You searched for community | Page 43 of 45

Multiracial group of people holding the Earth

Why Should I Join the Happiness Movement?

What is the purpose of the Happiness Movement?The Happiness Movement is about making the world a happier place. As a community of people engaged in living purpose-driven, healthy, meaningful lives,we are a catalystfor happiness in the lives of othersby sharing our missionthrough education,generosity and gratitude.Imagine if there were more happy and positive people in the world. A world with more peace, optimism and compassion—it’s possible.How will this help me connect with others?The Happiness Movement is a community ofpeople whoaspireto a lifefilled withcompassion, integrity and purpose through the practice of happiness. It provides a haven for like-minded individuals who continuously search for inspiration, hope and positivity in every circumstance.What ismy Happy Reach?Your Happy Reach™ is the number of peoplewho discovered the Happiness Movement through you and made the choice to become a part of it.Your Happy Reachmap will allowyou to seetheimpact you are having on the world. Why should I join?If we want the world to change, we have to create change. At Live Happy we start by choosing positivity and happiness. We provide you with tips and tools you can use to your own happiness while spreading that happiness in the lives of others. Collectively, our commitment to long-lasting happiness can change the world.True joy comes from spreading happiness to those around you. And like a pebble thrown into a pond, it only takes one person to create a ripple of happiness. This simple action by you can impact thousands of people. Are you that one?Join us in sharing happiness. (You can’t buy happiness… it’s free.)

work

The Good Guys Win

Having happy, healthy-minded employees really does matter to a company’s overall performance and profitability, according to research conducted by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. More companies are turning to compassion as a way to improve the bottom line. In 2004, Prudential Financial paid $2.1 billion to acquire the full-service retirement operations of CIGNA, a global health services company based in Hartford, Conn. This acquisition, says Dr. Kim Cameron, a professor of management at the University of Michigan, “was like merging the Red Sox and the Yankees”—a severe mash-up of different cultures and different systems on a massive scale. The merger came with the usual announcement of job attrition, and Hartford expected to lose one-fourth of the jobs associated with CIGNA’s retirement business. John Y. Kim, a former CIGNA executive who was tapped to lead the merger for the newly formed Prudential Retirement, did his best to pacify concerns with improved workforce forecasts and civic pledges to the city of Hartford—charitable contributions, economic development promises and so on. Prudential also provided temporary retention bonuses for employees who stuck around. These are standard steps that companies take to stem the disgruntled tide, but John wanted to do something more. He had been down this road before, having managed a merger between the ING Group and Aetna Financial Services. He was acutely aware that combining companies involves not just the “hard facets” of work and product systems, but also the “soft facets” of company culture. When culture goes bad, he says, companies might get the hard facets right and still lose customers and create miserable employees. Can big, complex corporate mergers actually be good not just for business, but for people, too? That’s the question John faced as he took a trip to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, about a year into the merger. While there, he learned about the Ross School of Business’s new Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), which had been founded in 2002 as the home of a new field of study that analyzes how organizations foster and achieve positive outcomes. POS was the brainchild of Kim, Dr. Jane Dutton, and Dr. Robert Quinn, three scholars at Ross who decided to take seriously some questions that no organizational studies scholars had ever quite taken seriously before, such as what good human behavior and “positive deviance” (exceptional, aberrational successes) have to do with businesses that prosper. In other words, Jane explains, POS is “about trying to reinvent professional practice in a way that’s ‘life-giving’ for both employees and the companies they work for.” Ten minutes into learning about the group’s research, John “decided to inject it into his organization,” Kim says. With the help of Kim and Robert, John and his team began to introduce positive organizational principles into Prudential Retirement—including institutionalizing forgiveness, resilience, supportive communication and employee empowerment—with the goal of creating sustainable culture change and meeting business goals. “Over the next four to five years, they had a lot of sessions with the senior team and salespeople. A lot of interventions occurred in which John was the champion for implementing these principles,” explains Kim. Over a period of time, there was a systemic change at the firm—a culture change, built around positivity, which had a remarkable business impact. Prudential Retirement executives feared they could lose 50 percent of their customers during the transition, but they retained 95 percent. “Bottom-line revenues,” Kim says, “increased by 5 or 6 percent.” The Virtues of Victorious Companies Kim’s area of expertise is the importance of “virtuousness” in organizations, and what he’s found since the emergence of POS is that the good guys really do win. Companies have a role to play in employee wellbeing beyond “up with people” motivational slogans—and even beyond compensation. Companies can structure themselves around the promotion and practice of good habits that engender spirits of genuine goodwill, and when they do, they’re more likely to flourish alongside their employees. The term “virtuousness” is intentionally broad. It is inclusive of several individual virtues, including kindness, compassion, forgiveness, humility, generosity, empathy and patience. In other words, “the best of the human condition.” Kim has conducted studies that attempt to determine “if one particular virtue or cluster of virtues is especially accountable for good performance. As it turns out, none of these virtues operate independently of each other. It’s the aggregation of virtue that’s more important than any single thing.” Kim stresses that a virtuous organization is more than just a collection of virtuous people. Businesses and other kinds of collectives possess a particular character just as an individual possesses a particular character. “You can have a whole bunch of virtuous people, and they can get into an organization where the culture or practices or routines drive out any opportunity to display virtues. The dynamics of organizations often supersede any individual attributes.” Practicing virtues, Kim has found, can turn organizations around. “Virtuousness is its own reward,” he says. “Of course, CEOs say, ‘Show me how it will pay off.’ And unequivocally, after a dozen years of research, we can see that bottom-line performance is significantly affected by these sorts of things.”Compassionate Companies Like Kim and all POS scholars, Jane agrees that positivity-driven success emerges from a braid of several good behaviors, but she has made compassion in the workplace her specialty. “There is so much human suffering at work,” she says. Other scholarly fields have long studied compassion, but “up until 10 or 15 years ago, we weren’t even thinking it had a place at work. But because people are at work, and people inherently suffer, there is always a place for compassion.” Jane has come to see compassion as “essential for sustainable economic performance.” The reason is simple: People who are grieving from pain are not as productive or successful as people who are healthy and whole, people whose most urgent emotional needs are being met. One study estimates that gaps in performance caused by grief cost U.S. firms an average of $75 billion annually. Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, one of the major social networking success stories of the last decade, is an outspoken advocate of compassionate leadership. Jeff has said that the practice of compassion is the single most important management principle he has ever adopted. Jane says that while “you hear a lot of leaders spinning this stuff,” she’s also seen recent evidence that Jeff means it. Earlier this year, a graduate student in Jane’s program applied for a summer internship with LinkedIn. One of the application questions asked the prospective intern to imagine that she was a manager who received a phone call from an employee whose baby had been put into a special incubator that was an hour away from the office. What would you do? “Most MBA internship questions are not about what you should do in response to human suffering,” Jane says. “Weiner is screening people for their compassion values. In recruitment, he’s favoring people who are compassionate.” Alongside the POS field in general, Jane’s attention to compassion in the workplace was kick-started by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. She had already been studying compassion for a few years, having become interested in it during a time of personal trauma in her own life when two different organizations responded to her needs in different ways—one caring, one not. Earlier in 2001, Jane and some colleagues proposed an article to the Harvard Business Review on workplace compassion, and “they had just canned it” in the days before 9/11. “On Sept. 14, I called the editor and said, ‘We know from what we’re seeing all around us that there needs to be an article’ ” on compassionate leadership and managing people through trauma. The Harvard editor agreed, and the journal “produced the fastest article they had ever done.” Jane’s research has grown ever since, and she’s replete with examples of the power of compassion in the workplace. One favorite is the story of “Ari,” a low-level district sales manager for the multinational corporation Cisco Systems. Not long after a regional office hired him, Ari was involved in a serious bicycle accident. John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, had been working to instill a culture of employee care, and from the top down, Ari and his family were cared for generously during his long recovery period. Employees contributed unused vacation time, which was converted to cash. Cisco matched all donated funds, but it didn’t stop there. Ari and his family were given cell phones so they could stay in touch. He received regular emails from management, both local and global. Cisco even changed the description of Ari’s job, which had required extensive travel, so that he could return to work when he was ready. Inshort, Cisco and its employees took care of Ari—in a variety of ways, and for an extended period of time. “Imagine a wound in a body,” Jane says. “You’ve got lots of different systems that are emerging and coordinating in response to the need. That’s what compassion is like.” “Compassion is not a separate thing,” Jane says. “It’s an indicator of a healthy community. If you have an organization that is learning to flourish that is deeply alive, the compassion is just part of the soil. It’s just part of the competence of the collective. They care for each other in a way that allows them to do extraordinary things.” A more humble but no less compassionately powerful place that Jane and her colleagues studied was a 30-employee billing department at Jackson Community Hospital in Jackson, Mich. A medical billing department might be the last place you’d expect to be thriving in goodwill. “They do tough work,” Jane says. “Their job is to call people and chew them out for not paying their bills.” Many of the women who work there have tough lives outside of work. “These are single parents, or people who have had significant trauma in their lives,” Jane says. “Some normal suffering, but also some people who were experiencing domestic violence.” But throughout Jackson’s health system, the billing department is hailed as a dynamic, delightful place to work. Jane and her colleagues discovered that the reason for the department’s reputation is that it is a place that excels at compassion. “These employees would say they loved going to work,” Jane says, “because at work they were learning to love.” While the medical billing industry averages a staff turnover rate of 25 percent, the Jackson unit’s turnover rate is just 2 percent. One staffer, Korinna, lost her mother unexpectedly soon after she was hired, and her new billing department colleagues supported her for weeks on end. Korinna eventually needed a leave of absence to deal with her grief. “I was never made to feel guilty,” she told Jane. I knew that I was in everyone’s prayers and I knew that when I did come back, that I would be in a condition that I could give back what I had received—the compassion and theprofessionalism.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jackson’s billing department wears its good mood on its sleeve. It is located in “this pretty vanilla office building,” says Jane. “Vanilla walls. Vanilla everything. But you get off on the next floor and walk into the billing department and it’s like walking into that one classroom when you were a kid—that classroom that everyone wanted to be in. It’s vibrant, colorful. Nothing that costs a lot of money, but the rooms have all these beautiful construction paper cutouts and creative expression on the walls. It’s like play—they play a lot together.” In this compassionate climate, Jackson’s accounts receivable achieved a formidable accounts receivable record. In one five-year stretch, the department reduced the average number of days to collect monies from 160 to 60. As of the last study in 2011, that number is closer to 50 days, which rivals the industry average. Jane’s files are becoming packed with these stories. “We started this work thinking that the major story was going to be the absence of compassion” in the workplace, Jane says. “And there are huge absences of compassion. But the big surprise is that compassion is everywhere.” Patton Dodd’s work has been featured in Newsweek, Slate and Christianity Today. He has authored two books, The Tebow Mystique and My Faith So Far.

