What leads some people to be healthier than others? Researchers have been studying this question for decades. However, most have focused on disease and disorder. Few have looked at strengths and wellbeing.
Aaron Jarden, Head of the Psychology Department in the School of
Information and Social Sciences at The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, is leading a study to look at wellbeing in people of all ages from around the world. The objective is to capture a comprehensive picture of what
By Sharon Knoll | Bio
“I am not an optimist because I am
not sure everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist because I am not sure
everything ends badly. I carry hope in my heart.”—Václav
Havel
I come from generations of food growers. And it is clear to
me that eating is one of the most intimate of actions. We take into ourselves
the whole of the plant or animal, including the environment in which it was
raised and killed. We take in the work and the well-being, or lack
By Jim Selman | Bio
I’ve been thinking about aging and
observing the human phenomenon for a long time and I know that most of
the chatter in my head isn’t ‘me’—it’s just the tapes of my past and my
ego playing the tune to which my culture expects me to dance. For
example, I believe and know from experience that the key to health and wellbeing is “participation”—staying
engaged in whatever games I choose to play. Yet, that little voice
By Jim Selman | Bio
I am spending a few days with my bestWe are all more or less in our sixties with one younger and one older. We are all in business or retired and we’ve all succeeded by most standards. Aside from lots of laughter and a few tears, we spend a lot of time listening to each other. The space we create for each other is one of unconditional love and respect, which generally allows us to express ourselves in ways in which we don’t normally have the opportunity. We are never judgmental, and whatever ‘coaching’
One of the concerns ‘older’ people share with us is how important it is to keep our health. Hypochondriacs aside, the majority of us still hear and believe that the older we get, the more difficult maintaining good health will be. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that if we lose our health, we lose most—or all—of our other options. I confess I am not a health expert: the latest developments in nutrition, dieting and exercise are not my key concerns. Yet I am healthy and, while I could
My friends and I have been told by a couple of our wives and
girlfriends that we are a unique group of men. It is ironic that we
don’t really understand why, but we are all extremely open, vulnerable
and nurturing in our relationships with each other, as well as with
other people in our lives. I don’t know why, perhaps it comes with time
and the fact that we’ve all worked in some form of transformational
training for most of our careers.
Whenever
we ‘Souls’ get together, we follow