for an elderly lady with a cane? These stories stay with us because they are reminders that, even in the face of adversity and darkness we have a shining capa... posted on Jun 08 2013, 45,945 reads

Living in the Age of Distraction
"The evidence is plentiful these days that distracted people cause harm to themselves and to others. We read reports of fatal train accidents caused by the engineer texting and of commercial flights crashing because pilots were chatting. Pedestrians and drivers are killed because they're on the phone. We need look no further than ourselves to observe distraction. How long can you focus on any acti... posted on Jun 07 2013, 67,744 reads

Four Ways to Give Good Feedback
"When effectively administered, feedback is a powerful way to build knowledge and skills, increase skills, increase motivation, and develop reflective habits of mind in students and employees. Too often, however, the feedback we give (and get) is ineffectual or even counterproductive." This piece from Time magazine suggests four ways to offer effective feedback, drawn from research in cognitive sc... posted on Jun 06 2013, 15,468 reads

A Midwife to the Dying
"In having been in the field of dying for many years, I have frequently encountered the tragic limitations of dying in America. Our lives are an ongoing opportunity for us to realize compassion in the world and to really be a benefit to others. How extraordinary at the moment of death we have this opportunity to unify with our basic nature." Joan Halifax, a "midwife to the dying", has spent over 3... posted on Jun 05 2013, 25,308 reads