Teachable Moments

[kmaherali]

1.Swedish proverb: The pillow is the best advisor.
Meaning: Sleep over a problem and see how you feel in the morning.

2. Kenyan proverb: When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.
Meaning: Fights of the powerful hurt only the little guys.

3. Ancient Roman proverb: Hunger is the best sauce.
Meaning: Everything tastes better when you are hungry.

4. Japanese proverb: A frog in a well does not know the great sea.
Meaning: There is more going on than you know, try and see the big picture.

5. Turkish proverb: If the world flooded, it would not matter to the duck.
Meaning: Things that are bad for you, aren’t always bad for everyone.

6. Filipino proverb: Leave it to the batman.
Meaning: Some problems require superheroes to solve.

7. Russian proverb: To live with the wolves, you have to howl like a wolf.
Meaning: In dangerous situations, try and blend in.

8. French proverb: A hungry stomach has no ears.
Meaning: You can’t concentrate without food in your tum tum.

9. Kenyan proverb: Slippery ground does not recognise a king.
Meaning: Even the most powerful people are just human deep down.

10. Gaelic proverb: A cat in mittens won’t catch mice.
Meaning: Being careful and polite doesn’t always get things done.

[kmaherali]

A few months ago, I was teetering on the brink of feeling overwhelmed by life’s responsibilities, afflicted by the ambient anxiety that seems to be an intrinsic part of life in the 2020s. In an effort to maintain — or maybe restore — my sanity, I embarked on a personal endurance challenge.

Other people, at similar moments, begin competing in grueling triathlons, or head off on intensive meditation retreats. Me? I decided to give up listening to podcasts or music while running, or driving, or loading the dishwasher, or doing almost anything else. To just focus, in other words, on what it was I was actually doing, one activity at a time.

It was surprisingly hard. Once you’ve finished mocking me for treating such a trifling alteration to my habits like a grand existential struggle, I have one request: Try it. Identify the small tricks you use to avoid being fully present with whatever you’re doing, and put them aside for a week or two.

You may discover, as I did, that you were unwittingly addicted to not doing one thing at a time. You might even come to agree with me that restoring our capacity to live sequentially — that is, focusing on one thing after another, in turn, and enduring the confrontation with our human limitations that this inherently entails — may be among the most crucial skills for thriving in the uncertain, crisis-prone future we all face.

It’s not that the urge to multitask is anything new. “One thinks with a watch in one’s hand,” Nietzsche complained as early as 1887, “even as one eats one’s midday meal while reading the latest news of the stock market.” We’ve also long known that multitasking doesn’t really work. You’ve probably read — perhaps while half-watching TV — articles explaining the research findings that multitasking isn’t really even possible; mainly, we’re just switching our attention rapidly between different foci without realizing it, incurring cognitive costs each time we do so. One study of drivers found only 2.5 percent of people showed no performance decrease when attempting two tasks at once. The rest of us just end up doing everything worse.

Yet the pressure to multitask can still often seem like something imposed on us from outside. Burdened by so many demands at work, you can feel as though you’ve no choice but to split your attention among them. Meanwhile, should you feel some responsibility to address the troubles of the wider world as well, then the causes for alarm — the climate, the fate of democracy, the threats from artificial intelligence and the risk of nuclear war, to name just a few — are so numerous as to make multitasking look like every citizen’s duty.

Technological advances turn the screw further. Those of us not raised as “digital natives” can remember a time when we didn’t have the option of using social media to distract ourselves from unpleasant tasks, and when the limits imposed by our tools — the speed of snail mail, for example, or the time it took to visit a library to conduct research — meant we felt less pressure from bosses or customers to somehow transcend the limits imposed by our finite attention spans.

But philosophers and spiritual teachers have long understood that the urge to avoid giving ourselves fully to any single activity goes deeper, to the core of our struggles as finite human beings.

The Hindu mystic Patanjali, for example, saw doing one thing at a time as a core yogic discipline, suggesting that it didn’t come easily to people 2,000 years ago, either. We rail against what the Christian productivity writer Jordan Raynor calls our “unipresence” — our inability to be in more than one place at a time, in contrast to the omnipresence attributed to God — and against the shortness of our time on earth, which averages little more than four thousand weeks. All this finitude feels unpleasantly constraining, because it means there will always be many more things we could do than we ever will do — and that the choice to spend a portion of our time on any one thing automatically entails the sacrifice of countless other things we might have done with it.

This explains the attraction of multitasking: It offers the false promise that we might somehow slip the bonds of our finitude. We tell ourselves that with sufficient self-discipline, plus the right time-management tricks, we might finally “get on top of everything” and feel good about ourselves at last. This utopia never arrives, of course, though it often feels as if it might be just around the corner.

The uncomfortable truth is that the only way to find sanity in an overwhelming world — and to have any concrete effect on that world — is to surrender such efforts to escape the human condition, and drop back down into the reality of our limitations. Distracting yourself from challenging tasks by, say, listening to podcasts doesn’t actually make them more bearable over the long term; instead, it makes them less enjoyable, by reinforcing your belief that they’re the sort of activities you can tolerate only by distracting yourself — while at the same time all but ensuring that you’ll neither accomplish the task in question nor digest the contents of the podcast as well as you otherwise might.

At work, the way to get more tasks done is to learn to let most of them wait while you focus on one. “This is the ‘secret’ of those people who ‘do so many things’ and apparently so many difficult things,” wrote the management guru Peter Drucker in his book “The Effective Executive.” “They do only one at a time.” Making a difference in one domain requires giving yourself permission not to care equally about all the others.

There will always be too much to do, no matter what you do. But the ironic upside of this seemingly dispiriting fact is that you needn’t beat yourself up for failing to do it all, nor keep pressuring yourself to find ways to get on top of it all by means of increasingly extreme multitasking.

