Listening to Your Life
As another anniversary of 9-11 arrived, I found myself contemplating how fragile the world seems sometimes. It is difficult to understand the meaning of life in times of tragedy and suffering.
President's Column
Take This Job and Love It!
There it was, projecting up at me from the top of an advertisement page in a weekly news magazine: “take this job and love it!” Why did this phrase capture my attention? Besides the fact that it was an obvious take off on an old country music hit, “take this job and shove it, I ain’t working here no more,” I also think it was the audacity of someone thinking that work could be fun!
What has Christmas to do with Authentic Happiness? The Nativity code of Positive Psychology
It was a gloomy day with darkish sky. A chilly wind drove shoppers into the stores and coffee shops. The holiday-weary faces and the retro song “Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer” reminded me of poor Charlie Brown and his sad gang. Good grief, this can be a season of depression and misery for many people!
Intuition: The Best Kept Secret for Survival and Success
Often intuition is the deciding factor between failure and success. Even though we don’t know precisely what intuition is, at the gut level we all know that it is there and that it can be summoned to our aid whenever we feel overwhelmed.
Does Reverence Matter in Today’s Secular Society?
We are in the grip of a crisis of international proportions. Is it terrorism? Is it ethnopolitical conflict? I suggest that the underlying problem may be the loss of reverence for life.
In a diverse multicultural society, respect for others is touted as the highest virtue while reverence for life is relegated to the dustbin of history. There is something incongruent and self-contradictory in these two social trends.
The Positive Psychology of Persistence and Flexibility
What are the most valuable life strategies essential for survival and resilience? What are the most common traits shared by successful athletes and CEOs? More importantly, what are the virtues most important in living the good life?
How to Humanize Higher Education and Reduce Human Suffering
Across the land, away from the spotlight, a different kind of suffering goes on unnoticed – in homes, workplaces, schools, and universities. I am talking about intentional cruelty against other human beings, such as physical and emotional abuse, bullying, oppression and exploitation.
The Positive Psychology of Self-Sacrifice
There is a tragic ring to the term self-sacrifice. It conjures up images of Christ crucified, soldiers killed on battle fields or suicide-bombers blown to pieces along with their innocent victims. How can self-sacrifice be positive? Is self-sacrifice the highest expression of virtue or the worst form of human folly? Who benefits from self-obliteration? How can one reconcile self-sacrifice with self-actualization? During my recent trip to Hong Kong and China, I began to gain some insight to these puzzling questions.
Touchstones of Character Strengths
Human achievements cannot be measured simply in terms of wealth, power or fame. Such accomplishments belong to a small group of elites who are blessed with special talents and good fortunes. Basking in the glory of success and wielding immense influence, they are idolized, envied or feared, but not trusted.
In the Eye of the Hurricane: Finding Peace Amidst Terror, Violence and War
But the New Orleans I knew isn’t there any more. It is hard to cling to good memories, when harsh reality pummels you like angry waves. Now, the motto of New Orleans “Let the good times roll” seems so distant and so incongruent with the horrors that are still unfolding before our eyes.