work

Balancing Acts

Here’s the funny thing about balance: Sometimes it’s not obvious until it goes missing. When life is clicking along smoothly, we tend to take it for granted, barely noticing the pleasant rhythm of our daily to-ing and fro-ing. But as soon as it grinds to a halt—well, that’s when the longing for harmony barges in and demands our attention.Discovering balance is a deeply personal process, all about prioritizing, persevering, dropping balls and picking them up again. There are no secrets or shortcuts; it’s as individual as a fingerprint (and sometimes, just as complex). Below, meet the members of three very different households, each of whom has achieved balance in a unique, yet equally satisfying, way.Denise and Aaron Spitalnick, AtlantaMarried; daughter Nina, 5, and son Reid, 1Key to balance: Scaling backLike any first-time parents, Denise and Aaron Spitalnick had to find their footing as they adjusted to life as a family of three. But by the time daughter Nina turned 5 months old, whatever balance they had begun to restore had vanished: She was diagnosed with glycogen storage disease type 1A, a rare metabolic disorder that, improperly managed, can be fatal. GSD patients require a severely restricted diet and frequent feedings to manage their blood sugar; a hiccup in the system, such as a stomach bug, can prompt a trip to the emergency room.As they grappled with learning to handle Nina’s needs, the couple faced an additional worry: child care. With two demanding jobs—Denise as an attorney, Aaron as IT director for a large accounting firm—they needed to be completely comfortable with Nina’s caregivers. “We were nervous about leaving her with just anyone, and not having peace of mind throughout the day,” Denise says.The Spitalnicks ultimately hired registered nurses to care for Nina at home, which eased some of their anxiety. They also began working with Dr. David Weinstein, director of the Glycogen Storage Disease Program at the University of Florida, to manage Nina’s health. With his attention and guidance, she began to thrive.Still, as their careers intensified, their lives wobbled farther and farther off-center. They were thrilled when son Reid arrived in 2012, but also felt stretched thin. “Spending time together was difficult,” says Denise, who by that point had become a partner in her firm. And there was another stressor: school for Nina. Bright and precocious, she would blossom in the right preschool, her parents knew—if they could find it. Public pre-K classrooms weren’t set up to accommodate her medical requirements, and she didn’t qualify for the special education program or for a state-funded aide.Then Aaron learned of an IT directorship at a local private school for children with speech and language difficulties that offered a program that would match up well with Nina’s needs. Given the chance to be near his daughter, the fulfilling nature of the work, and the much more relaxed pace—in contrast to Denise’s hectic courtroom and travel schedule—he jumped on the job. The one downside, a lower salary, has been well worth the tradeoff, Aaron says.“At first I struggled with it, but I now truly understand that money cannot buy quality of life,” he says. “The better hours, shorter commute, family environment and opportunity to watch my daughter excel have been absolutely amazing. I come home infinitely happier, and it helps our family stay happy, which is the most importantthing.”Jason Keehn, New York CitySingleKey to balance: Meaningful workJason Keehn realized early on that a single-career trajectory—climbing the ladder in one field, then descending into retirement—wasn’t for him. As he mulled over how he hoped to look back on his life in older age, “I wanted to feel that I’d had a ‘life buffet,’ Jason says. “I didn’t like the idea of choosing one thing, but rather many things that added a new flavor to different points in my life.”First on the plate: a career in advertising and marketing, which appealed to his mix of business savvy and creative drive. “It was sort of flashy and cool and [spoke] to a lot of parts of my self-esteem that I wanted to connect to, like being a part of the style world,” Jason says. Eventually, though, it began to feel hollow. “I needed to know that all of my blood, sweat and tears every day were going to something that had a bigger impact.”The first flicker of insight came when he resigned from full-time work and enrolled in a global bioethics graduate program at Columbia University. Although he was passionate about the subject matter and entertained the idea of an academic career, he found that path too structured and slow-paced for his liking.Then the light bulb flashed on.“I noticed a lot of ethical fashion brands popping up,” Jason says. “I was thinking about what I wanted as a consumer about shopping ethically, asking myself, ‘How come I don’t shop ethically right now?’ The reason, he decided, was twofold: Not only was it inconvenient, but the ethical clothing on the market sometimes lagged behind fashion trends.“I saw a need for one retail destination that curates, in a style-conscious way, all of the ethical fashion out there in one destination,” Jason says.Thus was born Accompany, a fledgling e-commerce site that offers stylish pieces from labels that work toward improving a community’s quality of life. “We’re specifically curating products from artisan and handmade cooperatives around the world; fair trade or fair trade-certified; or humanitarian brands,” Jason says. “Every day I feel committed to something that I’m excited to do, and that hits many of my desires.“The most compelling way to live, for me, is to live my many facets [simultaneously], letting them be in tension with each other—an academic ethicist and a style-conscious consumer; a businessman and an activist,” he continues. “It reminds of some exciting articles I’ve read about how today we live in a ‘trade-on’ world. It’s no longer about sacrificing one preference for another, but finding a way to haveboth.”Linda Bell Blue and Steve Blue, Los AngelesMarriedKey to balance: Time togetherNot many couples fly back from their honeymoon, then kiss each other goodbye and head home to different cities. But Linda Bell Blue and Steve Blue are anything but typical. Both busy executives in the TV industry, they’ve been committed since the start of their 28-year marriage to squeezing every ounce of joy and fulfillment from their limited time together.“Our careers are important, but the most important thing in the world is when we’re together,” says Linda, now in her 19th season as executive producer of Entertainment Tonight. “And it’s the most precious thing in the world, because the moments can be few.”During the first year they were married, Linda was based in Los Angeles, while Steve lived in New York. Flying back and forth on the weekends gave them a measure of the couple time they craved. “There were probably, at most, 10 weekends per year that we weren’t together,” Steve says. “We just made that a priority, period.”Despite their passion for their work, being apart week after week was tough. Finally, Steve quit his job in New York to move to L.A. “From that moment on, I never, ever, ever took for granted a moment with him,” Linda says.Although their schedules haven’t gotten any easier—“There’s no vacation I’ve gone on in 25 years that I’ve ever not been on the phone dealing with something very important,” Linda says—they’ve refined the art of carving out time for closeness. “We try not to make the career and personal time mutually exclusive,” Steve says.They attribute their bond in part to their strong family life growing up—she in Missouri, he in North Carolina. Both remain close to their families; in fact, Linda’s mother moved to L.A. “She’s 85 years old, and I can’t keep up with her,” Linda says. She drops by each afternoon to visit and to pick up the couple’s boxer, Duke, whom her mom keeps while they’re at work.Although Steve’s mother still lives in North Carolina, they take every chance they can to see her. “We try to plan things so that my mom can come meet us in places—we try to make it a special occasion for her,” Steve says. She’s made numerous trips to California for gala events (both moms have attended the Oscars, the Emmys and theGrammys).“Linda’s mom and dad very much made it clear to everyone that they were the most important thing to each other by far,” Steve says. “They…showed us a lot about what it means to make your partner your priority.”Clearly, the couple has taken that example to heart. “I’d rather spend time with [Linda] than anyone else I’ve ever met,” Steve says. “She’s the funniest person I’ve ever met, and she just makes me generally happy being around her.”

Positive Psychology

Gene therapy

Have you ever experienced a happiness so profound you felt it in your very bones? In fact, happiness goes even deeper than that—all the way to our genes. And, in a startling new discovery, researchers have found that different types of happiness affect the human genome in dramatically different ways, with potentially big implications for our physical health. “We’re finding that not all things that feel good are the same on the cellular level,” says Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., the lead author of the study, which was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Barbara looked at two different kinds of happiness. Hedonia is “in-the moment” happiness, the kind that comes from consuming things or experiences—a slice of pizza, a movie, a pair of new shoes. Meaningful happiness, what scientists call “eudaimonic wellbeing,” is the buzz we get from having a higher purpose, connecting to a community, being of service to others. It turns out that while eudaimonia gives our biology a boost, hedonic experiences do the opposite, undermining healthy genetic expression. Under the scrutiny of lab examination, hedonic happiness looks a lot like adverse life circumstances such as poverty, social isolation or being diagnosed with a serious illness. “These results really surprised me,” says Barbara, who is the director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,and author of the books Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3 to 1 Ratio That Will Change Your Lifeand Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become.“Hedonic happiness actually shows a pattern that’s similar to that which is seen with adversity or stress. We’re not seeing it at the same strength, but hedonia is looking like a little version of stress rather than the opposite of stress.” In the study, volunteers completed an online questionnaire designed to measure their levels of hedonic happiness and eudaimonic well-being. Then the researchers drew blood and analyzed the gene expression of the immune cells in these samples. They found that the volunteers whose happiness was primarily hedonic had high levels of inflammatory markers—which are linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s— and low levels of disease-fighting antibody and antiviral gene expression. Volunteers who scored high on the eudaimonic scale displayed a reverse profile. Their robustly healthy immune systems were well-armed against infection while demonstrating little inflammatory activity. Does this mean we all need to go on a fun fast to protect our genomes? Not at all. “What this work tells us is not which kind of happiness to avoid, but rather which one you wouldn’t want to be without, and that’s the eudaimonic,” says Barbara. In the real world, both kinds of happiness reinforce each other. “Hedonia and eudaimonia go hand in hand,” she says. “What we know from past studies is that when people experience the positive uplift of hedonia they’re better able to go on and find meaning in their lives. And, that, in turn, becomes a durable resource. When times are tough you can touch base with the feeling that you’re a part of something larger than yourself and that kind of steadies the turmoil. Shelley Levitt is a contributing editor to SUCCESS magazine. Her articles on health, beauty and well-being have appeared in Women’s Health, Fitness, WebMD and Weight Watchers magazines.