Instead, you can pour your finite time, energy and attention into a handful of things that truly count. You’ll enjoy things more, into the bargain. My gratifying new ability to “be here now” while running or driving or cooking dinner isn’t the result of having developed any great spiritual prowess. Rather, it’s a matter of realizing I could only ever be here now anyway — so I might as well give up the stressful struggle to pretend otherwise.

Oliver Burkeman is the author of “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/opin ... 778d3e6de3

[kmaherali]

Dear Karim,

I recently got an invitation to be interviewed on a podcast, and I was asked to share my three favorite bits of advice for others.

In the end I decided not to do the podcast interview, but I thought I’d share my thoughts with you. These pieces of advice are really from other people, but they have been important to me, and I hope they make a difference in your life, too.

The first bit of advice is “It’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed” from Louise Hay. I have thought about this Louise quote thousands of times over the past 35 years. When I first heard it, I really didn’t understand how transformative it could be, but over time I began to realize the true power of this message. It was really the basis for much of what Louise taught for so many years, and it has helped so many people, including me.

This simple truth is so empowering because once you really take it in, you know you can always make your life better just by changing the way you’re thinking. So many of the troubles we think we have are really created by our own thoughts. We have about 10,000 thoughts a day, and many of those are negative ones that we choose to think about ourselves and our circumstances, when in reality they aren’t true at all.

The second bit of advice is very similar, yet it’s different in the way I think about it. While doing the PBS special for his book, The Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” The minute Wayne said this for the first time, it began to resonate with listeners and viewers. I remember Wayne saying this again on QVC, and the phones just lit up with callers because so many people related to this statement.

I have written other newsletters about this quote and the simple power it can have in your life if you really apply it. Just take the time to look at circumstances in your life from a different view or lens, and you will be surprised how those things change.

The third bit of advice is from a country song called “Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis. There is a lyric in the song that says “Do what you love but call it work.” This is probably the best advice I could give anyone because if you can do what you love every day (and get paid for it), your life will be much richer. This resonates with me because I consider myself very lucky to have spent the last 35 years doing what I love and calling it “work.” People ask me when I’m going to quit working, but I don’t think I’ll ever quit because I don’t think of what I do as work.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I couldn’t find something else I love doing. And it doesn’t mean I have loved every single task, every single day; there have been some very challenging times for sure. But overall, it has been wonderful spending my time here at Hay House.

After Louise Hay founded Hay House at age 60, she spent the next 30 years doing what she loved every day. Wayne Dyer spent 40 years writing books, giving speeches, and teaching, and he loved it. They both found so much joy and meaning in their “work.”

I give this advice to my kids and nieces and nephews often. It seems to make sense to them, even if they aren’t able to apply it at this moment in their young lives.

I hope you find something in these pieces of advice that you can apply in your own life.

Have a great week.

Wishing You the Best,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

[kmaherali]

A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands.

Her mum came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile; my sweetie, could you give your mum one of your two apples?

The girl looked up at her mum for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other.

The mum felt the smile on her face freeze. She tried hard not to reveal her disappointment.

Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apples to her mum,and said: mummy, here you are. This is the sweeter one.

No matter who you are, how experienced you are, and how knowledgeable you think you are, always delay judgement.

Give others the privilege to explain themselves.

What you see may not be the reality. Never conclude for others.

Which is why we should never only focus on the surface and judge others without understanding them first.

Those who like to pay the bill, do so not because they are loaded but because they value friendship above money.

Those who take the initiative at work, do so not because they are stupid but because they understand the concept of responsibility.

Those who apologize first after a fight, do so not because they are wrong but because they value the people around them.

Those who are willing to help you, do so not because they owe you any thing but because they see you as a true friend.

Those who often text you, do so not because they have nothing better to do but because you are in their heart.

Those who take out time to chat with you, do not mean they are jobless or less busy, but they know the importance of keeping in touch.

One day, all of us will get separated from each other; we will miss our conversations of everything & nothing; the dreams that we had.

Days will pass by, months, years, until this contact becomes rare... One day our children will see our pictures and ask 'Who are these people?' And we will smile with invisible tears because a heart is touched with a strong word and you will say: 'IT WAS THEM THAT I HAD THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE WITH'.

Send this to all your friends that you will never forget.

Put this on the whatsapp of those who made you smile in any type of way.

It might surprise you but look at how many will be sent back.

Thank you for making me smile for sometime in my life.

[kmaherali]

40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ. ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀғʀᴀɪᴅ ᴏғ ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ ʀᴇsᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛs. ɴᴏᴡ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛs ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇsᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴍᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴇᴀsʏ ʙᴜᴛ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴅɪғғɪᴄᴜʟᴛ. ɴᴏᴡᴀᴅᴀʏs ɪᴛ ɪs ᴅɪғғɪᴄᴜʟᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴍᴀʀʀɪᴇᴅ ʙᴜᴛ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ ɪs sᴏ ᴇᴀsʏ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴡᴇ ɢᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏʀs. ɴᴏᴡ ᴡᴇ ᴀʀᴇ sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀs ᴛᴏ ᴏᴜʀ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏʀs.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴠɪʟʟᴀɢᴇʀs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ғʟᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ᴛᴏ ғɪɴᴅ ᴊᴏʙs. ɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡɴ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ғʟᴇᴇɪɴɢ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ CITY ᴛᴏ ғɪɴᴅ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ғᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ. ɴᴏᴡᴀᴅᴀʏs ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴅɪᴇᴛs ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʜᴇᴀʟᴛʜʏ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ʀɪᴄʜ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘᴏᴏʀ. ɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴏʀ ᴀʀᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʀɪᴄʜ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ ᴡᴏʀᴋᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ. ɴᴏᴡ ᴀʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴛᴏ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ.
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40 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɢᴏ, ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴛᴜᴅʏ & ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʙᴏᴏᴋs. ɴᴏᴡ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ғᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ & ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛsᴀᴘᴘ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇs.

