The Key To Greater Happiness

I have made a decision.
 
I’m devoting a portion of my blogs during my 74th year to writing about things I am grateful for – things we all often carelessly and casually take for granted. Why? Because a plethora of studies show that practicing the art of gratitude leads to greater happiness.
 
Initially, two things come to mind: Podcasts and Books and our easy access to both.

We live in a world of chaos. Political unrest. The increasingly growing threat of mass Covid re-emergence. Constantly evolving technology. Money pressures. Health issues.
 

​​​​​Podcast

 
The podcast Hidden Brain helps me make sense of my world. And I am especially enamored with a recent Hidden Brain podcast titled “Cultivating Your Purpose” which appeared on 8/2/2021.
 
Cornell University Professor Anthony Burrow was the guest of the host of Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam. Burrow’s area of expertise is purpose: what it means to have a sense of purpose and how it can transform our lives.
 
Cultivating purpose can help us weather life’s biggest challenges and storms. It’s a mood regulator – helping us remain on an even keel in moments of stress and challenge.
 
This Hidden Brain segment contains footage from the iconic movie The Graduate focusing on when Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) languishes in the swimming pool while being forcibly questioned by his father as to what his future plans are. It’s a brilliantly crafted scene – especially now as I am viewing it through a parental lens, not through the perspective of a young adult.
 
Also touched on in this segment is the critical need to be resilient – a remarkable character trait too, especially when the world spins out of control and it is so easy to feel disconnected and unengaged. Resilience comes in handy when we recognize the need to move forward and get more of what we like and less of what we don’t – and we haven’t quite figured out how to get there. Hidden Brain will help you.
 

​​​​​Book

 
Remember the poem about Humpty Dumpty – who fell off the wall? And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put him back together again? 

Well…..what if he did get put back together again? How would he fare? And what effect would that traumatic fall have on his well-being and confidence?

 
Ruminate no more. Author Dan Santat answers those questions in his book After the Fall – How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again.
 
Now terrified of heights, Humpty can longer do many of the things he loves most. Will he summon the courage to face his fear? Santat’s lesson: Life begins when you get back up again.

A newfound fear of heights prevents Humpty from enjoying his birdwatching. Though feeling isolated and far distant from his goal of birdwatching once again, Humpty is determined not to give up his favorite hobby so he builds a model plane that soars across the sky. When another accident occurs, Humpty must conquer his nerves or give up on flying.
 
The Wall Street Journal said it best: “Santat gives full weight to the power of fear, which can daunt anyone who has been injured, before showing Humpty Dumpty’s eventual triumph with an inventive ending that is nothing short of exhilarating.”
 
Amazon notes that After the Fall is a book for ages 4-8 but don’t be fooled. This is a book for all ages – for everyone who needs a reminder that it takes time to saddle up once again after a defeat and that often we emerge stronger and in a more advantageous state than before.
 
So, let’s adopt the mindset that the best is yet to be. And enjoy and take advantage of the huge array of podcasts and books that we are so fortunate to have access to.
 
And Keep Preserving Your Bloom!
 
Iris Ruth Pastor