Positive Psychology

Live Happy Magazine Launches to Help Readers Live a Happier Life

Happiness is Happening: $11.17 Billion Being Spent Annually on Self-ImprovementDALLAS, TX, October 22, 2013 – The facts show that now more than ever, the concept of achieving personal happiness is at an all-time high. People are looking to family, relationships, careers and personal achievement, desperately seeking happiness, but finding more questions than answers. The new Live Happy magazine and website, launching today, will be the first lifestyle magazine completely dedicated to sharing information and resources to assist in our timeless pursuit of happiness.The premier issue of Live Happy magazine addresses the globally growing interest in happiness. Harvard offers a course in happiness which is the most popular to date. Universities are now also teaching positive psychology, as countries around the world appoint happiness chiefs and change policies to help raise overall happiness levels of their populations. No longer the domain of philosophers, academics and researchers, the journey to happiness is within everyone’s reach. Live Happy is the first magazine ever to balance the science of positive psychology with the art of application, making happiness accessible to everyone.Helmed by veteran Editor in Chief Karol DeWulf Nickell, formerly editor in chief of Better Homes and Gardens and at Reader’s Digest Association, Live Happy addresses the universal concept that people want happiness for themselves, their children and the world. Live Happy will continually offer practical tools to help their readers achieve authentic happiness.Each Live Happy issue will feature happiness-enhancing stories and articles that offer timely advice and real solutions for readers who want to be happy, including:The Science and Practice of Happiness – Happiness is a scientifically proven predictor and precursor to success, as shown through content developed from the thousands of scientific studies and decades of research by well-respected experts such as Dr. Martin Seligman, Dr. Jane Dutton, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson and Shawn Achor.Celebrity Interviews – Celebrities, business leaders and other public figures will share their secrets for overcoming obstacles, staying positive through challenges and maintaining happiness throughout their life journeys. The premier issue debuts with exclusive insights from Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and actor Ron Howard and Josh Radnor, best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom How I Met Your Mother.Creating a Happy Lifestyle – Actively living happy requires doing as well as learning. The magazine will feature information and ideas promoting giving back in the Gratitude column, articles on how to use leisure time, and what to do at work and home to create the right environment.Improving Wellbeing – Taking care of the physical self is an important aspect of wellbeing and happiness. Various articles ranging from meditation to exercise to nutrition provide readers with the tools and information they need to be healthier—and therefore happier.Cultivating Meaningful Relationships – Human happiness directly correlates to the satisfaction of interpersonal relationships. Whether forming healthy and happy bonds with your family or your co-workers, the magazine provides applicable tips and practices to help you achieve better, more rewarding relationships.The magazine will also include regular columns such as Friendly Table and Reading Corner, which give readers access to the happiest foods and books, along with a monthly survey sharing insight from readers around the world.“Live Happy is the first magazine tobe about happiness cover to cover enabling people to actively engage, discuss and apply the principles of wellbeing and happiness,” says Editor-in-Chief Karol Nickell, “at a time when people, companies and countries are wanting to know and understand how happiness can improve everyday lives.”The magazine will appear at more than 10,000 locations in the United States and Canada, including premium grocers Whole Foods, Kroger and Sprouts; premier placement at Hudson News and bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indigo Books and Shoppers Drug.About Live HappyLive Happy LLC, owned by veteran entrepreneur Jeff Olson, is a company dedicated to promoting and sharing authentic happiness through education, integrity, gratitude, and community awareness. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, its mission is to impact the world by bringing the happiness movement to a personal level and inspiring people to engage in living purpose-driven, healthy, meaningful lives. For more information, please visit livehappymagazine.com.