40 YEARS AGO WAS 1983...WHICH SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY!

These are hard ғᴀᴄᴛs of ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ's ʟɪғᴇ.

SURE TRUTH

[kmaherali]

In a season of high spirits and spirited spending, experts say focusing on sentiment over receipts is more likely to bring holiday cheer.


On Christmas Eve in 2013, Elisa Stead, an American living abroad in Iceland, was ready to celebrate the holiday with her fiancé and his family. But when she tore open the wrapping on his gift for her, she was disheartened to discover what lay inside: a car-window scraper. Sure, she lived in a frosty place, but she didn’t own a car. Receiving such a thoughtless gift made for an unhappy holiday, and the relationship ended within the year.

Two years later, Stead was living in Norway and recently engaged to a different man. She still felt detached from the magic of Christmas so her new fiancé, Tore Græsdal, made it his mission to revive it for her. But that didn’t mean spending lavishly. Instead, Græsdal recorded himself reading Norwegian folk tales, and added in a couple of sound effects, like a crackling fire, to make it feel cozy.

The recordings signified their future together in her adopted country and her embrace of a new culture and language. Stead, who traveled often for work and didn’t yet live with her fiancé, took comfort in listening to the folk tales when she and Græsdal were apart. Years later, the couple still return to the recordings, now playing them for their children. Græsdal’s gift that year was priceless in both senses: It cost him nearly nothing to create, and it was so unique no price could be placed on it.

The holiday season is a time of high spirits and spirited spending. As people deal with the pressure of finding the perfect gift for their loved ones, many gifters respond by throwing money at the challenge. One survey found that Americans plan to spend an average of $831 on gifts this year; more than half of them incurred credit card debt to cover last year’s costs, and nearly a third of those are still paying that debt off. According to experts, this approach may be misguided.

Givers “tend to overspend each time they set out to purchase a meaningful gift,” Francis J. Flynn and Gabrielle S. Adams, two professors at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, wrote in a study. They found that, while “gift givers assume that more expensive gifts convey a higher level of thoughtfulness,” recipients don’t see them that way.

Instead, it’s worth considering gifting options that, like Græsdal’s, cost little or nothing, but can be especially cherished because they demonstrate the time and effort that have gone into a token worthy of the giver’s affection for the recipient.

People tend to overestimate the correlation between a gift’s monetary value and its emotional impact, explained Julian Givi, an assistant professor of marketing at West Virginia University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. “These no-cost gifts that people are creating from scratch, they’re conveying thoughtfulness and care and appreciation,” he said, all of which mean more than a receipt.

Givi also found that experiences are often better appreciated than material gifts. Some experiential gifts cost money but it is possible to give ones that don’t: a scavenger hunt, a personalized walking tour or hike, teaching someone a skill they’ve expressed interest in. Such presents also tend to generate less physical and financial waste — another concern this season — than material gifts.

Some of the best gifts draw on shared interests. Megan O’Hara and Jonathan Krieger met at a board game speed-dating event in Boston in 2019. The year after they started dating, O’Hara gave Krieger a board game based on a book he had written. She didn’t have a background in game design, but drew on games they enjoyed playing together. She made the cards on the graphic design website Canva, printed them out and used a shoe box as the game’s container. It was, Krieger said, one of the best gifts he’s ever received. (Perhaps the best known example of such a gift is the New York Times game Wordle, which was created as a present by a software engineer for his partner, but ended up being a gift to millions of others.)

While homemade gifts can seem daunting to those who don’t consider themselves crafty, it helps to shift the idea of what those gifts can look like. The key is doing something personal, such as writing someone a letter, song or poem, or recording some favorite memories. If creating something original feels overwhelming, curation is another way to give a thoughtful gift, whether it’s making a mixtape (or, these days, more likely a Spotify playlist), or compiling and sharing favorite recipes.

“Givers refrain from going with the sentimental thing more often than recipients would prefer,” Givi said. “People shouldn’t be as afraid to give them.”

The value of such gifts is found in their enduring resonance. When I was growing up, my grandmother and I shared a love of reading, and she often gave me books from her extensive personal collection as holiday gifts. But one year, when I was a teenager, I unwrapped a bundle of nine typed pages labeled “Favorite Books.”

She’d listed over 30 books and, with each suggestion, she shared a paragraph about her relationship to the book — when she encountered it, why it had stuck with her or a favorite quote. That year, I wondered why she hadn’t just given me another book, which I could have happily cracked open in front of the fireplace that day.

But her desire to share her memories of the books with me was an unforgettable gift. I didn’t end up getting to most of the books while she was alive, so having this special list offers me a way to keep reading alongside her.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/17/styl ... -cost.html

[kmaherali]

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[kmaherali]

Six years as a space reporter taught me that chaos reigns supreme. I have watched enough go wrong to know no mission or any view of a celestial event is ever truly promised to us terrestrial observers.

So when my mother and I decided to drive out to Erie, Pa., to see Monday’s solar eclipse within the path of totality, I knew this would be a trip of two clashing attitudes. I’d be pessimistic about the weather and convinced we’d be victims of the randomness that governs the world; my mom would have strong faith that order would triumph and the skies would let us glimpse an eclipse like this for the first time in our lives. I told her not to count on the universe for this one; she told me she wouldn’t count on anything else.

I was once again humbled into a lesson I’ve learned time and time again: Mama knows best. Erie’s forecast this morning was looking abysmal, but by the time first contact began a little after 2 p.m., the clouds over the city’s bay front began to disperse. The pale yellow sun under the eclipse lenses rapidly crested, concentrating into a fierce orange glow.

Totality struck at 3:16 p.m. A thin white glow pierced out from the edge of a clean black circle. The colors of the sunset eerily bloomed in the distance. Clamoring sea gulls took a haphazard flight. I could spot solar prominences (regions of intense magnetism) jutting from the sides of the sun in tiny hints of bright red and pink. Jupiter and Venus made cameos. It felt like bearing witness to something close to a miracle.

