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Emotional Health and Well-Being

The Most Important Virtue?

In Stray Reflections, Jawad Mian writes:

"A young man once left his homeland to seek Rumi. After weeks of toilsome travel, he reached the outskirts of Konya and saw a gracious presence walking toward him. The young man knew, in his heart, that this was the great teacher he longed for. He dropped to his knees.

"Then, as the young man arose, he found Rumi prostrate in the dirt.

"Astonished and embarrassed, the young man again prostrated himself. When he arose a second time, Rumi was once more prostrated before him. Read more

 

What We Remember

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I've been at a Toronto area hospital over the past several days as my dad recovers from colon surgery. While resting on his hospital bed on Sunday morning, I asked him to share anything he remembers about living through the Korean War. Read more

 

The Answers We Seek

With our boys turning 18 and 16 this year, I am regularly given opportunities to answer varying questions about which roads they should take in coming years.

How do they figure out what they want to do for a living?

How will exponentially developing artificial intelligence alter the world, and specifically, the job market, and how can they account for this in their decision making?

How do they make meaningful friendships that they will cherish for a long time?

What are the best ways to make a positive difference in the world? Read more

 

Friendship Is Always A Sweet Responsibility, Never An Opportunity

Originally published in 2013

You know how it goes - you're pleasantly surprised to have someone take interest in you, thinking that they really would like to just hit some balls on the tennis court or chat over a smoothie or mug of tea. You're thinking that this person who has approached you thinks you're nice or interesting, and that this might be the beginning of a lasting friendship.

Then, you hear it. Words that make you feel like you just got greased.

"Now all I need is your credit card number." Read more

 

Scroll Less, Read More, Touch Grass

If you have a smartphone, please consider taking a moment to go into the settings area to check your average daily screen time - if it's somewhere between 3-5 hours, you're within the range of the global average.

The latest data shows that the average smartphone user spends 2.5 hours on social media platforms daily.

Combine all screen use including television, and the global average is 6 hours and 58 minutes daily. Read more

 

Thankful for Pleasant Surprises

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Not long ago, I stumbled upon a photographer named David Guerrero whose social media presence I find immensely heartwarming and uplifting.

David approaches strangers and offers to take free portraits to be uploaded to his social media pages. I just love witnessing the transformation of people's energy from the initial surprise of having a stranger say hello, to figuring out if the intent is benign, to being delighted by the results. Read more

 

Life Expectancy Calculator

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I've long held the view that it is good to be mindful of the finiteness of our days. In fact, I find value in having in mind the year that I will pass on according to life expectancy calculators - by having an exact year in mind, I'm naturally inclined to make the most of my days. Read more

 

A Memorable Soul

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One snowy day in early 1993, I made my way to a subway station near the University of Toronto, ready to go home after a long day of classes.  My heart sank when I opened my wallet to find that I had run out of subway tokens. With no credit card or cash to my name, I thought over my options and decided that the best action was to ask for help. Read more

 

5 Thoughts

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With our young teenage boys thinking more about what lies ahead for them, I jotted down the following thoughts which I shared with them earlier today: Read more

 

A Real Friend? Or A Deal Friend?

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One day after getting off the phone, Dr. Arthur Brooks's 11-year old son asked who he had been talking to.

"Just doing a business deal with a friend, son," Dr. Brooks responded. Read more

 

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