Reading Corner

Links related to the weekly posts.

 

By Posted on Posted in Peace, Reading, Relationships, Successful Relating No Comments Tagged with

In this week’s blog, we wrote about how to live peacefully in the midst of all the turmoil in the world. Here are some other voices with sage advice.

How to Live in Peace WikiHow is a collaborative site like Wikipedia that, despite its appearance, often has very good peer-reviewed articles. “Living in peace is about living harmoniously with yourself, others, and all sentient beings around you. While you will find your own meanings of peaceful existence and outward manifestations of a peaceful life according to your beliefs and lifestyle, there are some basics underpinning living in peace that cannot be overlooked, such as being non-violent, being tolerant, holding moderate views, and celebrating wondrous-life.”

How to be Calm and Peaceful Under Difficult Circumstances “It’s not easy is it? Keeping our mind focused, especially in the midst of challenges or difficult circumstances. So how do we do that throughout the difficulties life can and far too often does bring? Learning how to focus our mind to be calm and peaceful is very important and often can determine our success both in the outer physical and inner spiritual world.”

7 Ways To Feel Content With Your Life Right Now “Contentment, or the state of being content, is about peaceful satisfaction. It involves appreciating what you have and where you are in life, rather than wishing things were different. Of course, I’m not saying you should simply settle for a life that doesn’t bring you joy. Rather, you should continue to dream big, set goals for yourself, and work towards them diligently – just remember to enjoy the journey and not rush to make it happen.”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about how we retain peace of mind during these turbulent times. The keys are recognizing each other’s individuality and accepting that completely. Here are some articles describing how to do that.

Preserving Individuality to Strengthen Your Relationship “To maintain a successful relationship it is necessary that both people maintain their own individuality and respect the individuality of their partner. Each is concerned with their own and their partner’s continued development as a person. In my book, Daring to Love, I write about achieving this by remaining adult, open, undefended, and honest in your interactions. I also discuss the importance of regarding your partner as a sovereign individual, separate from you and your relationship.”

How to Accept Someone for Who They Are in a Relationship “One of the ways to a healthy and successful relationship is genuinely accepting your partner for who they are. However, most couples fail to recognize this fact because they are either too busy looking for perfection or too occupied focusing on their partner’s flaws. If you’re currently facing the same challenges in your relationship, don’t worry. This article will help you figure out different ways to help you overcome them.”

Accepting Differences Between You and Your Partner “I was thinking about acceptance the other day and was realizing that this is a practice that might take a long time to get good at, especially when we are talking about relationships. You see, all of us pretty much like who we are. We like how we think, how we behave and act. We like our ways. And many of us get really perturbed when our partner doesn’t agree with us. They might do something different than what we learned growing up. Or they might like something arranged differently then how we prefer. They might even say things we would never say.”

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This week in our blog we suggested looking at the good as well as the bad and the ugly. None us us need to be reminded of the grim state of the world. Climate change, Covid-19 and now protests. Here are some articles to help with this.

Why Is Beauty Important to Us? “Humans have engaged with the concept of beauty for millennia, trying to define it while being defined by it. We asked a group of artists, scientists, writers and thinkers to answer this simple question: Why is beauty, however defined, so important in our lives? Here are their responses.”

5 Practices to Help You Thrive in Difficult Times “Thriving is our birthright. So now, more than ever, it’s critical to do what we can to build our capacity to be resilient. In times of great uncertainty, we must learn to navigate a parallel path that enables us to have wings in the air and feet on the ground. This means having the vision that enables us to see the beauty and compassion that’s unfolding around us so we don’t lose hope, while also staying grounded so we’re ready to take the actions necessary to manage whatever comes our way.”

To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To “One of the best insights on what true productivity means in the 21st century dates back to 1890. In his book The Principles of Psychology, Vol.1, William James wrote a simple statement that’s packed with meaning: “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” Your attention determines the experiences you have, and the experiences you have determine the life you live.”

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This week’s blog discussed how to hear what is being shared with you and the best way to respond. Here are some articles with other ideas on how to do this.

9 Ways to Be There for a Friend, Without Giving Advice “Some years after my decision to divorce, I thanked my parents for not pressuring me one way or the other on the “stay-or-go” issue. Making that hard decision myself really forced me to grow, I told them. My dad replied, “We knew there would be pain whether you got divorced or didn’t. And we knew you had to choose that pain for yourself.” That was the best advice I ever got—and it wasn’t exactly advice.”

How To Give Good Advice (By Giving No Advice At All) “Being understood and accepted is a fundamental element of the human condition and one of the most meaningful ways to feel this is by being listened to. While it might sound simple, properly listening to someone is a real art. What’s even harder than giving someone your full attention, is not putting yourself into their situation through unwanted advice. So, how do we provide support for the people in our lives and ensure they are feeling understood and accepted?”

Stop Trying to Fix Things, Just Listen! “Regardless of whether you’re a woman or a man, everyone needs both emotional support and practical help. Neither one is right or wrong, better or worse. The trick is knowing what is needed at any given moment and finding the right balance of listening and helping. Those are the hard things. But it’s possible for couples to find that balance using the skills of insight, mutuality, and emotion regulation.”

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In this week’s blog, we wrote about the dance of grief and joy we are all experiencing. It is important to be in touch with our feelings and to be present with them. This doesn’t mean we should wallow in our losses, but rather acknowledge the sadness and grief, while at the same time feeling the joy and beauty around us. Here are some other articles exploring other aspects of this.

That uncomfortable coronavirus feeling: It could be grief “Maybe you’re among the most fortunate in the coronavirus crisis — your loved ones are healthy and you’re sheltering at home. Yet you still feel emotionally bulldozed by the pandemic. Those feelings of uncertainty, helplessness and exhaustion may be grief…. But grief can come from the loss of anything we’re attached to deeply: the loss of economic stability, the loss of our ability to move around freely, the ability to participate in life’s milestones in person.”

Coronavirus Has Upended Our World. It’s OK To Grieve “The coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe has not only left many anxious about life and death issues, it’s also left people struggling with a host of less obvious, existential losses as they heed stay-home warnings and wonder how bad all of this is going to get. To weather these uncertain times, it’s important to acknowledge and grieve lost routines, social connections, family structures and our sense of security — and then create new ways to move forward — says interfaith chaplain and trauma counselor, Terri Daniel.”

Balancing Grief and Joy in a Time of Uncertainty “‘Grief is love that has nowhere to go.’ Buddhist teacher Roshi Joan Halifax took our breaths away with truth as she shared this bit of wisdom she learned from one of her students in an Irresistible podcast episode titled, ‘Grief in a time of not knowing.’ For the past month and a half, I’ve been contemplating the role of collective grief in this global crisis with hesitant curiosity”

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