Four minutes later, totality ended. The sun brightened again. And the clouds returned with a vengeance, swallowing up the moon and the sun and sky in gray. But for four incredible minutes, the universe seems to have made good on a promise to my mother.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/09 ... cis-gender

[kmaherali]

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Warmly,

Fleet Maull, PhD

Heart Mind Institute Founder and CEO

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[kmaherali]

Author Headshot
By Melissa Kirsch

Good morning. Taking time to enumerate the things you like about yourself each day may sound terminally woo-woo or conceited, but in practice, the results can be pretty transformative.

In an illustration, a woman holds a bouquet of flowers at a market.

María Jesús Contreras

Best practices

I want to be a person with practices. A yoga practice, a mindfulness practice, a gratitude practice. I’m not totally sure when a nourishing activity passes into the realm of a practice, but I think it has something to do with intention and devotion. You prioritize doing this thing that has a positive effect on you or others or on the world you live in — say, sitting in quiet contemplation for 20 minutes each morning, or journaling every night before bed. You commit to doing it on a regular basis, and after enough reps, it becomes part of who you are.

I’ve been hesitant to declare — to myself, never mind anyone else — that I’ve established any of the aforementioned practices because I’m skeptical of my ability to stick with them. I tend to burn hot in the initial phases of something that promises to improve my life, and then lose steam very quickly. I’ve done the first day of the “Yoga With Adriene” 30-day challenge at least 30 times.

One need not be so doctrinaire about one’s practices, I know. The point is to do and feel better, not to get a gold star. I’ve wandered away from many practices only to return to them, usually because I miss them, because seeing the benefits of doing something is often not as powerful as experiencing its absence. That’s the case with something I’ve been doing for the past eight months or so — not every single day, but enough days to tentatively call it “a thing I do,” if not a thoroughgoing practice.

At the end of the day, I try to write down as many things as I can think of that I appreciate about myself. It might be how I handled a difficult situation, or that I checked something off my to-do list that I’d been putting off. It might be something witty I said, or the way I reframed how I was thinking about a situation. Some days there’s not much content to work with, and I might just appreciate that I made the bed even though I really didn’t want to, or that my hair looked kind of good.

When someone first recommended I try this, I thought it sounded very self-involved, maybe a little pathetic — was my self-esteem so impoverished that I needed to ply myself with compliments? (It turns out that some days, in fact, I do.) But over time I realized that what at first seemed facile was actually sort of revolutionary.

I’d tried practicing gratitude before and found it quite effective. You take a few minutes to write down things you’re thankful for — the kindness of a stranger, the way your child looks at you while you’re reading a bedtime story, the smell of honeysuckle when you bike past that one tree. You remind yourself how lucky you are, that while you’ve been fretting or regretting or despairing, all these good things and people and possibilities are part of your story, too.

With gratitude, you think about things outside yourself. You remember that you’re not alone, that there’s more going on in your life than what’s in your head, and this offers perspective. An appreciation practice entails thinking about yourself, but it’s not the opposite of gratitude; it’s a refraction of it. It’s expressing gratitude for oneself, which at first feels conceited, but eventually, for me, has come to seem anything but.

Left to its own devices, my mind will take stock of the day like a detective, looking for things I did wrong, could have done better or left undone completely. With an appreciation practice, I start with, “What did I do right today?” These are the behaviors and moments we tend not to linger on because they’re usually the parts of the day with the least tension. They’re not the sort of headline stories you might think to tell someone when asked how your day went. They’re not amusing or annoying. They don’t really make for good cocktail party fodder.

But the cumulative effect of memorializing these situations, day after day, is you start to see patterns in your behavior, to note the positive effect you’re having on those around you. And when you see that, you start to like yourself more. And who couldn’t stand to like themselves more?

I’ve found myself behaving differently — more assertively, more compassionately — simply because I know that, tonight, I’ll sit down and look at my day, and I know how good it will feel to appreciate these things about myself. I want to make future me proud. And on bad days, when I’m less than thrilled about how I dealt with things, I have a log of all the things that I’ve appreciated about myself in the past.

Once you start actively looking for things to appreciate about yourself, you realize how you’ve outsourced that task to other people. It feels wonderful when someone else tells you that you did a brilliant job in that meeting, that you really gave them solid advice, that you look great today. An appreciation practice enables you to bring that job in-house, to enlist yourself as your biggest fan. Other people are never paying as much attention to you as you are, so there’s a lot about you to appreciate that goes unremarked upon if you wait for someone else to acknowledge it.

NYTimes Newsletter June 29 2024

[kmaherali]

Dear Karim,

I was walking around our office here in California recently, and I found an old binder full of Present Moments newsletters from when I first started writing them back in 2015. It’s hard to believe I have been writing these weekly newsletters for nine years. That’s over 400 newsletters.

If you had told me back in 2015 that I had to write 400+ newsletters, I definitely would have said I don’t think I want to sign up to do this—it sounds like too big of a commitment. But when I shift my perspective and just focus on writing one newsletter per week, it seems doable.

When Wayne Dyer talked about overcoming addictions, he would often say that you just have to take things one day at a time. You don’t have to give up the sugar, drugs, alcohol, or nicotine for 20 years—just for today. One day then leads to two days, which leads to nine years … or a lifetime.

I think the same is true for me and this newsletter. I just make sure I spend an hour or two writing it every week, and before you know it, I have written over 400—amazing.

Think of things you want to accomplish in your life, and just concentrate on the steps you need to take today or this week. Don’t focus on the years or decades ahead. This approach truly works, and it’s amazing what you can accomplish. Also, think about all the things that you have already accomplished in your life by just taking things one day at a time.