Positive Psychology

Press Releases

Live Happy's December Issue: Your Go-To Guide to Gifts, Giving Back and Gratitude This Holiday Season Dallas, TX – October 23, 2017 – The December issue of Live Happy, available on newsstands on October 24th, is dedicated to the healing power of gratitude and giving back during the holiday season. Readers can also gain inspiration with Live Happy’s gift guide that supports causes around the world, DIY crafts, and recipes. Actress Anna Faris Is Live Happy’s October Cover Story Dallas, TX – August 8, 2017 – Gracing the cover of Live Happy’s October 2017 issue, actress Anna Faris explains why being Unqualified to give others advice hasn’t stopped her so far. After decades of doling out unsolicited advice and testing personal boundaries among friends, family and strangers, the actress, producer, and now author morphed her tell-it-like-it-is podcast, Unqualified, into a memoir and advice book, also called Unqualified, debuting this October. Live Happy Radio Show Launches in Dallas Dallas, TX –July 2017 – This summer, as part of its mission to cultivate and spread happiness around the world, Dallas-based Live Happy launched its first radio show, Live Happy Radio. Airing locally in Dallas on Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. on 98.7 KLUV-FM, listeners can also tune in on Radio.com or on the Radio.com app (available on iTunes and Google Play) by searching “98.7 KLUV.” Comedian Jim Gaffigan Plays for Laughs in Live Happy’s July Issue Cover Story Dallas, TX – May 23, 2017 – Comedian Jim Gaffigan is the featured cover of the July 2017 issue of Live Happy, on newsstands May 23. Readers can gain inspiration from Gaffigan’s story and more in this new issue, which explores fulfilling adventures, travel and journeys in ways that inspire awe and heighten creativity. Actress, Rapper and Author Queen Latifah Proves Happiness Reigns Supreme in Live Happy’s May issue cover story Dallas, TX – March 7, 2017 – “Whatever your inspiration, you have to look for a reason to fight the good fight every day,” says Queen Latifah, whose fighting spirit and confidence helped her rise above tough times to win acclaim and a score of awards in music, film and TV, where she appears in her latest project, Lee Daniels’ FOX series, Star. Action Star Ming-Na Wen Pulls No Punches in Live Happy’s February issue cover story Dallas, TX – January 3, 2017 – “If you tell yourself enough times that you can achieve something, you can,” says Ming-Na Wen, who kicks up her physicality at age 53 in epic choreographed fight scenes as Agent Melinda May on ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Actress Mayim Bialik Embraces Her Inner Geek in December Issue of Live Happy Magazine Dallas, TX – October 11, 2016 – Mayim Bialik plays a neurobiologist on TV in CBS’ highly rated The Big Bang Theory, now in its 10th season, but much of her braniac persona is not an act at all. In real life, Bialik has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. “There’s an unintended bit of art imitating life,” she says of her TV alter ego Amy Farrah Fowler, but with a slight difference. “I studied how brains work and she slices them apart!” Maya Rudolph Shares Her Love for Laughter in the September Issue of Live Happy Magazine Dallas, TX – July 12, 2016 – Comedian and actress Maya Rudolph gets groovy on the September cover of Live Happy magazine, on newsstands today. She talks about her new comedy and music show with Martin Short, Maya & Marty, her Prince cover band Princess and gets nostalgic about growing up in a house full of music and “amazing, warm, lovely people.” Jesse Tyler Ferguson is Fully Committed to Taking Risks for Happiness in the May/June Issue of Live Happy Magazine Dallas, TX – May 3, 2016 – On newsstands today, Live Happy cover star Jesse Tyler Ferguson shares in the May/June issue why he chooses to forgo comfort in favor of living a rich, vibrant life on the edge. Ferguson, who says he uses risk as a motivator, puts his mantra to the test this month by starring in the one-man Broadway show Fully Committed, lending his voice to Ice Age: Collision Course and continuing his role as a member the ABC hit comedy Modern Family. Live Happy Invites All to the March to Happiness Dallas, TX – March 1, 2016 – Today, Live Happy launches a month-long ‘March to Happiness’ celebration, kicking off with the release of the new issue of the magazine, which is dedicated to savoring life’s greatest moments, including those as a parent of joyful children. On March 15th, Live Happy will release its first book: Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy (HarperElixir). Throughout the month, everyone is encouraged to share #HappyActs to honor and support the International Day of Happiness on March 20. Live Happy Magazine Features Jillian Michaels on Cover of January/February Issue Dallas, TX – January 5, 2016 – On newsstands today, Live Happy, the first-of-its-kind publication combining the science of happiness with practical advice to help its readers lead lives of meaning and joy, dedicates its January/February issue to achieving and celebrating our better selves in 2016. Live Happy Magazine Features Dolly Parton on Cover of November/December Issue Dallas, TX – November 3, 2015 – Live Happy’s November/December issue, on newsstands today, is dedicated to family and forgiveness. In the cover feature, country music superstar and entertainment icon Dolly Parton shares the power of family and her “Smoky Mountain” roots as the foundations for her strength, values and trademark positivity. Live Happy Magazine Features Anthony Anderson on Cover of September/October Issue Dallas, TX – September 1, 2015 – Live Happy’s September/October issue, on newsstands today, highlights the importance of prioritizing positivity and finding purpose and meaning in everyday activities. Emmy-nominated actor Anthony Anderson—featured on the cover—gives us a glimpse of where his inner strength, character and resilience come from and shares the latest on how he manages multiple work projects, family life and a rigorous fitness routine while keeping it all real—and fun. Live Happy Magazine Features Alanis Morissette on Cover of July/August Issue Dallas, TX – June 30, 2015 – Finding a “happy place” might not be at the top of everyone’s priority list this summer, but perhaps it should be. The July/August issue of Live Happy highlights the importance of living in the now while striving to expand our consciousness and happiness. Singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette graces the cover with modern-day flower child flair and shares her unique perspective on living in the moment. Live Happy Magazine Announces ABC News’ Good Morning America Co-Anchors on Cover of May/June Issue Dallas, TX – May 5, 2015 – It’s safe to say not many people would be happy waking up daily for work at 4 a.m., unless you’re the cast and crew of Good Morning America! In Live Happy’s May/June issue, the GMA co-anchors, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, Lara Spencer, Amy Robach and Ginger Zee share their own “secrets to success” in the workplace—revealing how camaraderie, teamwork and starting the day off right are essential to their positive work environment and to kicking off every morning with a smile. How Do You Share Happiness? Dallas, TX – March 3, 2015 – Live