Cultivating Happiness

— Two sides of the same coin Dear friends, I took a long break from updating my blog. In the past three months, I traveled tens of thousands of miles, reunited with many family members and friends, visited various cities and exposed myself to a variety of rich experiences. If I tell you that all…

This title sounds like an oxymoron. Isn’t happiness one of the best things that can happen in life, one of the most precious positive emotions one can experience? Isn’t the Pursuit of Happiness, along with Life and Liberty, according to the Declaration of Independence, every man’s unalienable rights? If that is the case, why will…

Every person goes through hardship in her life. How to react to adversities productively to bounce back from the set backs takes a lot of courage, determination and practice. A myriad of research has shown that gratitude and optimism are the panacea to a wide range of mental health concerns including anxiety and depression. Today…

Here I compile a list of my favorite quotes that are my go to when I experience some blues. They manage to inspire me each time. I am sharing them with you and hope you find light and positive energy from them as well. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy,…

One of the common themes when we feel down is that we are stuck in the mud, so to speak. It is lousy as is to feel dejected, it is even worse to anticipate the situation will be lingering for an unknown period of time, the discomfort and other negative emotions that accompany the situation…

Do you find yourself ruminating over the past, having difficulty letting it go? Well, on one hand, recalling good memories brings back warm and joyous feelings; on the other, putting too much focus on the history is a sure way to induce anxiety. There are many reasons for choosing to stay in the past but…

Positive psychology has established a notion that optimism can be learnt. When you experience hardship, if your action can change the outcome for the better, then you are going to be more convinced about such a pattern in the future in face of other adversity. In other words, you learnt to be more optimistic. Should…

In one of the positive psychology courses I took from U Penn, I was posed a thought experiment. If you meet a genie, who asked if you want to be a superhero, pick one of the two capes. There is a red cape, which gives you the power to eradicate bad things, such as huger,…

Dr. Martin Seligman, the founding father of Positive Psychology, along with his research team, once conducted a longitudinal study that concluded “Three Blessings” tactic is an effective method for inducing lasting sense of well-being. Another 2014 University of Pennsylvania study independently measured the correlation between 24 character strengths (find out yours from this free survey:…

When things are going your way, it is easy to feel optimistic, energetic and joyous. But life has ups and downs, it ebbs and flows. There will be dark moments and trying times. At this time, are you “out of luck” for feeling well? Are you in the mindset that you need to do A,…