 |
Just One Thing |
|
|
|
Simple Practices for Resilience and Happiness from |
|
DR. RICK HANSON |
 |
|
|
|
|
Our relationships are essential to our well-being… and unfortunately for many of us, they can also be a source of stress, frustration, friction, or disappointment.
The good news is that we can make small changes that lead to more fulfilling and peaceful relationships with all of the people in our life. If that’s something you’d like to explore, you may want to check out my Strong Heart Relationships Series - which starts on March 1 and is currently half-off.
|
|
|
|
 |
What can you do when
there’s nothing you can do? |
THE PRACTICE: |
Love Someone. |
|
|
— Why? — |
|
Sometimes something happens. Perhaps your sweet old cat takes a turn for the worse, or there’s a money problem, or your son waves goodbye as he gets on a plane to start college on the other side of the country. Sometimes it’s on a larger scale: maybe there’s been an election and you’re grappling with its consequences (see my post on this topic: Take Heart).
Or you might be dealing with something ongoing, like a dead-end job (or no job at all), life after divorce, chronic pain, or a teenager who won’t talk to you.
Whatever it is, at first, it’s normal to feel rattled, frozen, or unclear about what to do. After awhile, you do what you can to change things for the better. But often there’s not much you can actually change and sometimes nothing at all.
Still, there is always one thing you can do, no matter what.
You can always find someone to love.
Besides the benefits for those on the receiving end, as Shelley Taylor at UCLA has shown, “tending-and-befriending” others can lift your own mood while lowering your stress hormones. Also, at a time when you may feel powerless about the wider world, at least locally, here and now, you can make a real difference. Love is never defeated. Heart after heart after heart. |
— How? — |
|
By “love” I mean a wide range, including compassion, support, friendliness, encouragement, appreciation, and cherishing. It can be expressed in simple or subtle ways, such as a call to a friend, more patience with a partner, saying what you liked about a co-worker’s idea, or seeing the being behind the eyes of a stranger passing on the sidewalk.
And if love is not expressed, it’s still real and it matters. For example, when things happen at any scale that are or could be awful for others – from your daughter’s friends turning against her to a turn for the worse in a country to the planet overheating and species dying – it’s natural to feel a sense of moral outrage on behalf of other beings. This is a kind of love, even if there is no place to put it. Or you might sense the weariness in the person sitting across from you in the subway and feel some compassion and goodwill. Perhaps you think about a friend with appreciation or smile to yourself at what a goofball he is.
It’s all love.
It’s been very important to me personally to claim an inner freedom to love. I’ve had frustrating struggles trying to get others to love me or to receive my love. But no one can stop us from finding and feeling love inside ourselves.
Love feeds us as it flows out of us. Soothing, calming, centering, strengthening.
Slow it down. Listen longer. Make room for the heart.
Who else could you love? |
| Read this Online |
|
|
Know someone who could find
somebody to love? |
|
Share this Just One Thing practice with them! |
|
Share on Facebook | Tweet on X | Forward this Email |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW ON THE BEING WELL PODCAST |
Learning to Trust Yourself: How to Stop Self-Abandonment |
 |
|
In this special episode, Dr. Rick and Forrest explore becoming more self-reliant and learning to trust yourself. This helps us be resilient in the face of life’s challenges, and it’s a key resource for people who tend to abandon their wants and needs. |
| Check out the Episode |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW FROM THE WEDNESDAY MEDITATIONS + TALKS |
Interbeing and the Beloved Community |
 |
|
Last week, guest teacher Anne Roise offered a live meditation on Fostering Inclusivity with the Brahma Viharas/Divine Abodes, followed by a talk on Interbeing and the Beloved Community, and I hope you'll check it out.
If you haven't yet, sign up to join me every week for this free, live offering.
|
| Check It Out |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MORE GOOD STUFF |
|
|
|
SCIENCE NEWS (VIEW ARCHIVE HERE)
Recent evidence suggests the Moon is still geologically active, which could affect future lunar visits. With wrinkle ridges on the far side forming in the last 84 to 160 million years, there could still be ongoing contraction - and potential moonquakes!
|
|
|
|
FOR PARENTS
It’s really natural to feel pulled in a million directions when you’re a parent. And, unfortunately, some important goals or needs of yours can get pushed to the back burner indefinitely. To deal with this, it helps a lot to have some sense of your guiding purposes and priorities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UPCOMING FREE EVENTS FROM THE GCC
The Global Compassion Coalition is doing some great work to help build a world that works for us all, and here are some wonderful free events they're offering this month, that I hope you'll check out:
|
|
|
|
HAVE YOU READ IT YET? |
Making Great Relationships |
 |
|
Learn 50 simple practices for solving conflicts, building connection, and fostering love. Available in Hardcover, Paperback eBook, and Audiobook, wherever books are sold.
|
| Get Your Copy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
WORDS OF WISDOM |
"Love is a lot like the air. It may be hard to see – but it’s in you and all around you." |
|
— RICK HANSON, PHD |
|
|
|
|
JUST ONE THING (JOT) is the free newsletter that suggests a simple practice each week for more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind. A small thing repeated routinely adds up over time to produce big results.
Just one thing that could change your life.
(© Rick Hanson, 2024) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