Happy celebrates the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness (March 20th) with its second annual issue dedicated to this day. As the magazine continues to share its quest of creating and living a happy life, the March/April issue offers features exploring well-being around the world and close to home. It also offers expert advice on habits, staying positive, celebrating at work and celebrating you. What’s Scott Foley’s Scandalous Truth? Pick Up Live Happy’s February Issue to Find Out Dallas, TX – January 6, 2015 – “Scandal’s” very own Scott Foley graces the February 2015 cover of Live Happy magazine, a first-of-its-kind publication that combines the science of happiness with real-world advice and practical tips to help readers live full and productive lives. In the first issue of the New Year, on newsstands today, Scott Foley explains where and when he developed his passion for acting and how his live-in-the-present philosophy plays an important role in his life. Kristin Chenoweth Credits Happiness for her Success in Live Happy’s Nov/Dec Issue Dallas, TX — Nov. 4, 2014—Kristin Chenoweth, Emmy and Tony award winner, graces the cover of the November/December issue of Live Happy magazine, a first-of-its-kind publication combining science with engaging and informative content to help readers achieve true happiness and live fuller and more productive lives. In this issue, on newsstands today, Kristin explains why she chooses happiness above security and success and shares her gratitude for life’s many blessings. Olivia Newton-John Graces First Anniversary Cover of Live Happy Dallas, TX — Sept. 2, 2014— Singer, actress and positive-emotion advocate, Olivia Newton-John graces the cover of the September/October issue of Live Happy magazine, a first-of-its-kind publication that combines the science of happiness with engaging and informative content to help readers live fuller and more productive lives. In this anniversary issue, on newsstands today, the songstress shares recent life decisions that have helped her carve out more time to indulge in her passions for nature, love and the goal of a blissful life balance. Miranda Lambert Talks Life, Community, and Staying True to Her Roots in New Issue of Live Happy Dallas, TX — July 1, 2014— Country superstar Miranda Lambert graces the cover of the July/August issue of Live Happy magazine, a first-of-its-kind publication that combines the science of happiness with personal stories and exclusive interviews. In the issue, on newsstands July 1, the songstress talks about staying true to her roots in Lindale, Texas, as well as championing the causes closest to her heart, including no-kill rescue shelters for dogs and raising awareness for abused women. New Issue of Live Happy Magazine Reveals How Compassion Can Improve One's Wellbeing Dallas, TX – May 6, 2014 – Considered one of the greatest virtues, compassion – the feeling of empathy for others – is the theme of Live Happy magazine’s May/June 2014 issue that hits stands today. Live Happy is the first-ever lifestyle magazine to balance the science of positive psychology with the art of application, and as the new issue reveals, recent studies and scientific research confirm that people who practice compassion receive an array of benefits that go beyond simply feeling good. Live Happy Magazine Welcomes Happiness Expert Gretchen Rubin as Featured Columnist Dallas, TX – April 30, 2014 – Live Happy magazine is pleased to announce that happiness expert and bestselling author Gretchen Rubin will become a columnist beginning with the May/June 2014 issue. Since its inception, Live Happy’s mission has been to inspire people to engage in living purpose-driven, healthy and meaningful lives. To achieve that goal, the magazine has strived to assemble a team of the most talented writers and editors in the business to not only provide readers with stellar content, but also to add value to the brand. Live Happy LLC names Kym Yancey CEO and Co-Founder DALLAS, TX – April 10, 2014 – Live Happy LLC announces Kym Yancey as CEO and Co-Founder effective immediately. Previously Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and President of eWomenNetwork, North America’s premier women’s business network, Yancey will oversee Live Happy’s strategy development and business initiatives, which include Live Happy magazine and campaigns such as Acts of Happiness. United Nations Celebrates International Day of Happiness With Live Happy Magazine March 20, 2014 – The United Nations designated March 20 as The International Day of Happiness in June of 2012 stemming from a resolution presented in a high-level meeting by the nation of Bhutan – the first country to measure Gross Domestic Happiness. Live Happy’s access to the leading academics, authors, psychologists and experts in the field, as well as its role as an underwriter of the Positive Education Summit offered the UN unprecedented access to leaders in the field. “It was our goal to bring real-world expertise to each discussion,” said Live Happy founder Jeff Olson – also a panelist. Live Happy Makes Global Commitment for Acts of Happiness in Honor of International Day of Happiness March 10, 2014 – Happiness can change the world, and there's an uplifting addition to the calendar to help spread and share the joy: The United Nations has officially recognized March 20th as The International Day of Happiness. To celebrate, Live Happy has created a call to action to inspire people to help make the world a happier place by intentionally engaging in small acts to share and spread happiness. With a goal of receiving 100,000 pledges to commit an act of happiness by March 21, 2014, Live Happy LLC also plans to recognize the happy acts around the US by hosting happiness walls both physically in cities across the US on March 20th and virtually worldwide at ActsofHappiness.org. Happiness Matters: Live Happy Encourages All to Celebrate Happiness for a Day, Choose it for a Lifetime March 4, 2014 – Live Happy magazine’s third issue hits stands today, just in time to commemorate the United Nations’ 2nd annual International Day of Happiness. The March/April 2014 issue continues its mission to make 2014 the “year of happiness,” featuring articles and original content for readers to incorporate into their daily lives. In conjunction, Live Happy is joining forces with its Acts of Happiness campaign intended to inspire people nationwide to pledge and share their #happyacts. Live Happy Magazine Kicks Off 2014, the "Year of Happiness," with Issue Dedicated to "Hope" Dec. 20, 2013 – Live Happy magazine, the recently-launched publication dedicated to promoting and sharing authentic happiness, debuts its February 2014 issue on newsstands December 31st, launching its "Year of Happiness" with an issue devoted to "Hope." Live Happy Magazine Launches to Help Readers Live a Happier Life October 22, 2013 – The facts show that now more than ever, the concept of achieving personal happiness is at an all-time high. People are looking to family, relationships, careers and personal achievement, desperately seeking happiness, but finding more questions than answers. The new Live Happy magazine and website, launching today, will be the first lifestyle magazine completely dedicated to sharing information and resources to assist in our timeless pursuit of happiness.