In many ways this is true for my time here at Hay House. I have now been working here for almost 36 years, which is incredible to me. I never even dreamed that would have been the case when I started, and I for sure never could have imagined all the people we would be able to help with our books, audios, live events, and courses over that time.

Hope you all have an amazing week ahead.

Wishing You the Best,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

P.S. I want to give an extra special thank you to anyone who has been reading this Present Moments newsletter for the past nine years. Now that is a true accomplishment.

[kmaherali]

HOW TO BE ALWAYS HAPPY IN LIFE.

Advice from Grandma

1. Always remember that there is nobody on this earth that does not have problems. You are not the only one that has problems.

2. Challenges is part of life. It is only a dead man that has no challenges.

3. There is no problem that has no solution. There are solutions to the pains you are passing through.

4. The way you picture yourself in your mind can affect your happiness. Picture yourself as a valuable and beautiful person. Avoid low self esteem and inferiority complex.

5. Do not mind about what people say about you. Some people are sadists. They can just say something's just to make you feel sad.

6. Make friends with reasonable people who make you happy. Do not make friends with people who make jest of you or laugh at you over your challenges.

7. At your leisure time, keep yourself busy with your favorite hobbies like reading , Learning, etc.

8. Do not allow anyone to intimidate you with money and material things. A poor man today can become rich tomorrow. Change is constant.

9. No matter what you are passing through today, do not give up. As long as there is life, there is hope. Never stop trying. Give it one more time.

10. Be very prayerful. Pray without ceasing. Prayer is a catalyst that can speed up your blessings to come to you on time.

11. Be courageous to go for what you want. Life is all about risk. If you don't take a risk, you will not get the desires of your heart.❤

[kmaherali]

Dear Karim,

One of the most important things I learned from Louise Hay over the 36 years I’ve worked at Hay House is that your thoughts create your life.

How does that work? What you think about expands, so if you’re always thinking about negative things, then you’re more likely to manifest negative experiences in your life.

Louise would remind us that we have about 10,000 thoughts a day, and if you pay attention, many of them are the same negative thoughts over and over again.

But the good news, as Louise reminded us, is that “it’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed.”

I find myself thinking about this idea all the time, especially when I get caught up in what Louise called the “Ain’t It Awful Syndrome”—dwelling on the negative aspects of life and feeling sorry for myself.

When I notice I'm in this mindset, I remind myself that I can easily fix it by changing my thinking.

This week, I've fallen into old patterns of negative thinking. I've been overly worried about my son, but of course everything turned out fine. I've also been anxious about some of our work projects. My wife, Kristina, reminded me that I often get unnecessarily worried about these ups and downs, but things have always worked out over the years.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Do you have your own version of these kinds of thoughts?

Louise’s Power Thought Cards are a great tool to help you change your thinking. Here are a couple of my favorite affirmations from these cards:

I am willing to release old, negative beliefs. They are only thoughts that stand in my way. My new thoughts are positive and fulfilling.

As I say yes to life, life says yes to me.

Life mirrors my every thought. As I keep my thoughts positive, life brings to me only good experiences.

I am not limited by past thinking. I choose my thoughts with care. I constantly have new insights and new ways of looking at my world. I am willing to change and grow.

Every thought I think is creating my future.

The Universe totally supports every thought I choose to think and believe. I have unlimited choices about what I think. I choose balance, harmony, and peace, and I express it in my life.

I hope these thoughts help you in the coming week.

Wishing You the Best,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

P.S. Our Semi-Annual Sale is just around the corner, with 50% off everything in our online store—including Louise Hay’s Power Thought Cards! Sign up now to get a 24-hour head start before the general public, two free gifts (including Louise’s Affirmations for Forgiveness deck), AND free shipping on any items you purchase when you spend $25 or more during your exclusive shopping day. Follow this link to get early access! https://www.hayhouse.com/shop/featured/ ... ntent=9806

[kmaherali]

Change can be scary, and growth can be hard, Karim.

But here’s what I know to be true: the very things that challenge us the most are the keys to our greatest successes.

In today’s fast-paced world, technology and AI are transforming industries at an unprecedented rate. The World Economic Forum predicts that 50% of all workers will need to reskill by 2025. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

Another thing I know to be true, Karim: your ability to adapt and learn faster is what will set you apart and make you more successful.

Join the Limitless Learner Virtual Summit from August 5-7, 2024, and learn how to turn these challenges into opportunities. This LIVE 3-day event will teach you how to harness the power of your mind, overcome obstacles, and achieve limitless success.

Register Now For Free https://thelimitlesslearner.com/hh-register

During the summit, you’ll gain insights from Jim Kwik and other world-renowned experts. Jim, the founder of Kwik Brain, is a world expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance, and accelerated learning.

After a childhood brain injury left him learning-challenged, Jim created strategies to dramatically enhance his mental performance. He has since dedicated his life to helping millions of people around the world unleash their true genius, learn anything faster, and live a life of greater power, productivity, and purpose.

This event is about fully transforming your mind and life.

By embracing change and unlocking your full cognitive powers, you’ll gain a competitive edge to advance your career or business, and achieve the success you’ve always dreamed of.

Don’t miss this opportunity to embrace change and achieve limitless success. Register now and take the first step towards unlocking your exceptional life.

Register Now For Free https://thelimitlesslearner.com/hh-register

To Your Success,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

[kmaherali]

Dear Karim,

Many years ago, author Richard Carlson reached out to Dr. Wayne Dyer. He wanted to let him know that his publisher accidentally included a quote from Wayne in a new book of Richard Carlson’s that Wayne had written for another book.

Upon getting the letter from Richard, Wayne gave him a call to let him know that it was no problem. He added that he didn’t have to sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.

Richard was grateful for the call and asked Wayne if he could use that line for the title of a new book he was writing. Wayne of course agreed.

Well, Richard’s book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and It’s All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life went on to be a #1 New York Times bestseller and Richard’s biggest-selling book, with over 15 million copies sold.

