The interactions we have with one another and the way in which we perceive the world have great impacts on and reflect our self-worth. When encountering people it can be difficult to allow them into our world and to have them understand us on a deeper and emotional level and in many instances relationships may be of more impeding than supporting. Author of the sophisticated and compelling picture book, ‘The Red Tree,’ Shaun Tan creates a powerful and engaging tale, articulating many valuable and meaningful messages. Through the language features and ideas represented it is established that although an individual may experience profound feelings of sadness and depression caused by loneliness, they hold the potential to transition of a new way
What does one’s response to conflict say about them? What is the best response? Studies show that positivity is one of the most effective way to react to conflict. Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl whose diary became “Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl,” always tried to have a positive attitude and make the best of everything in her terrible situation. In “Dear Miss Breed” by Joanne Oppenheim, sixteen-year-old Louise Ogawa wrote in her letters to Miss Breed about how even though the living conditions were ruthless, she was determined to see the light. Positivity can affect not only one’s self, but those around them as well. In the face of responding to conflict, positivity can reduce stress and anxiety, help health, and provide a better environment.
In an article, “Scientific Evidence Points to The Importance of Positive Thinking” by Lynne Malcolm quotes the lead researcher of the study on the benefits of positivity Barbara Fredrickson. Fredrickson states that, “What seems to be unique about positive emotions is that they expand our awareness so that at the moment that we are experiencing positive emotions… our peripheral vision expands, our ability to take in more of our surroundings and connect the dots and see the big picture is facilitated... so that having more moments of that open mindset help us connect with others and build our relationships, it helps us build our resilience, it helps us build our physical health because we become more energetic.” This study expands on the concept that positivity can aid the body physically and exponentially accelerate the process of progressing towards our goals while keeping us moving forward. Being able to expand our state of awareness, connect experiences to see what we have been missing, and to gain a boost to our physical being is an enhancement we could use to advance exponentially. I added this tidbit because Fredrickson, the lead researcher on positivity in The University of North Carolina, emphasises the benefits of
Living long, healthy lives is a massive focus of many Americans today, while on the contrary, focusing on happiness does not truly bring happiness to one 's life. Experiencing other emotions such as sadness, fear, and anger are as important in life as happiness. In the article “Don’t Worry, Be Gloomy” author Susan David states, “While it is certainly not healthy to constantly stew in negative emotions, there are some positive things that sadness, anger, guilt or fear can do” (126). David gives five reasons bad news can be good news: Helps form arguments; Improves memory; Encourages perseverance; Ups generosity; and Boosts ability to reason. These five reasons will further one 's knowledge on how good news and bad news truly affects himself
Even though no one is talking about the effects of grieving and most people are not even aware that they are going through the grieving process and why they are experiencing behavioural changes shows that most of the people don’t have much knowledge about the different types of grief. It is very important for people to know about the importance of grieving and the aftereffects of losing someone. Even though, there are chances that we might not go through the prolonged or disenfranchised grief, we might know someone who might be possibly going through some changes in their life and we can educate and help them while they 're going through those hard times. If this topic gets ignored then many people would be living in depression thinking it
To some extent also, incorporating a lifestyle that involves plenty of exercises can also be considered to be a value-based choice for management of unhappiness based disease conditions (Seligman, Parks & Steen 543). My concern is if empirical research performed in the area of positive psychology shows some evidence of possessing therapeutic functions on conditions such as depression or mental illnesses. Perhaps there will be some concerns on whether the medical practitioners will comfortably buy the ideology and incorporate the ideas developed from positive psychology to their medical protocols to handle mental illnesses. Of course, such a decision can only be made at an institutional level, having considered all policies that govern the medical protocols in the institution. My additional point of view is that people must be able to choose their values wisely, since according to the article this comes out as an area with an essential capacity (Seligman, Parks & Steen 543). Further developments by the positive psychologists’ movements with the creation of a tangible international community whose culture is established on strong grounds imply that there would be a need for specialized medical services for the mentally ill. Such are the specialized
“Grief is life the ocean, it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn how to swim.” - Vicki Harrison. When it comes to losing a family member or friend, people tend to cope with it in many different ways. In As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is about the Bundren family as they go on a trip to bury their mother in the wake of her death. As they are on their journey they face several challenges and as well as their own emotions as they cope with their mother’s death. The Bundren family each come to terms with their mother’s death in very different ways as seen in Cash, Darl, and Anse.
