Following the bombings in Boston, people rallied in bunches, offering support and care. The Red Cross received so much help they had to turn people away. Stories of bravery and kindness flooded the news and social media. Such expression of character is not an isolated event. People similarly rallied after 9/11, after recent natural disasters, and after tragic mass shootings.

Said another way, people are touched by the suffering of others and then take action. This action involves the expression of their own character strengths (e.g., kindness, leadership, bravery) to bring benefit to others.

Research has documented how tragedy seems to elevate what is best in us.

It was 6:58 PM on Tuesday October, 26, 2010 when I realized I just wanted to be myself. At that moment, I realized that I just couldn’t be anyone else.

LeighAndria Young, student and poet
School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Cincinnati, Ohio

These are the refreshing words of high school student, LeighAndria Young, that describe her shift toward a deeper self-acceptance of who she is. She embraces all her inner qualities – her strengths and foibles – realizing that it is her uniqueness and her capacity to “just be” that is most crucial in life.

Watch a 3-minute video of LeighAndria performing her poem, “6:58,” at this link here.

I’m a bit of a “strengths” junkie. I study character strengths. I read about them, e-mail about them, teach and write about them, and study them. It seems that I’m thinking about character strengths much of the time – which one’s I’m using, how strengths work together, how they can hurt me, and how they can help me be my best.

So, it was no surprise when my mind started rattling off the character strengths I was using while playing online chess.

Life is what happens between monotony and miracles, as one sage put it.

Indeed, our lives are a collection of moments in time – some mundane and routine, some extraordinary, and many others. I’m not sure that we are shaped by every moment and every event of our lives, but certainly there is potential in each moment to impact us.

After a stagnant and difficult first date, I recall walking out of the Mexican restaurant with my date and saying to myself, “Give it one more try.”

We have seeds of character strengths within us. At least 24 of them. Some of these seeds have blossomed and are blooming fruit and beautiful flowers. Others lie dormant awaiting us to touch them with mindfulness.

Mindfulness and Thich Nhat Hanh’s “five mindfulness trainings” offer us an opportunity to cultivate these character strength “seeds” within us.

Consider a world in which people, groups and organizations bring careful intentionality to what they are doing. They listen to one another with strong compassion, and reflect deeply on the impact their words have on others.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s “five mindfulness trainings” are a recipe for mindful living as well as a striking vision for a global ethic. The potential impact of the trainings on society is significant. But they start with ourselves and our relationships.

The wise, humble and zestful monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has inspired countless individuals over the years with his teachings on mindfulness, peace and compassion. One of his teachings is the five mindfulness trainings which offer a practical and positive approach to living.

Keep in mind:

• These are mindfulness trainings not mindfulness commandments. The idea is to move toward the training and to practice the training as an ongoing process, not something to be perfectly achieved.
• The practice of the mindfulness trainings is for everyone to enjoy.
• For a full description of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, click here.

This blog entry focuses on the third mindfulness training, called True Love. It begins:

Perhaps nobody has brought more clarity to how mindfulness can manifest in our daily lives than Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thich Nhat Hanh offers five mindfulness trainings that help individuals bring more depth, purpose and meaning into their lives.

Keep in mind:

• These are mindfulness trainings not mindfulness commandments. The idea is to move toward the training and to practice the training as an ongoing process, not something to be perfectly achieved.
• The practice of the mindfulness trainings is for everyone to enjoy.
• For a full description of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, click here.

This blog entry focuses on the second mindfulness training, called True Happiness. It begins:

Do good in this world. Do good for this world.

Mindfulness will help you. Character strengths will help you. The practice of mindfulness and the practice of character strengths have each been connected with a number of positive benefits relating to happiness, health, relationships, achievement and other valued outcomes. What happens when these two areas are brought together?

What are the ingredients of successful weight loss?

What have you been missing or not considering?

There are plenty of quick fixes for weight loss. Just about any weight loss program, diet, or trick will work. Yes, it’s true. But this is temporary. The vast majority of individuals gain their weight back – and often they become heavier than their original weight.

By far, the biggest challenge in losing weight is maintenance. Keeping weight off is quite simply the elephant in the room. Not enough programs and experts talk about this.