Mental Health - Widower Experience (WX)

March 20th, the International Day of Happiness, offers us the opportunity to pause and reflect on happiness. It is a day to acknowledge that happiness is not only found in big, spectacular events - that you find it much more in the small, everyday moments. It is a day to remind ourselves that we can greatly contribute to our own happiness and that of those around us. Happiness is both simple and complex, a n easy yet multifaceted term that encompasses momentary or enduring positive feelings, ranging from quiet joy to exuberant delight. A person can be considered happy if they consistently feel good because their life contains much of what they value. In the sense of good fortune, happiness signifies a lucky break or a positive turn of fate. For me, happiness has a lot to do with 'coherence,' whether things go smoothly or take an unexpected, yet good and positive, turn in life or our surroundings. A healthy social, societal, and professional environment, as well as contact with...

August is Happiness Happens Month - it is a whole month dedicated to celebrating what makes you happy.  Happiness Happens Month is a beautiful reminder that joy is a gift to be treasured, a beacon to guide us through life's ups and downs. It embodies the essence of finding happiness in the little things, of embracing the vibrant tapestry of life, and of spreading warmth and kindness wherever we go. The purpose and meaning of Happiness Happens Month resonate deeply with our journey of self-awareness and the pursuit of living with dignity. It's an invitation to become attuned to the rhythm of our souls, to breathe in gratitude, and to dance in the light of our own existence. It's about recognizing our worth, our unique place in the world, and choosing to live with grace and honor. During this special month, we are called to revel in the joy of living. It's a time to savor the sweetness of every sunrise, the tranquility of a quiet moment, and the laughter that bubbles up f...

Happiness is an emotion that all people desire, actually all the time, and at the same time most find that they experience it all too rarely. Poets and philosophers focus on the question "How can I be happy?" for centuries - and don't we all concentrate on this question in the last few years or centuries? For decades, however, scientists from other disciplines have also taken it up. Nobody knows a simple recipe for a happy life. Last but not least, this may be due to the fact that we are chasing “a false kind of happiness”. Joy - Happiness - Contentment What we generally and our Society understand by the term happiness - and the related terms "joy" and "contentment" I am unable to say or interpret. But I can share what I understand and feel when I think about happiness, joy and contentment. Joy is a strong feeling that usually occurs in response to a pleasant situation and moment. Joy is rather short-term; a feeling of being alive and vital. Happiness...

Life is made up of small moments spread over days, weeks and months. Your happiness is built on these small moments. That is why you should strive to enjoy your day – every day. And everyone's daily routine should have enjoyment and fun built into every day, because it  is important for our mental health and well-being. I like to share a few ways on how you can enjoy Your day so that you can get started to interwreathe more enjoyment into your day and your life. Find the Moments, Activities or Breaks which boost your energy Lately I wrote about giving yourself the right and permission to rest ( Link to the article ) Sleep is the top priority when it comes to resetting your mental health, but that can be hard to believe when you consider that one in three adults does not get enough sleep every night. Sometimes the key to resting and making breaks - and happiness lies all too often in the simple things, like the great outdoors. Research shows that spending just 20 minutes o...

" Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened " a quote by Theodor Seuss Geisel (American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker) All too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Have you ever tried to hold on to a happy memory and thought so tightly that it hurt or almost made you hurt? People try so hard throughout their lives to hold on to memories of a happier time, almost to the point that that memory becomes a weight on their shoulders.  Every time we go back to that memory, the feelings of happiness and joy come back, if only for a moment, and then they go away, because life isn’t stuck in time. But of course this isn’t exactly the easiest thing to understand, so people get sad - and yes, they probably shed a tear or two… or three, or a hundred. It's OK and ...

Appreciation is a central human need - and appreciation is so much more than reward and praise Appreciation always starts with yourself! You are the pivot of your being. The basis for the whole topic of appreciation is yourself - This includes self-awareness is indispensable and vital in this context ... your awareness of what a unique person you are ... with all your individual characteristics, gifts and abilities ... your way of expressing yourself, acting and reacting. I firmly believe you can not honestly appreciate others if you do not appreciate yourself and if you not really see and even partly understand yourself. Without this 'starting point' appreciation is just a compliment, a praise, and commendation.  A wareness and appreciation for yourself has different facets  ... ... for your unique combination of personality, character, traits and skills: your courage in a given situation, your perseverance, your dedication, your humor, your mind, and way seeing and...

We only hear a few notes - and we are already mentally traveling back in time, to a memory, to place or person we are connecting to it. Many songs are linked to people, places and experiences. Music has magical powers. It can make us happy or thoughtful, can comfort us or uplift us. Our life would not be the same without sounds and tones. We experience many feelings more intensely through them. Perhaps the greatest benefit of music is that it can reunite us with feelings we need, but have lost touch with. It can offer dignity to our sorrows, framing and containing what might otherwise be unmanageable grief. Music returns us to life, gently nudging us to return to the side of generosity, hope and compassion. It can take us beyond the everyday world, to transcend the ordinary and view ourselves from a lofty height. It reconnects us with our instinctual, bodily selves when reason, logic and discipline are in danger of crushing us. And it can break down the barriers between strangers – urg...

The story of lost love is one most of us can tell, and the question, "Do I want to fall in love?" "Why do relationships fail?” "What to do when I loose my love?" Whether we know it or not, most of us are afraid of really being in love. While our fears may manifest themselves in different ways or show themselves at different stages of a relationship, we all harbor defenses that we believe on some level will protect us from getting hurt. Joy of love and the pain of love As stoic - I believe in balance - real joy and real pain are mutually dependent When we fully experience true and real joy or feel the preciousness of life on an emotional level, we all too often have a presentiment of feeling or expecting great amount of sadness. Many of us shy away from the things that would make us happiest because they will or might also make us feel pain, sorry, or even guilty in one or the other way ... or already worry about grieving upfront. And I am sorry to tel...

Nowadays we all forced - not only by the pandemic. The everyday life, each business is subject to a constantly, permanently faster, changing world. and we all often have more than one role - at home, in business, spare time ... even as I am no father or mother - and even this article will be of help for everyone - this time I like to emphasize mothers and care-givers (I took care on my wife for 11 years 24/7 ) - especially mothers and care-givers are needing short breaks for self-care even more - mothers take care on so much up from the first blink of the baby's eye. Mothers and care-givers are often under constant stress almost around the clock.  No matter what your job is - self-care is very important. So that you can do your job, so that you can be there for your family AND be there for yourself. We all know that we cannot take care of others or do our best if we don't take care of ourselves as well. Take care of your own needs and your power balance and listen to your...

We live in a hectic, busy, and restless world and time. We have little time to really assimilate, deal with, and digest what challenges us every day. How can we cope with the worries of daily life and find lasting serenity and achieve inner peace? A better world starts with you and begins within you And all too often one looks outside when they want to overcome their challenges and dissatisfactions. Most people also tend to only look outwards when they look at what is going wrong in their world. I think it's important to be active, but I've also observed that some people are driven by their inner dissatisfaction.  If the main motivation for one's actions are dissatisfaction or in other words if the main motivation for one's actions are anger, fear, greed or even hatred, it will also be what these people will bring into the world. Way too often we don't really know what's going on inside us. It is all the more important to get to know us. To see what is happening...