Category: Reck, Ross; Dr.

  • Being Kind Allows You to be You – By Ross Reck

    Being Kind Allows You to be You – By Ross Reck

    Kindness in the Family

    Being kind allows you to be the real and complete you—open, honest, transparent, and free. You have no need to be validated because you’re confident in who you are—you are kind. There is no need to play games, no need to impress people, no need to try to be someone you’re not and no need to compromise your integrity. In addition, you’ll always do the right thing instead of what looks best to others, and you’ll be pulling your own strings rather than letting someone else pull them. Being kind allows you to look people in the eye because you have nothing to hide or be ashamed of—you’re not a phony who is playing a role or trying to impress someone. When you are kind, you will be an inspiration to others and people will admire the way kindness flows from you.

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  • Overcoming Our Fear of Talking to Strangers – By Ross Reck

    Overcoming Our Fear of Talking to Strangers – By Ross Reck

    Crowd
    Pixabay

    Paul Nicolaus posted a fascinating article titled, “Want to Feel Happier Today? Try Talking to a Stranger,” on npr.org. According to the article, talking to strangers puts us in a better mood, makes us feel more connected to our community and improves our level of happiness. Despite these benefits, Mr. Nicolaus points out that many of us will do just about anything to avoid conversation or eye contact with a stranger. Nicholas Epley, a University of Chicago behavioral scientist says the reason for this is that we’re afraid they won’t enjoy talking to us. On the other hand, “…when we do talk to each other, those social interactions with strangers tend to be both less awkward and more enjoyable than most people predict.” So how do we overcome this fear? Start with the people you already interact with like the checkout clerk at the grocery store, the barista at the coffee shop or the teller at the bank and turn these encounters into friendly exchanges. Begin these exchanges by making eye contact, smiling, and saying “hello, good morning or how are you doing today?” Over time, these experiences will give you the confidence to strike up a conversation with someone you’re sharing an elevator with or sitting next to on an airplane, train, or bus. As you’re doing this, keep in mind that both you and the stranger are reaping the benefits of improved moods, feeling more connected and experiencing increased happiness.

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  • Sound Advice for Achieving Happiness – by Dr. Ross Reck

    Sound Advice for Achieving Happiness – by Dr. Ross Reck

    Art Fettig

    Art Fettig, a friend of mine, passed away two years ago at the age of 91. Art was an international author and speaker, actor, playwright, and railroad executive. Art led a wonderfully long, happy, and rewarding life. Several years before he died, Art decided to share with the world his advice for achieving happiness. He said, “Don’t let the pursuit of money, power or material possessions become your master. It takes away all the fun. Realize that in life, the more you give, the more you’ll receive. But don’t give just to get something in return. That’s not giving, that’s trading. Learn to give for the pure joy of giving. That is the secret to happiness and the pursuit of happiness makes for one very rewarding life.”

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  • Maintaining Our Personal Relationships is High Touch not High Tech – by Ross Reck

    Maintaining Our Personal Relationships is High Touch not High Tech – by Ross Reck

    Friendship
    Pixaby

    We all know that having lots of warm, personal relationships, whether with family or friends, is the key to our health and happiness. Relationships are strong living connections between two people. They need to be intentionally fed and cared for if we expect them to thrive. This involves connecting with people in person, by phone or dropping them a note. Your friends need to know that you truly care about them. While electronic communication makes it possible for us to exchange information with large numbers of people rapidly, it falls short when it comes to the caring and feeding of personal relationships. That’s because maintaining strong relationships is a “high touch,” not a “high tech” activity. I recommend spending time each week to touch some of the people on your “relationship list” just to check in and ask how they’re doing. If you do, your relationships will remain strong and vibrant, which means you and your friends will be happier and healthier.

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  • Nothing Else in Life Guarantees What Kindness Does – by Ross Reck

    Nothing Else in Life Guarantees What Kindness Does – by Ross Reck

    Kindness
    Pixabay

    Kindness often gets dismissed as a trifling activity and yet nothing has the power to impact our life more and the results for being kind are guaranteed! Numerous studies show how kind people are healthier, live longer, feel better about themselves, are more popular, more productive, enjoy greater success in business, have better relationships and are happier than those who aren’t kind. On top of that, kind people experience less pain, stress, anxiety, depression, live more interesting and fulfilling lives and they never walk alone through adversity because they’re surrounded by friends. As Piero Ferrucci, world-renowned psychologist, and author of The Power of Kindness states in his book, “It (kindness) has surprising power to transform us, perhaps more than any other attribute or technique.” In other words, nothing else in life guarantees what kindness does.

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