People

Forever Young: Dan Buettner on Human Longevity

Kamada Nakazato’s family was so poor that she dropped out of school in third grade to help her mother raise her siblings. At 18, she entered an arranged marriage with a man four years older. Kamada shouldered most of the parenting when their six children were small, because her husband traveled often in search of work. She wove straw hats for supplemental income, but the family still survived almost entirely on sweet potatoes. Eventually her husband could return home and help her finish raising the children to adulthood.Then World War II broke out, turning her native Okinawa into a battleground and changing the island’s culture forever. But Kamada’s life changed little: She had family responsibilities and still needed to work hard to eke out a modestexistence.In 2005, at age 102 and a widow for 10 years, she met Dan Buettner, an American on a research expedition seeking the health secrets of centenarians from Okinawa. Kamada wore a traditional kimono and brushed her hair straight back. Buettner noted her gentle brown eyes, which held wisdom, kindness and a deep spirituality. Everyone in the little community on the Motobu Peninsula revered her as a spiritual leader.“Living History”Buettner also treasured Kamada, one of the individuals who helped him uncover the well-being formula of the world’s longest-lived people.“I remember the little house in rural Okinawa.… This woman was born in the rain, outside, and now sort of knew life was angling in on her,” Buettner says. “To watch her go through these daily chores in this ancient house—it just felt like I was living history.”Digging into the backgrounds of centenarians like Kamada refined his life mission, making Buettner a best-selling author and earning him TV time alongside Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey. But conducting in-depth interviews with the elderly and studying their lifestyles wasn’t always his passion. “I had no great affinity for old people when I started this, as some might think,” he says with a chuckle.Instead, Buettner’s research into the “Blue Zones”—regions containing the highest concentration of people 100 or older—appears to be the apex of a lifetime exploring the globe… or perhaps only half a lifetime, it may turn out.Buettner’s PathBuettner learned to live self-sufficiently in the woods of his native Minnesota by age 6. His father, a special-education teacher, passed down a desire to experience the world in every way. Well-spoken and confident, Buettner, who turns 53 on June 18, has barely a wrinkle on his face and only a touch of gray in his hair. Seeking adrenaline during and immediately after his college days at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, he sold newspaper subscriptions in a program that paid for long excursions to Spain and Morocco. Only later did he embark on real adventures.He set a Guinness World Record for biking across the Americas, from Alaska to Argentina. The 15,000-plus miles of Americastrek were completed in 1987. Then the Soviet Union began to break up, and Buettner cycled across that empire, in 1990’s Sovietrek. Two years later, Africatrek covered almost 12,000 miles.MayaQuest, when he and a team of experts on Mayan civilization traveled to Central America seeking an explanation for the society’s sudden collapse roughly 1,100 years ago, ultimately made Buettner an Internet pioneer in 1995. During that journey, the travelers uploaded their findings for—and responded to questions from—teachers and students at 40,000 participatingschools.“We were all trying to figure out how we could use the Internet as a communication vehicle for schools,” Buettner says. “But also, how do you engage students in a meaningful way, so they’re avidly learning about science?” MayaQuest attempted to explain how environmental factors influenced the Mayans and other cultures, and in the process encourage naturalism in a newgeneration.“MayaQuest was the first one out of the chute,” Buettner says. The “Quest” series later expanded. “We went on to explore the legend of Marco Polo, human origins in Africa and origins of Western civilization. Eventually, we stumbled upon a World Health Organization finding that Okinawa had the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. I thought there had to be a non-genetic explanation—something is going on with their lifestyle and environment. We used the quest mentality to try to open that treasure chest.”Into the Blue ZonesSo began Buettner’s investigation into the secrets of centenarian-rich pockets of Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Italy, Greece and even Southern California—the research tour that would earn him publication inNational GeographicandThe New York Timesled to his 2008 bookThe Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, and what has become his life’s work, an attempt to spread the same healthy, happy principles to U.S. communities.In 2009 Buettner formed theBlue Zones Project, an organization that works with companies, schools, cities and towns to improve community well-being. More than 750 businesses and 40 schools have taken up the lifestyle principles, and dozens of city councils have joined in, adapting their communities to encourage the health of residents by building more bike paths, for example, and changing construction codes to encourage more pedestrians.LikeSUCCESS, Buettner believes there’s much more to life than amassing a fortune. Everyone has needs, and certain luxuries are always welcome, but making the most of life is about finding personal peace, enjoying family and friends, realizing a purpose, giving back, and passing on wisdom to future generations. The better their diet and health, the longer people can live, thus giving them a greater chance to impact the world. Astonishingly, these “success measures” directly relate to longevity.This revolutionary work has tied together the sciences of health and happiness with the search for meaning, so naturallySUCCESS’s interview with Buettner focused on how anyone can relate to his findings and how the Blue Zones studies have changed his life.Q:As an explorer, your M.O. was to tackle one challenge and search for the next. Why did you settle on longevity as your life’s work?A:I think each of us has a desire to find something that’s meaningful to others, not just ourselves. Most explorers start with an individual journey, and it eventually evolves into an expedition that has a chance to somehow make humans better. From the first trip to Okinawa, I knew,Wow! Here is a body of wisdom that can make a huge impact on America.At the time there were 77 million baby boomers who were getting old. I thought it was going to be something a lot of people would care about. It was the perfect alignment between my personal interests and a bigger interest.Q:How would you describe the experience of spending so much time around centenarians?A:It’s special. It really is. There’s a certain awe you have to have for someone who has reached triple digits. Somewhere between knowledge and wisdom is experience, and this demographic literally has more life experience than any other on Earth. I had a great editor atNational Geographicnamed Peter Miller, who told me to go and not just interview a bunch of centenarians, but go live with them.When you spend enough time with them, you discover a uniformity—they tend to have a sense of humor. They tend to listen. The grumps are kind of weeded out before age 100.Q:They’ve had many peaks and valleys over a long life. Why does happiness shinethrough?A:It comes not from money, although it’s important they have enough. They have food, shelter; they can treat themselves once in a while; it’s not just a life of drudgery. They have good access to healthcare, not top-of-the-line healthcare, but public healthcare that keeps them from developing diseases.But there’s also a connectivity you wouldn’t feel in a big city or a soulless suburb in America. Your neighbors are in your business a little. If you don’t show up to the local festival, they’re going to knock on your door and say, “Where the heck have you been?” It’s not a lonely existence. It’s a connected existence the human species has evolved with for the past 2.5 million years.Q:Has being around people who follow such a healthy routine led you to have more self-discipline?A:One thing I learned is you can enjoy rich foods and sweets occasionally, but one way to cut about half of that is just don’t bring it into the house. I don’t bring meat into my house, or sweets, or snacks. If you put a nice steak, or chips or a bowl of ice cream in front of me, I’ll eat it, but the fact it’s not in my house cuts a lot of it from my diet.People in the Blue Zones have no more discipline than we do. It’s really not our fault so many of us are overweight and unhealthy. It’s not a lack of discipline. We just let our environment careen out of control. People in the Blue Zones teach us how to set up our environment correctly. It’s not a magic diet. It’s a game of inches.I’m working around the country to lay out all those inches that add up over time. The places that have adopted early have innovative leadership that works well together. They’ve tried a number of things and seen them fail, and are ready to try something pioneering.Q:Studies suggest that because of obesity, today’s generation of children may have shorter lives than their parents. If they take care of themselves following these methods—and we assume medical advancements occur—how long do you believe a baby born today can live?A:[Demographer] James Vaupel has shown, pretty convincingly, that life expectancy jumps about two years every decade. A child born today could probably look forward to living 15 or 20 years beyond the current life expectancy [about 76 years for men and 81 for women in America].That jump is not linear. It’s erratic. When we discovered penicillin and antibiotics, the life expectancy of the human species leaped enormously. The life expectancy for a male in 1900 was about age 46. We’ve almost doubled it. If we could double it again, the life expectancy goes up to 150 or 160.We cannot see what that innovation would be in the same way we couldn’t have seen penicillin coming. But things like the sequencing of the human genome provide a glimpse of the potential for life expectancy.Q:As important as healthy living, your research indicates the ability to articulate a purpose for life is crucial. How can we find purpose, which seems like an abstract concept amid our daily grind?A:One is religion. If you’ve strayed from religion, go test it again. [Most] people who make it to 100 belong to some faith-based community. Along with a faith comes a value set you sign up for, a goal—whether it’s to be a good person to get into heaven, or be reincarnated. It puts the numbers on your side for longevity and happiness.People who pledge to our program are invited to a three-hour purpose seminar. We take them through an internal inventory to identify passions, strengths, things they enjoy doing, and how they can put those to work. In that cross-section, you get a pretty good idea of purpose besides “I’ve got to make money” or “I’ve got to raise my kids.”You’d be shocked how many Americans never have time for that internal inventory between waking up, going to work, getting dinner for the kids and then watching four hours of TV, on average. The internal inventory is the biggest step.What gets people in the Blue Zones out of bed in the morning, out of the easy chair—what gets them taking their medicine—is anexpectation. They don’t just expect to receive love or resources, but they are expected to love and to contribute. Expectation and purpose are part of the same package.We have a mindset in America that you have productive years into your mid-60s and then you retire. There’s no retirement in the Blue Zones. Rather than quitting their jobs and golfing for a couple years, then asking what’s next, these people continue to work for city mayors as aconsigliere, or take up town patrols, or continue at their job, but not as many hours.Q:To make it personal, can you envision keeping up your current pace for another 50 years?A:I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. I’m sure it’ll evolve. I’m thinking about purpose a lot right now and where people find that around the world. Working with these cities through the Blue Zones Project is satisfying because I can impact so many lives. The model isn’t exactly perfected, so I don’t see any reason to stop doing this for the foreseeable future.I have as much energy as I did when I was 30. So it’s hard to think about a sunset.

