If only it were as simple as putting on a bunny costume.
Everyone wants to think of themselves as a good person, but actually doing the right thing, or even knowing the right thing to do, is not easy. However, there is one simple thing you can do that, once you start doing it, will almost immediately make you a better person: It’s called trying. Like any other achievement, being a better person starts with simply putting in a little effort. Here are a few things to try: Continue reading
This is what you look like when you try to save the world on no sleep.
Ever feel bad rejecting someone? Saying no to working on the weekend? Telling a friend you don’t have time to hang out simply because you’d rather be doing something else? Does doing nice things for yourself make you feel guilty? Why do we feel so bad about neglecting other people’s needs, but not our own? Too often, we think of kindness toward ourselves and kindness toward others as conflicting interests, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, self-kindness puts us in the right state of mind to better support the people around us. Here’s how: Continue reading
Feeling genuine compassion for others who are struggling can be difficult and painful. In order to not constantly be sad about all of the terrible things happening in other people’s lives, human beings have grown adept at suppressing our kindness and compassion for one another when it suits us, and a lot of the time we don’t even realize we are doing it. In a way, this is a necessary skill, but sometimes we take it too far. Here are some tips on how to be more caring, without sacrificing your own sanity or happiness.
Like many of you, I was deeply saddened to learn of Leonard Nimoy’s passing this week. Since this is a blog about being both compassionate and logical at the same time, I think it is pretty clear that I, like so many of my fellow nerds, hope to follow in Mr. Nimoy’s footsteps – not just in being an intelligent, accomplished person, but also in being a caring and compassionate one. Today, in his honor, I wanted to talk about the many ways in which being compassionate is actually a quite logical choice.
My last post explored the ways that empathy is deeply ingrained in human nature, but also some of the psychological ways that humans are bad at harnessing empathy to have a positive impact on ourselves and those around us. Today I wanted to give some practical tips on how to embrace empathy in your everyday life in order to improve your personal happiness and sense of purpose, and make life better for those around you.
em·pa·thynoun1. the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
The Goodness Geek 