Awesome Stories 291

/ October 22, 2016

This week Awesome Stories brings you emotional agility, El Silbo, seaweed solutions and the inner game of politics.

Positive Thinking Trap

Unless we can process, navigate and be comfortable with the full range of our emotions, we won’t learn to be resilient. ~ Susan David

The latest research suggests that positive thinking does not lead to happiness. Trying to force ourselves to think positively denies our true feelings and the valuable signals they provide. When we pay attention and respect our feelings they can provide valuable insight into our values, enabling us to act on our values and evolve into our best selves. Harvard Medical School professor and psychologist Susan David shows how to use our emotions as valuable teachers in her book called Emotional Agility. She explains how to build emotional agility in a process of acceptance, observing, knowing your why and conscious choice. Building emotional agility creates a capacity to engage the world in a way that is courageous, curious and compassionate.

Whistling in the Wind

This is a fun discovery. El Silbo is a whistled communication used in the remote areas of La Gomera, one of Spain’s Canary Islands. While very few people currently use this language, it has been recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity and will be taught in the islands’ schools. Watch this fascinating look at a simpler way of living and communicating.

Eat Your Seaweed

Besides being a great source of minerals for humans, scientists have just discovered some amazing benefits to feeding seaweed to cows and sheep. Adding a mere 2% seaweed to the feed for cattle can reduce the methane they produce by 70%. Wow! This could be a game changer for the environment. Livestock is a huge contributor (44%) to the earths’ methane gas which is actually worse (36 times as harmful) for the environment than carbon dioxide. Researchers estimate that adding 2% seaweed could reduce the methane produced by livestock by 2.1 tons, which is the total CO2 produced by the EU or India each year. Remember to eat your seaweed.  🙂

The Inner Game of Politicslove, politics, Awesome Stories

With the US Presidential election hysterics heating up, Danielle Egnew offers a helpful view on politics for how to make an epic shift. She reminds us that the changes we want in the world won’t happen by the President or our leaders, but by what comes out of our mouth and heart each day. We project our prejudices onto our leaders and expect them to make everything better. Yet, how we behave daily lays the foundation for the world. I choose peace, love, compassion and earth care. Will you join me?

We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. ~ Mahatma Gandi

Let us remember that we are the revolution or as Gandhi suggested, be the change you wish to see in the world.

 

Related posts

40 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 291”

  4. Thank you, Brad, for this week’s Awesome Stories.
    My favourite this time is the one about the whistling language. Remarkable. Reminds me of the ancient language of drums. And that’s interesting about positive thinking and happiness, eh? Makes a good argument, but sometimes when one’s mood gets low, something positive does uplift. Lord knows, I’ve had to do it many times over recent years!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. After facing my feelings and observing the lessons, I’m still going to aim for positive thinking which Susan David’s step 4 about desire comes in. I desire to eat more seaweed. And I know I can do it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. A lovely collection, Brad. I very much like the article about realizing the power of our own word and deed in the bigger picture–e.g. the whole world is not determined by politicians, but they do reflect our own biases, judgments and fears… A nice choice to accompany the article suggesting we honor the full range of our emotions, and not force ourselves to be who we are not…

    Peace!
    Michael

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I agree with your last article share Brad.. its not the politicians but the rest of us, how we think, and act etc which creates our future world..
    loved your Seaweed eating animals.. Did you know there is a breed of Sheep called North Ronaldsay Sheep on the Isle of Orkney who eat sea weed too 🙂
    Have another Awesome week Brad x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. That video about the whistling language was fascinating, and moving. When he said about it being for the countryside, not offices, my heart skipped. Connection, communication – if the means by which you do that no longer functions in the default mainstream environment, you’re not only losing a form of communication, you’re losing that alternative environment – in this case, the countryside. Much that I have experienced and read tells me those two simply can not be separated. They are deeply, deeply connected. I can cite personal experience, but also these two fabulous books for starters; The Spell of The Sensuous by David Abram, and The Tree of Meaning by Robert Bringhurst. Blessings on your day friend, Harula xxx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks for caring so deeply Harula. I think you’re saying connection and environment are deeply intertwined. I think we need a connection with nature, both for health, and evolving as part of a healthy system. Maybe I need to read those books to better understand your point.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • OOps, sorry, I didn’t explain myself at all clearly did I! What I’m trying to express is that language is geographical, it evolves through/with the landscape in which it is used – like Eskimos having 50 words for snow. Language is deeply connected with the land, the environment. If we lose those specific living/breathing languages we risk losing our deeper understanding of and connection to that land, and its people, and the wisdom within both. Does that make more sense? And yes indeed, a respectful and loving connection to/with nature is essential to a healthy system (both individually and as a whole). Love, Harula xx

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Positive feelings do not lead to happiness – so true! I’m learning to accept my good and bad thoughts for what they are: thoughts. Then I turn toward gratitude – for the good and the bad. And then instead of focusing on the bad, I reframe it to something more positive (I know, I know…positive thinking, lol), but to help my own attitude. So, for example, instead of focusing on how I don’t want to go to work, I can focus on “I can’t wait to publish another book!” Hehe. Sending hugs and hope you’re well.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I agree Cynthia. Positive thinking alone won’t make us happy and yet, choosing the direction of our thoughts does help. The main lesson for me is to accept and feel my emotions, learn from them and then choose my direction or focus. to hugs and happiness 🙂

      Like

      Reply

Your turn!