imstilla.grandma
Believer of Miracles
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Our framework for flourishing at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard acknowledges that health-related and economic aspects of life (concerning which there will be losses) are central and important.
Yet there are other important dimensions to flourishing as well: meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and happiness.
Helping Others
In one of our recent research posts, we described how research indicates that volunteering, the helping of others, is an especially powerful pathway to enhancing meaning and purpose. You can find similar ways to help those around you, increasing your sense of purpose and meaning while shaping your habits towards kindness, helpfulness, and generosity.
Further reflection upon right action and generosity towards others likewise calls into question the practice of hoarding food and resources for oneself, potentially resulting in systemic distributional failures.
Strengthening Relationships
Are there any relationships that are in need of reconciliation or forgiveness? There are helpful resources that can be used to work through the process of forgiveness.
There is considerable evidence that writing down (or sharing with others) three things for which you are grateful, three times a week, can considerably improve life satisfaction and alleviate depressive symptoms.
Reflecting on Life
Our confrontation with suffering, and even death, provides an important opportunity for reflection. What is it that we value most? What relationships might be in need of forgiveness or reconciliation? How is it that we are to understand our lives and our own mortality? These are not easy questions. For these, we must turn away from the data. We must turn towards our interior life, to those around us who are wise, to our rich theological and philosophical traditions, to try, as best as possible, to discern what it is that matters most.
The Human Flourishing Program
Human Flourishing Program (@HFHarvard) | Twitter
Yet there are other important dimensions to flourishing as well: meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and happiness.
Helping Others
In one of our recent research posts, we described how research indicates that volunteering, the helping of others, is an especially powerful pathway to enhancing meaning and purpose. You can find similar ways to help those around you, increasing your sense of purpose and meaning while shaping your habits towards kindness, helpfulness, and generosity.
Further reflection upon right action and generosity towards others likewise calls into question the practice of hoarding food and resources for oneself, potentially resulting in systemic distributional failures.
Strengthening Relationships
Are there any relationships that are in need of reconciliation or forgiveness? There are helpful resources that can be used to work through the process of forgiveness.
There is considerable evidence that writing down (or sharing with others) three things for which you are grateful, three times a week, can considerably improve life satisfaction and alleviate depressive symptoms.
Reflecting on Life
Our confrontation with suffering, and even death, provides an important opportunity for reflection. What is it that we value most? What relationships might be in need of forgiveness or reconciliation? How is it that we are to understand our lives and our own mortality? These are not easy questions. For these, we must turn away from the data. We must turn towards our interior life, to those around us who are wise, to our rich theological and philosophical traditions, to try, as best as possible, to discern what it is that matters most.
The Human Flourishing Program
Human Flourishing Program (@HFHarvard) | Twitter