First of all, this may be one of the best book titles of all time. It’s also a reminder I give myself at least once a week when I find myself worrying about something at work or issues with the kids.

I was lucky to receive daily advice from Dr. Wayne Dyer for over 20 years. It’s hard to believe that on August 30th, it will be nine years since he passed away.

Let’s take Wayne’s advice to heart this week and don’t sweat any of the small stuff. And remember, in the grand scheme of our lives, it’s all likely just small stuff.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Wishing You the Best,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

[kmaherali]

Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu – Verse 8

The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It flows to the low places loathed by all men.
Therefore, it is like the Tao.
Live in accordance with the nature of things.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling be just.
In action, watch the timing.
No fight: No blame.
One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things.
They move in harmony with the present moment,
always knowing the truth of just what to do.

[kmaherali]

Dear Karim

In last week’s newsletter, I recommended that you listen to Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay, and that’s exactly what I have been doing this past week.

It’s wonderful to hear both of their voices and their incredible life-changing wisdom.

I used to talk to them almost every day, and I guess I kind of took their wisdom for granted. So it was fun to reflect on their brilliance.

One key reminder I got from both Wayne and Louise this week was that our thoughts create our lives, and we have the power to choose those thoughts.

By focusing on positive thoughts, we open the door to more positive experiences. When we consciously choose to think positively, we invite more joy, abundance, and success into our lives.

Wayne suggested using the last five minutes before sleep to focus on the positive things we want to see in the coming day. Instead of fixating on what’s going wrong in our lives, we can use those eight hours of sleep to help manifest our desired outcomes.

I am the king of thinking about all the negative things before I go to sleep and throughout the night, and I really needed this reminder.

Louise recommends changing your thinking through affirmations. She suggests repeating positive affirmations throughout the day to help reprogram your thoughts about yourself and attract positive outcomes into your life.

By consistently affirming your strengths and desires, you can shift your perspective and create a more fulfilling reality.

Louise also emphasizes the importance of focusing on positive thoughts before bedtime. Many of you have listened to her Evening Meditations over the years, which encourage you to let go of the day's challenges and cultivate a peaceful mindset as you prepare for sleep.

This week, let’s take the last five minutes before we go to sleep each night to focus on the positive things we want to create in our lives. By setting this intention, we can cultivate a more uplifting mindset as we drift off to sleep.

Wishing You the Best,
Reid Tracy
CEO, Hay House

[kmaherali]

What if your future didn’t have to be a reflection of your past, Karim?

No more...

Hitting the snooze button repeatedly, promising to wake up earlier tomorrow...

Promising to be more patient with your kids or partner, but falling into old reactive patterns...

Telling yourself you'll start that passion project, but never finding the "right time" to begin...

Instead, you step into each day with excitement, free from the stress and patterns that have been holding you back.

Your future is yours to create, Karim—you have the power to break free and create a new reality—one where you're:

The creator of your own extraordinary life, not a prisoner of old habits.
Constantly growing, evolving, and surprising yourself with what you're capable of achieving.
Living in alignment with your true potential, rather than being held back by self-imposed limitations.

And now, you have an incredible opportunity to learn exactly how to do that.

Join us for a transformative virtual event featuring Dr Joe Dispenza, New York Times best-selling author and pioneer in the field of personal evolution:

Dr Joe Dispenza's Supernatural Change
4 Principles to Transform Your Life
September 23, 2024

Get My Ticket Now https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/super ... c5NzI4NgS2

In this 2-hour virtual experience—which Dr Joe created exclusively for Hay House—you’ll begin to understand just how powerful you are, and how you have everything you need within you to create the life of your dreams.

Get ready to learn:

- How to break free from the neurological loops keeping you stuck
- Practical techniques to embrace new thoughts, actions, and feelings to create a new personal reality
- The difference between living in survival versus living in creation, and how to write a new story for yourself
- The life-changing benefits of heart and brain coherence, and how to enter this elevated state
- How to harness the power of your brain’s natural ability for lasting transformation and personal growth
- Plus, you’ll get access to the replay, so you can revisit any parts you missed or return to his wisdom again.

This is a rare opportunity to join Dr Joe for an ONLINE EVENT!

It takes place on September 23 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET.

So, Karim, are you ready to leave those old patterns behind and embrace a future full of possibilities?

Yes—I’m Ready!

Wishing You the Best,
Your Friends at Hay House

[kmaherali]

There she was, Karim...

…staring at herself in the bathroom mirror of her drug dealer's house, a shadow of her former self.

In that raw, defining moment Colette Baron-Reid made the decision that would change her life forever. She surrendered completely and began her journey to sobriety, marking the start of her profound spiritual awakening. She’s been living clean and sober since 1986—one day at a time.

But the real turning point came when Colette walked into a therapist’s office...

Expecting a typical session she was handed a deck of cards instead.

What happened next was nothing short of life-changing.

Colette discovered that Oracle Cards weren’t just about predicting the future—they were powerful tools for self-awareness, healing, and personal transformation. Through them, she connected deeply with her soul, keeping her life aligned, and became an empowered co-creator of her own destiny.

And she’s back again this year to show YOU how to tap into this same transformative power at:
Mystical Connections:
A Heal Your Life+ Event
It’s FREE, and it’s happening LIVE on October 5!
Save My Seat & Join Colette » https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/mysti ... QxODE5MAS2

At Mystical Connections, you'll:
Learn directly from Colette and 10 other spiritual teachers, each with their own unique way of connecting with the Divine
Witness LIVE readings throughout the day that could spark your own breakthrough (and perhaps get one yourself!)
Embrace your own spiritual voice and bloom into your truest self

Karim, whether you're navigating life's transitions or sensing a call to greater purpose, this event is your compass. Mystical Connections offers the guidance you've been seeking.

