Our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes can be primed for more happiness.
In his treatise on “How to Grow Old”, Roman Philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero expressed how useless it is to complain about growing old, because “Fighting against Nature is as pointless as the battles of the giants against the gods.” Yet, despite such a seemingly defeatist attitude, Cicero was anything but depressed about his advancing age. In fact, …
Did you know that research has shown an association between playfulness and resilience in older women? Furthermore, the more often we take time to just have fun, the stronger and stronger our resiliency skills become. Researchers investigated this phenomenon in 167 women over 50 who participated in the Red Hat Society (RHS), which is a …
Take notes on your life. Leonardo da Vinci not only left us the gift of insight into his genius through his notebooks, but he developed his own intellectual, scientific, and artistic skills by writing down everything that came to mind. He started in his 30’s and unfortunately most of what he wrote has disappeared. What …
Raelen Mautner Ph.D. According to the Pew Research Center there are 71.6 million baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) in the United States.Ageism is only one of elements we have to resist as we grow older. If you thought adolescence, young adulthood or trying to be a good parent was tough, just consider some …
The nature-nurture controversy comes down approximately midway on the spectrum of the temperament we were born with versus what portion of a happy demeanor can be learned. We can often control the outcome depending on the effort we are willing to put in to enrich our own lives. Yes, that means YOU. YOU have the …
I don’t want to mislead you into thinking that a human being can be euphoric 24/7. That is not how the emotional landscape works; in fact, extreme prolonged emotions in either direction require professional help. Sometimes, however life is just hard. Sadness, anger, irritability, frustration, disgruntlement—these feelings are also part of human nature. Legitimate circumstances …
Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past few decades. And while that is the good news; the bad news is that older adults often find themselves battling ageist stereotypes, body image issues, health concerns, financial worries, and the loss of important relationships, whether through death or estrangement. If you have ever taken on a major …
When I was a little girl, happiness–and I mean total and complete happiness —was a Good Humor popsicle, a song on my transistor radio, a snow day home from school, or the giant Hershey bar my grandmother would leave on the stairway for me on Fridays (her shopping day). I’ll bet you too, could name countless …
Happiness can be described as a state of bliss, elation, contentment, delight, elation, enjoyment, euphoria, exhilaration, glee, joy, pleasure, peace of mind, optimism, and well-being; to name only some of the many synonyms associated with it. A critical thing to keep in mind about happiness—for however you might define it for yourself– is that by …
Happiness is not an unwavering state of exhilaration. That kind of fantasy may happen in fairy tales, but since fairy tales come to an abrupt end just before the happily-ever-after part, we’ll never know. Keep in mind, there are also those who say that without a contrast of emotions we can’t really life a satisfying …
The Dolce Vita Lifestyle 