Education

Positive Education: The School of Wellbeing

Imagine sending your kids off to school and them learning reading, writing, arithmetic and flourishing. That’s the concept of positive education, a trend that’s popular in Australia and England, and gaining traction in the United States. Positive education is about merging flourishing—positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment—with traditional education. While many schools focus primarily on academic performance, positive education is about developing your child’s sense of well-being and social responsibility. While the idea of helping students build on their strengths and nurturing their resilience and well-being has been at the heart of Montessori and Steiner approaches for some time, Dr. Martin Seligman is leading the effort to bring positive psychology into more schools. Martin believes the need for positive education is growing with the worldwide prevalence of depression among young people. So he works with staff, parents and students to teach his PERMA model—the five elements of well-being—with the ultimate goal of helping students flourish. (P) Positive Emotions—Feeling positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, interest, hope (E) Engagement—Being fully absorbed in activities that use your skills yet challenge you (R) Relationships—Having positive relationships (M) Meaning—Belonging to and serving something you believe is bigger than yourself (A) Accomplishment—Pursuing success, winning achievement and mastery Some examples of positive education in schools include positive behavior initiatives (teaching empathy and compassion), curriculum designed to increase confidence, and strength projects for children. Michelle McQuaid, a teacher of positive education in Australian schools (and Live Happy blogger), believes “success is achieved when a school leadership team collectively supports the idea of making the well-being of students as important as their academic achievements and inviting, connecting and empowering the whole school community around this idea,” including administrators, teachers, parents and students. “My vision is for children to receive an education that teaches them how to flourish intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically. For this to happen, they need to be a part of an education system that is flourishing—where leadership teams feel challenged and supported, where teachers feel engaged and appreciated, and parents feel confident and empowered,” McQuaid says. What Parents Can Do Praise children for effort rather than intelligence. When you tell a child “You are so smart,” they don’t understand what they have done and how to repeat it, so they fear making mistakes or view failures as being dumb. When you praise effort, children understand they can influence the result, and learn to view failures as learning opportunities. Provide a consistent family routine. Take an interest in what your children are learning. Encourage special interests. Turn off the TV and encourage children to have free playtime where they use their imagination and creativity. Give kids achievable jobs at home to develop a sense of responsibility and self-mastery. Celebrate who your children are, not just what they achieve. Help your children discover their strengths, including character strengths like kindness. Show your children how to master challenges and overcome frustrations with an optimistic and not pessimistic approach. Teach and show your kids how to go on the hunt for gratitude. Share things that are going well. Keep lobbying your children and educators to create a learning environment that allows your child to flourish. What Schools Can Do Assess what you are doing well already. Adopt the PERMA model. Embed positive education into your school strategy so it becomes your school culture. Evaluate your results to assess your effectiveness. Connect with other educators and schools to share your positive education journey and benefit from their knowledge, resources and experiences Sandra Bienkowski, owner of The Media Concierge, LLC, is a national writer of wellness and personal development content and a social media expert.

Philanthropy

A Perfect Day

My hero, John Wooden, once famously remarked: “You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”Recently, I got to witness a perfect day.I was in Topeka, Kansas, visiting the insurance-marketing company Advisors Excel. It was my third time speaking for the company at its headquarters, and I always enjoy my visits to the city. This time, however, they had a surprise in store for me.After the speech, company executives informed me that they had been inspired by the story I had shared previously of retired NFL running back Warrick Dunn and his incredible journey of healing and generosity.You see, Warrick Dunn grew up as the oldest of six children under the care of their mother, Betty Smothers—a dedicated single mother and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officer. Money was always tight, so the family often moved from house to house, trying to save on rent while dreaming of one day buying a home of their own that they would never have to leave. But Betty never lived to see that dream realized. On January 7, 1993, Corporal Smothers was shot and killed in a botched robbery attempt at a bank, and 18-year-old Warrick’s world collapsed.Despite his incredible performance on the field in college, his heart was breaking as he worked to keep his grades high and to step up as the man of the house as he raised his siblings from afar, with the help of his grandmother. The men accused of murdering his mother were convicted and sent to death row, but Warrick still struggled with how to move past the tragedy. Through it all, Betty Smother’s words kept ringing in her oldest son’s ears: “In life, you’re going to face difficulties, but you have a choice. You can either use them to make you bitter, or to make you better. Choose to be better.”In his very first year in the NFL, Warrick decided to he wanted to invest his salary in making the dream of home ownership come true for hard-working single parents—men and women just like his mother. In this way, the Homes for the Holidays program began. Through his foundation, Warrick Dunn surprises a family by providing the down payment, all the furnishings, and a fully stocked pantry, cabinets and lawn-care shed for single parents who have taken financial management classes and invested sweat equity with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. He does it in honor of his mother’s memory.As I stood on that stage in Topeka, I could see how the legacy of Betty Smothers’ words to her children had not only prompted them to choose being better over being bitter, but now she was inspiring others, too. After hearing me talk about Warrick’s incredible story, the employees at Advisors Excel had decided to invest in their own community by helping to build and outfit a home for a single mother of four who works as a home healthcare aid. And they had arranged it so that I would be there when she was handed the keys to her family’s new home—that very morning.As we drove to the site, I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn’t even text Warrick to tell him about the incredible act that his efforts inspired. It turned out, I didn’t need to: When we arrived at the house, Warrick Dunn was waiting there for me with a huge grin on his face! As his foundation looked to expand into more cities, Topeka was on the list, and together, they partnered with the folks at Advisors Excel to make the first house happen.But as incredible as the surprise was for me, it was nothing compared to the surprise of the family when they arrived. They had no idea that their house was being furnished and stocked, and the down payment covered, by a local company and a national sports hero.I was overwhelmed as we presented the mother with her key, and she was overwhelmed as the reality of homeownership became real. “Is this my new address?” she asked with a smile and tears in her eyes. But I think the most telling moment of the whole day was when one of her sons, upon opening the pantry and cheering at the supply of macaroni and cheese, canned vegetables, pasta, and other non-perishables inside, remarked: “You know, they’re doing a food drive at the shelter. Now we have stuff we can take!”This morning, 348 children woke up in their own home—with a sense of permanence, security and pride—because of this foundation. In fact, the University of South Florida partnered with the Warrick Dunn Foundation to examine just what kind of far-reaching impact his work might have on the children, and the results were incredible. Two-thirds of the parents were able to pay for more extracurricular activities for their children, more than half reported an increase in respect from their children, 70% reported an increase in their children’s educational performance, and 76% reported a sense of hope for better futures for their children—all after the family took possession of their new home.As I had the privilege to witness in Topeka, the spirit of giving that Warrick Dunn has embraced through his grief has not only changed the lives of the families he has helped, but it has also inspired countless other men and women—and children, too—to pay it forward and to use what they have to bring hope to someone else.Yes, I witnessed a perfect day, indeed.

Resources

What is Positive Psychology?

Positive Psychology is an emerging field of study that focuses on the science of happiness. Pioneered by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman in 1998, the purpose of Positive Psychology is to find out the virtues that lead to a meaningful life and the effects on that will have on an individual, as well as the community as a whole.Instead of just treating mental illness and relieving suffering, positive psychologists also focus on the strengths that make life worth living and restoring a healthy balance to well-being.Martin andMihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychology professor from Claremont Graduate University, describe the new science in the following way: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise that achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in individuals, families, and communities."Studies have shown that happiness can have a dramatic effect on an individual’s well-being, contributing to every aspect of their life, including health, relationships, employment and longevity. According to the United Nations World Happiness Report 2013, positive emotions help the cardiovascular, immune and endocrine systems; lower the risk of heart disease and strokes; and even speed up the recovery process. Happy workers are more likely to receive positive ratings from management, as well as see an increase in wages. Employee satisfaction can have a positive effect on productivity and performance, increasing revenue, sales and ultimately profit.Positive psychologists believe that figuring out the puzzle and pursuit of happiness can lead to answers to some of our biggest problems individually, nationally and even globally.

Why Should I Join the Happiness Movement?

The Good Guys Win

Balancing Acts

Gene therapy

Live Happy Magazine Launches to Help Readers Live a Happier Life

Press Releases

Forever Young: Dan Buettner on Human Longevity

Positive Education: The School of Wellbeing

A Perfect Day

What is Positive Psychology?

Store

Articles

Quick Links