a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

A friend and I were texting yesterday about how we were doing after events this week. In our conversation the topic of courage came up and he said, “I don’t know how it feels right now, but I know how it looks.” I thought that was a fascinating observation. Sometimes we need to act a…

I’ve heard over the past few days how people have been turning to nature for comfort, renewal and peace. This morning I came across a quote from 19th century essayist Leigh Hunt who said, “colors are the smiles of nature.” That’s a lovely thought. As we walk past leaves in evolving shades of green, orange,…

Last night, a friend made a helpful distinction between worry and contemplation. Worries, she said, are repetitive thoughts that are not typically productive and are focused primarily on things that could go wrong. A test is, do these thoughts make me feel more or less at ease? Contemplations, on the other hand, are thoughts of…

I read this quote a few days ago from author Maria Popova: What redeems all of life’s disappointments, what makes all of its heartbreaks bearable, is the ability to see how the dissolution of a dream becomes the fertile compost of possibility.

Jennie Coughlin had a wonderful article in the New York Times yesterday, describing those who were the last ones to cross the finish line at the New York marathon. The difference between those who finish first, and those who finish last, Coughlin noted, can be more than 13 hours. She also described Danielle Grimley, 41,…

Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From, spotlights an interesting phrase by scientist Stuart Kauffman who suggests if we are feeling stuck in some area of our life we choose to pay attention to what he calls the “adjacent possible.” What is the adjacent possible? As Johnson describes, “It’s the… future hovering on…