From a global perspective, positive psychology centers on the positive aspects of human development. It is a fact that as a human grows and matures, the person faces the same challenges that every developing human encounters. However, although there are many who are at the point in their lives where their efforts and labors are recognized, the recognition often does not support the person (Seligman, 2009). The author suggests that every human should place him or her on the path to the “good life.” This does not necessarily mean wealth or intangible assets but rather inner happiness and peace (p. 45). Seligman’s notion of the good life speaks shifting one’s focus on what is truly important such as health, security, and most of all happiness.
Gruman, J. A., Lumley, M. N., & González-Morales, M. G. (2017). Incorporating Balance: Challenges and Opportunities for Positive Psychology. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, doi:10.1037/cap0000109
As human beings, we suffer losses of many kinds and sizes in our life time. While some of these losses are small and do not hurt much, some are big and hurt deeply. Those that are accompanied by pains that are difficult to bear include the loss of a loved one through death or divorce, cheating or unfaithfulness in a trusted relationship or loss of good health when a diagnosis of a terminal illness is made. In all these instances of loss, pain and grief are experienced and an emotional wound is created which needs healing.
Before looking at the benefits of positivity, we must assess the effects of negativity. According to writer and research on behavioral psychology James Clear, “negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts.” This creates a tunnel vision that stifles productivity and performance. Negative emotions prevent the brain from seeing all possibilities and causes the mind to go into a cycle of negativity, whereas positivity breaks this cycle, and opens the mind to possibility. Barbara L. Fredrickson has delved into the subject of positive emotions and created the broaden and build theory which proposes “If negative emotions narrow the momentary thought–action repertoire, and positive emotions broaden this same repertoire, then positive emotions ought to function as
Grief is complicated the most common case is attributed to the death of a loved one, the loss of anyone important may cause reactions in the expression of our emotions. In the article the author adds that some effects may be “Memory gaps such as being unable to recall what you did yesterday, or not knowing how long it 's been since you last ate”(Haiken). Simple effects like the ones the author stated are caused by grief and remember those are just simple effects. Lots of people experience anxiety attacks and depression feeling life has no meaning anymore. Under those circumstances then start feeling detached from others, isolating yourself from social media, and behaving in ways that are totally not for you. As well as some times you might schedule an appointment or activity and suddenly grief comes over you and can no longer proceed to your plan.
Imagine people going through life simply feeling incredible. Imagine, you have never felt emotions like sadness, anger or fear. It would be a utopian world, wouldn’t it? But how would you know you are happy, or that your life is perfect without experiencing difficult times? In fact, these feelings are not only part of life but also, they are necessary to people's well-being. Feeling sad, once and while, is normal and necessary. Even in phases of life, such as childhood and adolescence, feeling blue is part of learning how to control emotions. Yet, medicine and science treat unhappiness and other feelings, such as anger and fear, as if they need to be deleted from people's lives; but will the absence of sadness guarantee happiness? The state
Emotion plays an important role in human life. Human beings are subjected to various emotions throughout their
Diener et al. (1991) indicates that the balance between negative and positive feelings is a good indicator of happiness. This suggests the measurement of objective happiness by means of individual balance of positive and negative experiences. Other studies revealed that purely measuring positive emotions, strong implications could be made about the individual happiness level; they can be seen as markers and sources of happiness (Diener, 2005). This is the reason why Seligman only used positive emotions in the PERMA model.