Posted on 12/31/2005 6:56:54 PM PST by neverdem
Op-Ed Contributor
IT'S navel gazing time again, that stretch of the year when many of us turn our attention inward and think about how we can improve the way we live our lives. But as we embark on this annual ritual of introspection, we would do well to ask ourselves a simple question: Does it really do any good?
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For years it was believed that emergency workers should undergo a debriefing process to focus on and relive their experiences; the idea was that this would make them feel better and prevent mental health problems down the road. After 9/11, for example, well-meaning counselors flocked to New York to help police officers, firefighters and rescue workers deal with the trauma of what they had seen.
But did it do any good? In an extensive review of the research, a team led by Richard McNally, a clinical psychologist at Harvard, concluded that debriefing procedures have little benefit and might even hurt by interrupting the normal healing process. People often distract themselves from thinking about painful events right after they occur, and this may be better than mentally reliving the events.
What can we do to improve ourselves and feel happier? Numerous social psychological studies have confirmed Aristotle's observation that "We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage." If we are dissatisfied with some aspect of our lives, one of the best approaches is to act more like the person we want to be, rather than sitting around analyzing ourselves.
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The trick is to go out of our way to be kind to others without thinking too much about why we're doing it. As a bonus, our kindnesses will make us happier.
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But the fact is that being...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I rode up in the elevator with Bob Dylan once or twice (his dentist was down the hall)...he's incredibly ugly.
Always use mental floss and see your omphaloscopist regularly.
Revising Earth's Early History
Scoping Out Signs of Human Evolution
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. For tech geeks, here's a link to the NY Times' 10 Greatest Gadget Ideas of the Year, pagewanted=print. Happy New Year!
It's funny.
Lots of times, you hear folks say, like, "If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't a dun such and such..."
I've become a firm believer that even if we knew then yada yada we would have done EXACTLY the same thing we did!
It's The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin, over and over.
Weird. Like we're living some sort of script.
500 quatloos on the newcomer!!!
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