Join Colette and a community of seekers like yourself. Together we'll explore the mysteries of the Spirit world and uncover the divine design for your life.
Connect with the Divine—Claim Your FREE Spot Now! » https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/mysti ... QxODE5MAS2

Wishing you possibilities and breakthroughs,
Your Friends at Hay House

[kmaherali]

Top 60+ Ratan Tata Quotes for Inspiration and Motivation

Famous Ratan Tata Quotes: Ratan Tata was an Indian philanthropist famous for his undying passion and contribution to humankind. He took the heavenly abode on October 9, 2024. Here are the words of wisdom encapsulated by Ratan Tata in the form of quotes, unravelling the mindset that propelled him to push the boundaries.


PM Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, Prince Aga Karim Khan, Chandresh Katoch and Ratan Tata in the unveiling of the renovated Humayuns Tomb.


Get the best and most motivational Ratan Tata Quotes

Best Ratan Tata Quotes: Ratan Tata stands as a beacon of inspiration for generations to come. He was an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, and former chairman of Tata Sons. Ratan Tata is an inspiration for people from almost all walks of life, He was a prolific investor and has made numerous investments in several startups.

About Ratan Tata

Ratan Naval Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, India, and he passed away on October 9 2024 at the age of 86. He was a prominent Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, from 1991 to 2012, during which he steered the conglomerate to new heights of success and global recognition. Under his leadership, the Tata Group expanded its global presence, diversified its portfolio, and became synonymous with innovation and excellence across various industries, including steel, automobiles, telecommunications, and hospitality.

Ratan Tata's notable contributions include the acquisition of global brands like Jaguar, Land Rover, and Tetley, as well as the launch of the Nano, the world's cheapest car. Beyond business, he is recognized for his commitment to social responsibility and sustainable development, evident through initiatives such as Tata Trusts, which focus on healthcare, education, rural development, and poverty alleviation. Ratan Tata's visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to both business and societal advancement have earned him widespread admiration and numerous accolades, solidifying his legacy as one of India's most influential figures in contemporary history.

Top Ratan Tata quotes


[Latest] Ratan Tata Net Worth 2024: Salary, Net Worth in Rupees (INR), Income https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-know ... 76378946-1

Inspirational and Motivational Quotes by Ratan Tata

- "None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise, none can destroy a person, but their own mindset can."
- "Take the stones people throw at you and use them to build a monument."
- "I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right."
- "The day I am not able to fly will be a sad day for me."
- "The strongest thing I ever did was to show my emotions to the world."
- "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."
- "Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive."
- "I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that I'm going to be positively surprised."
- "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together."
- "The only way to win is to not be afraid of losing."



- "The greatest failure is not to try."
- "I don't believe in leaving things to luck. I believe in hard work and preparation."
- "Never forget your roots, and always be proud of where you come from."
- "It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen."
- "Never compromise on your values and principles, even if it's the hard way."
- "The value of an idea lies in the using of it."
- "Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge."
- "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
- "I don't believe in taking the right decisions, I take decisions and then make them right."
- "I don't believe in work-life balance. I believe in work-life integration. Make your work and life meaningful and fulfilling, and they will complement each other."



- "When you start with a dream and work with passion, success is inevitable."
- "Empathy and kindness are the greatest strengths a leader can possess."
- "The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."
- "Never forget that you are a child of God and you have a right to be here."

Famous Ratan Tata Quotes and Images

- "I have always been very confident and very upbeat about the future of India."
- "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk with others."
- "The day I can't do something for myself will be the day I pack my bags and leave."
- "Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses."
- "I don't believe in short-term goals. I believe in long-term vision."
- "Success is not measured by the position you hold, but by the impact you have on others."



- "Don't let success get to your head, and don't let failure get to your heart."
- "Dream big and work hard to make those dreams a reality."
- "The best way to predict the future is to create it."
- "The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are."
- "Success is not about the destination, it's about the journey."
- "Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don't support and love your efforts, and whatever god you curse for your bad luck."
- "Never stop learning. Keep challenging yourself to grow and evolve."
- "Do not let the fear of failure hold you back from pursuing your dreams."
- "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."
- "Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat."



- "Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow."
- "The only limit to your success is your own imagination."
- "Don't wait for opportunities to come to you, create your own opportunities."
- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
- "Be a person of integrity, and always do what is right, even when it is difficult."
- "Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about."
- "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
- "You may not always have a comfortable life, and you may not always be able to solve all the world's problems, but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have, because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own."
- "Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace."
- "One day you will realize that material things mean nothing. All that matters is the well-being of the people you love."
- "People still believe what they read is necessarily the truth."
- "There are many things that, if I have to relive, maybe I will do it another way. But I would not like to look back and think what I have not been able to."
- "I buy a lot of electronics, some which I never take out of the box!"
- "I would say that one of the things I wish I could do differently would be to be more outgoing."
- "What I would like to do is to leave behind a sustainable entity of a set of companies that operate in an exemplary manner in terms of ethics, values and continue what our ancestors left behind."

Conclusion

Ratan Tata's illustrious career is adorned with numerous accolades, including the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, two of India's highest civilian awards, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to industry and society. His visionary leadership, strategic acumen, and unwavering commitment to social responsibility have not only transformed the Tata Group into a global powerhouse but also left an indelible mark on the landscape of Indian business and philanthropy.

Ratan Tata Birthday: 15 lesser-known and interesting facts about the Millennial Dumbledore https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-know ... 72170962-1

https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-know ... 11013944-1

[kmaherali]

How a Bit of Awe Can Improve Your Health

Experts say wonder is an essential human emotion — and a salve for a turbulent mind.



Awe can mean many things. It can be witnessing a total solar eclipse. Or seeing your child take her first steps. Or hearing Lizzo perform live. But, while many of us know it when we feel it, awe is not easy to define.

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world,” said Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

It’s vast, yes. But awe is also simpler than we think — and accessible to everyone, he writes in his book “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.”

