Happy birthday to me!
Yup, October is my birthday month. As my way of saying thank you for the 30 odd years I’ve been growing, exploring, and thriving, I’m sharing these gems that have spurred me on to keep doing the heartwork, being a constant reminder to be happiness personified.
Here are 7 of my favorite TED Talks on positivity. Enjoy!
1. The Skill of Humor
Humor is something that transcends most barriers. It is a common unification; a concept understood by all. Despite this, there exists a large portion of the population that does not think they can utilize humor. Andrew Tarvin will show you that everyone can use humor.
2. The New Era of Positive Psychology
Martin Seligman talks about psychology as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?
3. A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
4. The Power of Positive Thinking
Sometimes life can throw us curve balls, sometimes a day can take a turn that was impossible to see coming. This is life. This talk looks at how we can meet these hurdles head on and come out stronger than ever.
5. Happiness Is All In Your Mind
Simple, profound truths are the realm of this Buddhist nun. Her message? The gift of happiness truly lies within our own hearts and minds. Gen Kelsang Nyema, exuding a peacefulness that immediately connects with the audience, starts by asking three questions: Are you having a good day? Why? Tomorrow, would you rather have a good day or a bad day? She teaches that we cannot put our happiness at the whim of other people and of circumstances. If we want to be happy, we have to “stop outsourcing our happiness to other people” and cultivate a source of inner peace. What happens next is quite astounding. The whole crowd of 350+ people proceeds to meditate with Nyema. There’s a little squirming at first, but as she leads the audience through a calm citation of how to rest the mind, audience members feel a collective relaxation flow into the room and through the people. Fascinating! Refreshing.
6. Positive Mindfulness
So what if we befriended both psychology and spirituality? Dr Itai Ivtzan explores how integrating both into our lives can help us in our quest to become super-heroes – gaining super-strengths of awareness, courage, resilience and compassion.
7. There’s More to Life Than Being Happy
Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but what if there’s a more fulfilling path? Happiness comes and goes, says writer Emily Esfahani Smith, but having meaning in life – serving something beyond yourself and developing the best within you — gives you something to hold onto. Learn more about the difference between being happy and having meaning as Smith offers four pillars of a meaningful life.