A beautiful perspective on grief

I’m writing this on what would be my grandmother’s 97th birthday. Grief feels like pain, and therefore something we should fend off. One beautiful alternative though is to view grief as unexpressed love. Unexpressed not because you failed to express it. But simply because there is no longer a physical recipient of your love and gratitude. Viewed this way, grief becomes a way to stay close to those we’ve lost.

#inspirational #lifelessons

Without reciprocity

Happy memes that say “pay it forward” are nice, and they might spark momentary inspiration. But to be someone who consistently offers advice, support, and generally seeks to spark joy without regard for what one will get in return…that is life-changing. Serving as an example to others who are then inspired to do the same normalizes it and allows it so spread and scale. And that is world-changing.

#emotionalintelligence #inspirational #lifelessons #positivity

Learning how instead of what

Thanks to Google there is little value in memorizing facts. Critical thinking – the ability to analyze facts to form judgements – might be the most valuable skill to come out of any academic system. We should be careful we don’t simply educate people so they know just enough to repeat what they heard, but not instill the importance of analyzing and questioning. It’s hard to exaggerate the difference between teaching someone what to think, versus teaching them how to think. 

#emotionalintelligence #goals #inspirational #lifelessons