[Ailist] "staying positive"..happiness?

[Melanie M Minarik]

I heard something last week on Oprah Radio (yes, I listen to it!), Rabbi
Shmuley said we should quit telling everyone to "be happy", since what
that may be creating is a society filled with narcissism.  Perhaps, more
appropriately, we should be all be "seeking meaning".  Then, this almost
always connects us with others, gets us to the outcome of "happiness",
but does not involve selfish practices...and compels us to be more
holistic about "us" vs. "me". 

I thought this was quite profound and have been contemplating it a lot
this past week.

Mel Minarik, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.H.E.
Graduate Director, School of Community Health Sciences
University of Nevada, Reno


-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Plummer,
Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 5:16 AM
To: Howard Ditkoff; ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: RE: [Ailist] Re: "staying positive"

I agree that the word "positive" needs clarification, as does it's
"negative" counterpart. Working in healthcare (including a background in
Oncology), I have come to know that being with people in their journey
can
be a very positive experience for all parties, even if this means being
with
them through times of sorrow (which could be labelled as "negative").
Joy
cannot exist without sorrow. What has worked for me has been "being
with" in
a meaningful way - not judging, not trying to "direct" persons to be a
certain way (especially not directing them to be the way I want them to
be...), but rather acknowledging their experience, listening, and being
truly present with them. This can have a phenomenally positive impact.

-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu]On Behalf Of Howard
Ditkoff
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:16 PM
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: [Ailist] Re: "staying positive"


Personally, I find the word "positive" very vague. What is positive?
Many
malicious people feel that whatever is their agenda is positive. One of
the
main things in AI that could be improved is changing the wording from
"positive" to something less manipulable.

Best,
Howard
Website: http://www.SystemsThinker.com
Blog: http://blog.SystemsThinker.com
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