While many of us associate awe with dramatic, life-changing events, the truth is that awe can be part of everyday life. Experiencing awe comes from what Dr. Keltner has called a “perceived vastness,” as well as something that challenges us to rethink our previously held ideas. Awe can be triggered from moments like seeing the Grand Canyon or witnessing an act of kindness. (About a quarter of awe experiences are “flavored with feeling threatened,” he said, and they can arise, for example, by looking at a lion in a zoo or even gruesome videos of genocide.)

In his book, Dr. Keltner writes that awe is critical to our well-being — just like joy, contentment‌ and love. His research suggests it has tremendous health benefits that include calming down our nervous system and triggering the release of oxytocin, the “love” hormone that promotes trust and bonding.

“Awe is on the cutting edge” of emotion research, said Judith T. Moskowitz, a professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Moskowitz, who has studied how positive emotions help people cope with stress, wrote in an email that “intentional awe experiences, like walks in nature, collective movement, like dance or ceremony, even use of psychedelics improve psychological well-being.”

So what is it biologically? Awe wasn’t one of the six basic emotions — anger, surprise, disgust, enjoyment, fear and sadness — identified back in 1972, Dr. Keltner said. ‌But new research shows that awe “is its own thing,” he said‌. Our bodies respond differently when we are experiencing awe than when we are feeling joy, contentment or fear. We make a different sound, show a different facial expression. Dr. Keltner found that awe activates the vagal nerves, clusters of neurons in the spinal cord that regulate various bodily functions, and slows our heart rate, relieves digestion‌ and deepens breathing.

It also has psychological benefits. Many of us have a critical voice in our head, telling us we’re not smart, beautiful or rich enough. Awe seems to quiet this negative self-talk, Dr. Keltner said, by deactivating the default mode network, the part of the cortex involved in how we perceive ourselves.

But, Dr. Keltner ‌said, even his own lab experiments underestimate the impact of awe on our health and well-being. If we can see these biological responses in experiments, he said, “just imagine what happens when you are watching a baby being born, or you encounter the Dalai Lama.”

Sharon Salzberg, a leading mindfulness teacher and author, also sees awe as a vehicle to quiet our inner critic. Awe, she believes, is “the absence of self-preoccupation.”

This, Dr. Keltner said, is especially critical in the age of social media. “We are at this cultural moment of narcissism and self-shame and criticism and entitlement; awe gets us out of that,” Dr. Keltner said. It does this by helping us get out of our own heads and “realize our place in the larger context, our communities,” he explained.

The good news? Awe is something you can develop, with practice. Here’s how.

Pay attention.

In 2016, Dr. Keltner visited San Quentin State Prison in California, where he heard inmates speak about finding awe in “the air, light, the imagined sound of a child, reading, spiritual practice.” The experience changed the way he thought about awe. So Dr. Keltner teamed up with two other researchers to enlist people across America and China to keep journals about their awe experiences. He found out that people were having two or three of them each week.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I can just take a breath and look around.’ It doesn’t require privilege or wealth; awe is just around us,” he said.

‌When William B. Irvine, a professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, wants to feel a sense of awe, he turns to science. “Science is everywhere, all of the time,” he said. An alluring object or part of nature, for example, is a “piece of an incredibly beautiful puzzle.” We often just think of the piece instead of the big picture, he said, “and that’s a pity.”

But once we think about the context, about what went into its creation, awe will follow.

Focus on the ‘moral beauty’ of others.

One of the most reliable ways to experience awe, Dr. Keltner found, was in the simple act of witnessing the goodness of others. When we see others doing small gestures, like walking an older person across the street, we start feeling better and are also more likely to perform good deeds.

However, goodness in others is often overlooked, Dr. Keltner noted. “Our public discourse and academic discourse sort of forgets about how much good people can and want to do,” he said.

Ms. Salzberg‌, whose forthcoming book includes a section about awe, also‌‌ believes in the importance of this ‌interpersonal wonder. She recommended paying attention to your neighborhood bus driver or grocery clerk, looking for those daily moments of kindness. If we notice those around us who are “dedicated to goodness or having a better family life than the one they were raised in or to being good to their neighbors,” she said, we can strengthen our sense of awe.

Another tool to experience awe, Dr. Keltner said, is to spend time learning about inspiring people. ‌Research ‌suggests that watching videos of people like Mother Teresa or Mahatma‌ Gandhi, for instance, can trigger awe.

“Remind yourself of what they’ve written. Have quotes of them, have photos of them,” he said. “Make them part of your life.”

Practice mindfulness.

Distraction, Dr. Keltner said, is an enemy of awe. It impedes focus‌, which is essential for achieving awe‌.

“We cultivate awe through interest and curiosity,” Ms. Salzberg said. “And if we’re distracted too much, we’re not really paying attention.”

Mindfulness helps us focus‌ and lessens the power of distractions. “If you work on mindfulness, awe will come.” And ‌some studies show‌ that people who are meditating and praying also experience more awe.

“Awe has a lot of the same neurophysiology of deep contemplation,” Dr. Keltner said. “Meditating, reflecting, going on a pilgrimage.”

So spending time slowing down, breathing ‌deeply and reflecting — on top of their own benefits — have the added advantage of priming us for awe.

Choose the unfamiliar path.

Awe often comes from novelty. So gravitating toward the unexpected can set us up to experience awe. Some people do this more than others, a personality trait that experts have called an “openness to experience,” Dr. Keltner said.

We can‌ work on developing ‌this openness through everyday choices. Choose a restaurant you don’t usually visit, take a different route to work or check out some music you aren’t familiar with.

In his book, Dr. Keltner wrote that people who find awe all around them, “are more open to new ideas. To what is unknown. To what language can’t describe.”

Hope Reese is a journalist who writes for Vox, Shondaland, The Atlantic and other publications.

A version of this article appears in print

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/well ... 778d3e6de3